Intra-Company Transfer Spain

What is the Intra-Company Transfer visa

The Intra-Company Transfer visa allows multinational companies to relocate managers, specialists, and trainees from their offices abroad to branches or subsidiaries in Spain. It’s designed specifically for internal moves within a corporate group, not for hiring new employees.

Processing takes just 20 business days through Spain’s Large Companies Unit, and there’s no labor market test. Your company already employs this person, they’re needed in Spain, and the government has created a fast path to make it happen.

Who qualifies for the ICT visa

Three categories of employees can transfer under this visa, each with different duration limits:

Managers

Employees who direct the organization or a significant department, supervise other managers or professionals, and have authority over hiring decisions and day-to-day operations. Manager transfers can last up to 3 years.

Specialists

Employees with specialized knowledge of the company’s products, services, research methods, or internal systems that isn’t easily found in the local labor market. These are people whose specific expertise makes them difficult to replace. Specialist transfers can also last up to 3 years.

Trainees

Recent graduates being trained for management or specialist positions within the company. Trainees must have a university degree and be participating in a structured development program. Trainee transfers are limited to 1 year with no extension.

Requirements

The 3-month prior employment requirement is strictly enforced and catches some companies off guard. If you’re hiring someone specifically to send them to Spain, the ICT won’t work. They need to have an established employment relationship with your organization first. For new hires, consider the Highly Qualified Professional visa or EU Blue Card instead.

ICT-EU vs National ICT permits

Spain offers two versions of the Intra-Company Transfer permit, and most multinationals want the EU version.

The ICT-EU permit lets the transferred employee work in Spain and then move to other EU countries for assignments without obtaining a new permit in each country. If your company has operations across Europe and the employee might work from multiple locations, this provides the flexibility you need.

The National ICT is Spain-only. It works for specific contract situations where EU-wide mobility isn’t necessary, but we generally recommend the ICT-EU unless there’s a particular reason to choose otherwise.

Beckham Law tax benefits for transferred employees

Employees relocated on an ICT visa are eligible for Spain’s special tax regime. Instead of paying progressive income tax rates that can reach 47%, they pay a flat 24% on their Spanish income for six years from the date they become Spanish tax residents.

For a manager earning €100,000 per year, this translates to roughly €15,000 to €20,000 less in annual taxes compared to standard rates. Over a 3-year assignment, the savings are substantial. We handle Beckham Law applications as part of the relocation package to ensure your employee captures this benefit.

Family relocation

The transferring employee’s spouse, domestic partner, and dependent children can all be included in the same ICT application. They receive residence permits with full work authorization, meaning the spouse can pursue employment in Spain immediately rather than waiting for a separate family reunification process.

This is often the deciding factor for employees considering an international assignment. Knowing that their partner can work legally in Spain from day one makes the relocation much more appealing and reduces the stress of uprooting a family.

The application process

1. The company, or our firm on their behalf, submits the residence authorization application to UGE in Madrid
2. UGE reviews the application and issues approval within 20 business days
3. The employee applies for their visa at the Spanish consulate in their home country
4. Upon arrival in Spain, the employee applies for their TIE residence card within 30 days

If UGE doesn’t respond within the 20-day window, the application is considered approved through positive administrative silence. In practice, we typically receive responses within two weeks.

For HR teams and global mobility managers

We work directly with your HR, legal, and global mobility teams to handle the Spanish side of the relocation. You provide the employee details, assignment terms, and corporate documentation. We prepare the complete UGE application, coordinate the filing, respond to any queries during review, and guide the employee through their consulate appointment and TIE application.

If you’re relocating multiple employees to Spain, we can establish a streamlined process. The core company documentation gets reused across applications, while individual employee files are prepared in parallel to minimize total timeline.

What we handle

The complete ICT application including the detailed memo that demonstrates why the transfer qualifies under the program. We guide transferred employees through their consulate appointments and help them get settled with TIE cards once they arrive. If they want to apply for Beckham Law tax status, we handle that filing as well.

We’ve processed ICT applications for technology companies, investment banks, management consulting firms, and industrial corporations relocating staff to Barcelona and Madrid offices. We understand what UGE looks for and how to present transfers in the strongest light.

Frequently asked questions

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