Can I work under my Spanish Student Visa?

Last Updated on March 18, 2026 by Bruno Bianchi

Question

I am a student studying a masters here in Spain and I just picked up my new TIE. To my surprise it says that I am authorized to work whereas my old one does not. I applied for the same Spanish Student Visa. Does anyone know of the law has changed or what kind of work I can do ? Initially I am thinking it is a mistake

Answers

These are the answers of some Facebook group members:

“Yes the law has recently changed to where you can work as long as your job is linked to what you are studying .”

“(Lawyer’s opinion) There is no requirement that the job is linked to what you are studying. Consider what that would mean for someone studying medicine.”

“Yes, the law changed on July 27th last year. Now students can work up to 30 hours directly.”

“My roomie is renewing his as we speak. They told him that until he has the new permit where it explicitly says he is allowed, he can’t work.”

“I just got my new NIE. And mine says not allowed to work but even with this my second year in Madrid I worked at an academy which is when we could only work 20 hours. And BEDA told us we can work up to 30 hours now. But never mentioned anything about our NIE having to say “allowed to work”. I’m more confused now lol”

“Before you still needed to apply for a work permit to be able to work part time as a student, now you don’t have to do it anymore”

Check out Spainguru’s article: How the Spanish student visa is affected by the new immigration law regulation in 2022

Bruno Bianchi CEO & Spain Immigration Expert

Bruno Bianchi is the founder and CEO of Spainguru, Spain's largest expat immigration community with 150,000+ members. Since 2014 he has helped thousands of people relocate to Spain through expert guides, webinars and vetted professional services covering visas, residency, taxes and life in Spain.

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