Hiring a domestic worker in Spain
Written for the household doing the hiring, because the paperwork and the cost fall on you, not on her.
Is she already in Spain, or abroad?
These are two different procedures with different odds. People arrive assuming there is one process for hiring a foreign domestic worker. There is not.
| Already in Spain | Abroad | |
|---|---|---|
| Procedure | Arraigo sociolaboral | Residence and work authorisation, general regime |
| Main condition | 2 years of presence in Spain, and a job offer from you | Proof that the post cannot be filled from within Spain |
| Who is tested | Her presence, your means | The Spanish labour market, then your means |
| Can she work while it is decided | Yes, from the moment it is admitted for processing | No |
| Realistic outcome | Routine when the conditions are met | Difficult, and often refused |
If she is already in Spain: arraigo sociolaboral
This is the route that works, and it is the one most of these cases turn out to be. It needs two years of presence in Spain and one or more employment contracts.
The contract has to reach 20 hours a week counted across all of them together, and pay at least the statutory minimum wage or the collective agreement rate for the hours worked. Several contracts can be added together, which matters here because household jobs are frequently part time across two homes. That is article 127.b) of Royal Decree 1155/2024.
Two things make this route better than it looks. The occupation does not have to appear in any shortage list, because arraigo sociolaboral is exempt from the national employment situation test. And once the application is admitted for processing she can start working, without waiting for the decision. The decision itself takes 3 months from the day after the application is registered; if that passes with no answer, silence is negative.
The full Spanish page, with every requirement linked to its article in the BOE, is at arraigo sociolaboral.
If she is abroad: the honest answer
You can hire from abroad. It is much harder than people expect, and it is worth knowing why before you spend money on it.
A worker who does not yet live in Spain is subject to the national employment situation test. That is passed in one of two ways. Either the occupation appears in the shortage list that the public employment service publishes each quarter for each region, or your household proves the post cannot be filled locally: you file the job offer with the employment service, it manages the offer for 8 days, you report the result of the selection, and the service issues a certificate of insufficient candidates within 3 more days.
The difficulty is that domestic work is not normally on the shortage list. So in practice the second path is the one available, and it puts the burden on you: you have to run a real selection process and end it with no suitable Spanish or resident candidate. Only then does the authorisation application start, followed by a visa at the consulate where she lives.
We will tell you at the first consultation whether your case has a realistic path or not. If it does not, that is the answer you get.
What you have to prove as the employer
One employer, not two. The household employment regime admits a single employer, so one of you signs the contract and is registered with the Social Security as such. If you are a couple, the other is not a formal party to the employment relationship. Both incomes still count when the means are assessed.
That you can pay the wage. Last year's income tax return, payslips, and whatever else shows the household can sustain the salary for the life of the authorisation. The amount required depends on how many people are in your household.
Nothing about qualifications. Domestic service in a private household is not a regulated profession, so no diploma and no homologation is needed.
You do not need a company or an existing employer contribution account to do any of this. A private household hires directly, and the application is filed on form EX-10 with the activity coded as domestic service.
What it costs
Our fee for arraigo sociolaboral, including preparing and filing the employment contract, is €590 plus VAT. The government fee is €38.28, paid on form 790 code 052 to the Administration and not to us. The first consultation is €60 plus VAT and you leave it knowing which route is yours.
Every fee on this site is published before you commit to anything. All prices.
What usually goes wrong
- Counting the two years from the wrong date. It is presence in Spain, and it has to be provable.
- A contract that comes in under 20 hours a week, or pays below the collective agreement rate for the hours.
- Both members of a couple signing as employers. Only one can, and fixing it afterwards costs weeks.
- Starting the from-abroad route without checking the shortage list first, then discovering the selection process has to be run and documented from the beginning.
- Missing the deadline to respond when the office asks for a missing document. That window is short and it is where most files are lost.
Questions we get
Does she need a qualification or a recognised diploma?
No. Domestic work in a private household is not a regulated profession in Spain, so there is nothing to homologate. That is one of the few things about this route that is simpler than people expect.
We are a couple. Do we both sign as employers?
No. The household employment regime admits one employer only, so one of you signs the contract and appears before the Social Security. The other is not a formal party to that relationship, but both incomes still count when you prove you can pay the wage.
Do we need a company or a Social Security employer account first?
No. A private household can hire directly. The EX-10 form is filed with the activity coded as domestic service, and it does not depend on already holding an employer contribution account.
Can she start working while the application is being decided?
On the arraigo sociolaboral route, yes: once the application is admitted for processing she can work as an employee without waiting for the decision. On the from-abroad route, no. Nothing starts until the visa is issued and she has entered Spain.
What if she is here without papers right now?
That is the arraigo sociolaboral route, and it is the one that works. It needs two years of presence in Spain. Being here without authorisation does not rule it out; it is the situation the route was written for.
Sources
Who wrote this
Giovanna Paola Girardi, Colegiada ICAM 87779, 20 years in practice. She reviews every legal requirement published on this site and signs the applications we file.
We work in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Bulgarian. We are in Madrid and handle the rest of Spain by video call. Tell us about your case, or read more about the practice on our Madrid page (in Spanish).