This is the most rejected document in a Spanish DNV application, and the only one you cannot order from a government website. Here is every clause UGE-CE checks, the addendum that protects your employer, and the defects that send files back.
Published 2026-10-17 · see what changed · Written from first-hand experience
It is a signed statement from your employer confirming that you work for them, that they authorise you to do that work remotely from Spain, and that the work can be done entirely by computer. It is not a reference letter and it is not your contract. It is a purpose-written document for this application.
Four things about its form, all of which get applications rejected when missed:
Some consulates also ask for an FCDO apostille on the employer letter even though it is a private document. UGE-CE has been known to accept it without. Ask your lawyer or the consulate before you spend £45 and three weeks on it.
Every item below has to be explicitly present. Caseworkers are working through a checklist; anything absent reads as missing rather than implied.
| Clause | What it must say | Why it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Company identity | Registered name, registered address, Companies House number, date of incorporation | Proves the employer is a real non-Spanish company incorporated at least one year ago |
| Your identity | Full name exactly as on your passport, passport number | Ties the letter to the rest of the file; mismatches trigger queries |
| Continuous start date | The date your employment began, showing at least three months of tenure before submission | The three-month minimum tenure requirement |
| Job title and description | Role description confirming the work can be performed entirely by computer, telematic and telecommunication means | This is statutory language from Ley 28/2022. Use it near-verbatim. |
| Salary | Stated in EUR, or in GBP with the EUR equivalent at a stated ECB reference rate | Must clear 200% of SMI — €2,849/month gross single for 2026 |
| Contract type and length | Indefinite (indefinido) is best. Fixed-term must clearly extend beyond the visa period. | A contract expiring inside the permit window is a refusal |
| Express remote-work authorisation | Explicit permission to work remotely from Spain for at least 12 months | The most commonly missing clause. ‘Remote working’ generally is not enough — it must name Spain. |
| Non-Spanish clients and markets | Confirmation you will continue serving non-Spanish clients and markets | Spanish-source work is capped at 20% of total activity |
| Company policy | A statement that the arrangement does not breach company policy | Guards against the arrangement looking informal or unsanctioned |
The employer letter alone is not the whole job. Pair it with a side-letter or addendum to your employment contract documenting the remote-work arrangement. This is where the permanent establishment protection lives, and it is the part that generic templates leave out entirely.
The addendum should bake in the fact pattern from binding tax ruling V0066-22 (DGT, 18 January 2022) explicitly. That ruling held that no permanent establishment arose in Spain where four things were true. Your addendum should state all four:
Written properly, the addendum does double duty: it satisfies the visa file and it is the document your employer’s finance or legal team will actually want to see before saying yes. Full detail on the ruling is on the permanent establishment page.
Bear in mind that UGE-CE now runs a Quality Control Unit (Unidad de Control) looking specifically for fictitious or fudged employment relationships, and the Madrid Superior Court’s Ruling 123/2025 confirmed serious-infraction penalties in that area. An over-engineered, internally consistent letter is not just about getting approved — it is about not being on the wrong side of that review. See the full rejection list.
The letter needs supporting evidence that the employer is a real, active company of at least one year’s standing. That means a Certificate of Good Standing or full extract from Companies House, ordered for around £15 with next-day delivery, then FCDO-apostilled.
The free PDF download from the Companies House website is rejected. It has to be the ordered certificate. This catches people out late in the process, when the apostille queue no longer has room for a re-order.
Most refusals from employers are not really refusals; they are an absence of information. The company hears ‘I want to move to Spain’ and imagines unbounded tax and legal exposure. What actually helps:
Next: the PE risk conversation with your employer, or why applications get rejected.
Company registered name, address, Companies House number and incorporation date; your full name and passport number; a continuous start date showing at least three months tenure; a job title and description confirming the work can be done entirely by computer and telematic means; salary in EUR; contract type and length; express authorisation to work remotely from Spain for at least 12 months; confirmation you serve non-Spanish clients; and a statement that the arrangement does not breach company policy.
Yes. It must be sworn-translated into Spanish by a traductor jurado registered with Spain's Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores (MAEC). A UK 'certified translation' service is not equivalent and is a common rejection driver. Budget roughly 70 to 150 euro per page.
It depends on the route. The employer letter is a private document, and UGE-CE has been known to accept it without an FCDO apostille, but some consulates ask for one. Confirm with your lawyer or the consulate before spending on it.
An authorised signatory such as the HR Director, CEO or Company Secretary, on company letterhead, dated within three months of submission. A line manager's signature invites a query.
The most common defect is missing express authorisation to work remotely specifically from Spain for a stated duration. Others include missing the statutory 'telematic means' language from Ley 28/2022, salary stated only in GBP with no EUR equivalent, salary inconsistent with payslips, and signature by someone who is not an authorised signatory.
It is a side-letter to your employment contract documenting the remote-work arrangement, and it is where permanent establishment protection lives. It should state that you requested the relocation, that the company keeps a UK workspace, that you cannot conclude contracts in Spain, and that the employer pays no allowance for your Spanish workspace - the fact pattern from binding ruling V0066-22.