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Can you apply from inside Spain?
Yes, if you are in Spain de forma regular (legally). Article 74 quinquies of Ley 14/2013 says that foreigners who are in Spain legally, or who entered on the teleworker visa, "podrán solicitar una autorización de residencia con el fin de teletrabajar a distancia para una empresa localizada en el extranjero".
The law does not list which ways of being legal count. A visitor who entered visa-free or on a Schengen short-stay visa and is still inside the permitted short stay is in Spain legally in the ordinary sense. This page does not claim more than the law says: the general requirements of article 62 include "No encontrarse irregularmente en territorio español", so someone who has already overstayed is the risky case. That person should take advice before filing anything.
The usual alternative is the visa route: applying at a Spanish consulate before you travel. It is a separate route with its own rules, and it is not required if you meet the condition above.
What happens to your stay while UGE decides
The applications go to the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE), online. Article 76.1 of Ley 14/2013 then says:
"La solicitud de autorizaciones de residencia previstas en esta sección prorrogará la vigencia de la situación de residencia o de estancia de la que fuera titular el solicitante hasta la resolución del procedimiento."
In plain English: filing extends the legal situation you had when you filed, whether that was residence or a short stay, until the procedure is resolved. For a visitor, your short stay carries on while the application is pending.
- The sentence is tied to the situation you held when you filed. File while your stay is still valid, not after it has run out.
- Nothing in the sources we read says how to prove this stay to a border officer if you leave and re-enter while the file is open, or whether you may travel at all. That is not stated. Ask your adviser before you book a trip.
The decision deadline and silence
Article 76.1 sets a maximum of twenty days to decide, counted "desde la presentación electrónica de la solicitud". If UGE does not decide in that time, "la autorización se entenderá estimada por silencio administrativo". Silence means approval.
To prove it, Ley 39/2015 (article 24.4) lets you ask for a certificado acreditativo del silencio, a certificate that silence has occurred. You can request it at any time, and the body must then issue it within fifteen days of your request reaching its electronic register. UGE says all filings and follow-up documents go through the electronic office of the Ministry, so make the request there with your electronic certificate. We did not find a dedicated form for it on the UGE pages, so check how your adviser files it.
The same logic is used for renewals. See the renewal guide rather than repeating it here.
If you came in through another Schengen country
A third-country national who enters Spain from another Schengen state and has no Spanish residence authorisation must "declarar la entrada personalmente ante las autoridades policiales españolas". If not done on entry, it must be done within "tres días" at any Policía Nacional station (article 13 of Real Decreto 1155/2024). This is separate from your UGE application. See proof of entry for how to handle it.
If the application is refused
- Article 76.1 says decisions are reasoned and can be challenged by recurso de alzada (an administrative appeal), under articles 121 and 122 of Ley 39/2015.
- Deadline: "un mes, si el acto fuera expreso" (one month from a written refusal). For a refusal by silence, the appeal can be filed at any time after the day silence takes effect.
- The stay extension in article 76.1 runs hasta la resolución del procedimiento, until the procedure is resolved. Whether lodging an appeal extends your stay again is not stated in the sources we read.
- Being in Spain without a valid stay or residence authorisation is an offence under article 53.1.a of Ley Orgánica 4/2000, listed among the serious infractions: "Encontrarse irregularmente en territorio español, por no haber obtenido la prórroga de estancia, carecer de autorización de residencia…". We do not cover what follows from that, because it depends on the case.
The time limits are short, so a refusal is a point to take advice the same week, not the same month.
Family members applying at the same time
Under article 62.4 of Ley 14/2013, family members can apply jointly and at the same time as the main applicant, and when they do, the decisions are issued together. See the family and dependants guide for who counts.
Sources
Who can do this for you
The application is filed electronically with a digital certificate. An immigration lawyer can judge whether your stay is still valid, file before it ends, handle the silence certificate and bring any appeal. A gestor can often handle the filing and the follow-up paperwork.
This page is general information, not legal advice. It was checked against the sources above on the date shown. Immigration rules and office practice change, so confirm the current position before relying on any of it.