Starting work in Girona: number, afiliación and, for some, a permit

European workers

You may work without a permit. For a short contract while you keep your home abroad, a stand-alone number requested on form EX-15 is enough; if you are moving here, register as a resident on the EX-18; your number then appears on the green certificate. Cross-border workers who live in France usually take the first route.

Hired on a non-EU passport

You need an authorisation to work before you start, usually arranged before you travel, often by the employer, and followed by a visa from the consulate; once you are here, a toma de huellas for the TIE completes the process. Catalonia has one particularity: first work authorisations go through the Generalitat de Catalunya, not the State’s Oficina de Extranjería on Gran Via de Jaume I 17, which deals with other residence authorisations.

Your afiliación number

The número de afiliación, your Social Security number, is separate from the NIE and comes from a third administration, the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (Social Security treasury, TGSS). Your employer can request it when registering you, or you can request it yourself. The Seguridad Social’s office finder places the TGSS offices in Girona at Avda. Josep Tarradellas i Joan 3.

What the employer will ask for

• Your NIE, on its certificate, the green certificate or the TIE
• Your Social Security number, if you already have one
• The IBAN of a Spanish account for your pay
• Your passport or EU identity card
• For non-EU workers, the authorisation or the card that shows it

Working for yourself, or looking for work

Becoming an autónomo, a self-employed worker, means registering with the tax office and the Seguridad Social yourself. Europeans can do so once they hold a NIE; non-EU citizens must first obtain permission to work on their own account, by a separate route.

Still looking? The Generalitat’s Oficina de Treball de Girona, Avinguda de Lluís Pericot 86-90, registers jobseekers; Salt has an office of its own.