Guide to living in Andorra, residency, personal advice on relocating to Andorra

I have had a number of enquiries recently as to what exactly is required when applying for work permits either seasonal or permanent. Each year the Andorran Government dreams up a new requirement which has become a mine field for the unprepared, and as ever it would appear that this website is unique in trying to explain what you have to do. I can assist and advise those who are interested in obtaining either seasonal or permanent work permits.

Firstly DO NOT just pitch up in Andorra without essential documents that you will need before you arrive. Seasonal permits for the ski season are the most common applications, and will run from 1st November until 1st May, after that you have 7 days to leave. Permanent work permits if available can depend on the level of professionalism, from time to time a new quota is released for various sectors of commerce. A quota, known here as a "CUPO" is from time to time opened by the Ministry of The Interior with a fixed number of places available. Persons having an interest in permanent work permit here should contact me directly for advice.

For seasonal permits though, this is some of what you need !

A police report, also known as a certificate of previous convictions, not only from your last country where you may have been working or living BUT ALSO your country of origin. I will append an e-mail reply I have sent recently which explains this with a couple of links for UK applicants....

"In the UK the police certificate is provided by means of an application form for "Subject access" under the Data Protection Act. You should search for the website of the police constabulary where you have lived in the UK, you can also use relatives or friends. You then can down load an application form and will need to enclose a cheque as payment, between 10 to 30 pounds, this varies according to which Police Force you are applying to. You can in some cases pay more for a quicker service, the pledge to the public is that it will be processed within 42 days maximum, but normally takes a couple of weeks.
The following link is from the Metropolitan Police Force and may be helpful to understand what you need.

http://www.met.police.uk/information/further_information.htm

Unfortunately that it is not the end of it as Andorra requires you to have it "apostillised" under the Hague Convention. This entails that you send the completed police form to Milton Keynes for a stamp to prove it is an authentic document. Milton Keynes is the only place in the UK where this can be done. It can be done by post or in person, and costs about 27 pounds. Be aware though that they will not post it from Milton Keynes to an address outside the UK.

For further information on document Apostilles please see my page headed " Apostilles".

So, if you are looking for work for the ski season with a seasonal work permit, do your homework well in advance. A police report is acceptable for the purposes of applying for a work permit in Andorra up to 3 months from the date of issue.

Andorra splits the requirements for those coming to Andorra who are from the EU and those who are not. Be careful again as Andorra has its own interpretation of who is in and who is not. At the moment, for example, Polish, Hungarians and other former East European countries are NOT EU !! This means that all non-EU applicants will need references to prove 2 years work experience in a similiar capacity, with the relevant contact details of the person who employed them in case Immigration here can suddenly speak Polish or Hungarian etc!!

Having done that you will need an employer, so it is useful to put feelers out in advance for hotels, bars etc.

There then is considerable form filling, all in Catalan, a medical, and all this provided the documents are all completed correctlty will take less than a week to approve.

I can assist those who are interested in all aspects of Immigration documentation.