Non-EU students will be able to stay on after graduation

The Spanish government is preparing legislation which will mean non-European Union university students no longer have to renew their residence permit on a yearly basis as well as allowing them to automatically stay in Spain for one or two years after graduating, reports The Local.es.

“Among the plans for the new University System Law is that the residence permit to study in Spain will no longer have to be requested every year, as is the case now, and will instead be extended for the duration of studies,” explained Universities Minister Joan Subirats on Monday 13 June. “Additionally, we have to find ways to retain that talent that we have trained so they can keep their residence status and look for work for two years”.

Spain and Italy are the European countries with the highest brain drain rates in the EU, according to data from the Centre for European Policy Studies. Around 90,000 highly qualified graduates who studied in Spain over the past decade have left the country to find better career prospects overseas.
Full report on The Local.es site