Spain and South Africa authorize employment for family members of diplomats at Embassies and Consulates

The Diplomat The Council of Ministers approved on Tuesday the exchange of notes establishing the Agreement between Spain and South Africa on the free exercise of remunerated activities by dependent family members of members of diplomatic missions and consular offices, as well as its provisional application. The beneficiaries of this agreement are dependent family members who are part of the household of a member of a diplomatic mission or consular office of the sending State and who wish to carry out remunerated employment that is not subject to applicable rules of international law, such as the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, or any other equivalent bilateral agreement. Under the agreement, the dependent family members of these individuals are authorized to carry out remunerated activities in the receiving State, under the same conditions as nationals of that State, once they have obtained the corresponding authorization in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. Spain has ratified agreements of this nature with more than thirty states. For the purposes of this agreement, dependent family members are defined as spouses, registered domestic partners, or partners in a relationship analogous to marriage (provided it is recognized as such by the authorities of both countries), unmarried children under 18 years of age, children between 18 and 25 years of age enrolled full-time in an educational institution approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the receiving state, and children, regardless of age, who are dependent on their parents and have a physical or mental disability. According to the Government, this type of agreement reflects the social transformation that Spain has undergone in recent decades, which has also been reflected in the status of the partners and dependent family members of Spanish foreign service officials, whose profile has evolved from the traditional one. The vast majority of these people have academic training, higher or university degrees, technical preparation and work experience that they do not wish to interrupt, but rather wish to develop while accompanying their partner on an official mission abroad.

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