We show you our most important and recent visitors news details Migrants rush to apply under Spain’s new mass legalization program in the following article
Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - MADRID — Migrants in Spain on Monday began applying in person to legalize their status after the European nation launched an amnesty measure that could affect hundreds of thousands of foreigners living and working in the country without authorization, the Associated Press reported.
Hundreds of migrants lined up outside migration offices in the country in an attempt to legalize their status as Spain opened an in-person application window, part of a program aimed at granting legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, announced earlier in January.
The Spanish policy goes against the usual trend of anti-immigration rhetoric and policies seen in much of Europe. It also aims to reduce labor exploitation of migrants in the country’s underground economy.
The program, announced in January and finalized this month, offers immigrants without legal status a one-year, renewable residence permit if they have spent five months living in the country and have a clean criminal record. They have until the end of June to apply.
There have been questions about the short window to process that Spanish think tank Funcas estimates could inlude around 840,000 people.
Over 370 post offices opened their doors to applicants and the government has said they also can apply at 60 social security offices and a handful of migration offices. Online applications started last Thursday.
Applicants at post offices in the capital, Madrid, and Barcelona described a process without incident, though some criticized long wait times even with appointments.
“It’s pretty simple since I made an appointment online and I was given one for this morning,” said Nubia Rivas, a 47-year-old Venezuelan migrant who filed her application at a post office in downtown Madrid. “The process here is a little slow, but it’s fluid.”
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a progressive, has called the measure “an act of justice and a necessity,” arguing that those already living and working in Spain should “do so under equal conditions” and pay taxes.
With an aging population, the government says Spain needs more workers to maintain its growing economy and contribute to social security.
Spain’s position sharply differs from prevailing attitudes on immigration in Europe, where many governments have been trying to curb arrivals and step up deportations. The Spanish government has defended the legalization measure as an economic one that has the support of business owners and unions.
In recent years, Spain’s population has grown considerably to include around 10 million people who were born outside the country — or one in every five residents. Many are from Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco, having fled poverty, violence or political instability.
Key sectors of the Spanish economy, including agriculture, tourism and the service sector, depend on immigrants from Latin America and Africa.
It’s not the first time Spain has granted amnesty to immigrants living in the country without authorization.
It did so six times before between 1986 and 2005, including under conservative governments. — Agencies
These were the details of the news Migrants rush to apply under Spain’s new mass legalization program for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Saudi Gazette and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
