Santosh Shrestha, President of NRN Spain, has said that the plan to provide legal status to undocumented immigrants will bring relief to thousands of Nepalis.
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The Spanish government is set to grant legal status to about 500,000 undocumented immigrants. The order issued on Tuesday paves the way for undocumented Nepali workers to also get legal status in Spain. In recent times, the number of Nepalis who illegally enter Spain on visas from Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria and live there without documents has been increasing.
Spain's Minister of Social Security, Immigration and Inclusion, Alma Saiz, said the move would grant legal status to "work in any part of Spain, in any sector." "This step is intended to give recognition and respect to migrants already living in Spain," she told state broadcaster RTVE. "The number may be more or less, but it is possible to register around 500,000 migrants."
The scheme will run from April to the end of June. It will also include children of applicants already living in Spain.
According to a press note issued by the Immigration Ministry, those who entered and resided in Spain before December 31, 2025, will be able to apply. Those who can prove that they have been in Spain for at least five consecutive months at the time of application, have no criminal record, are not considered a threat to public security, and have applied for asylum before December 31, 2025, will be able to register.
Santosh Shrestha, President of the Non-Resident Nepali Association, Spain, said that the plan to provide legal status to the undocumented is very important for Nepalis. ‘There is no exact number of undocumented Nepalis in Spain.’ But when you meet Nepalis in the city market here, there is a very large number. In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of Nepalis coming to Spain from various countries in search of work,’ he said, ‘When they come like that, they do not have a residence permit card.’ Which has made them struggle a lot to find work. They cannot legally rent their houses. They have been deprived of opening bank accounts. They have not been able to come and go to Nepal.’
According to him, passports should be given to Nepalis to participate in this plan in time. ‘The Nepali embassy has limited staff. Due to excessive pressure, passport applications have not been processed in time. A special mobile service should be operated for this. It is difficult to get a token to make a passport,' he said. According to him, there are about 50,000 Nepalis in Spain.
According to the ministry, the undocumented will initially be given a one-year residence permit. Which can be renewed later. This is the largest campaign to document undocumented immigrants in Spain in the last two decades. A similar campaign was previously launched two decades ago. At that time, the status of about half a million immigrants was legalized. According to the BBC, it does not require parliamentary approval to implement it. It will be approved through a royal decree.
The citizenship bill proposal, which was brought to document immigrants, had been stuck in parliament for a long time, despite receiving the support of about 700,000 people. The demand for migrant registration was led by Irene Montero, a former minister in the Socialist coalition government and leader of the Podemos party.
The move to register migrants comes after an agreement between Irene's party and the government.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said registration is necessary to address the migrant labour shortage and mitigate the impact of Spain's ageing population.
According to official figures from the National Institute of Statistics, more than 7 million foreigners live in Spain, out of a total population of 49.4 million.
