Spain to grant residency to unauthorised foreigners who complete vocational training
The Spanish government has announced it will give a temporary residence permit to foreigners without legal residency if they complete vocational training courses.
Spain's Education Ministry is planning to offer a potential solution to some of the roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants in the country by offering them temporary residency if they agree to complete vocational training, what's called Formación Profesional (FP) in Spanish.
Foreigners who do not have official residency in Spain but wish to make the most of the government's offer will have to meet a series of requirements such as having a high enough level of Spanish and certain pre-existing skills which allow them to complete the vocational training of choice.
The measure is part of the first draft of the royal decree on the Regulation of Vocational Training, initially approved in 2022. If it is greenlighted in Spain's Congress and Senate, it will bolster the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration.
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants in Spain are forced in the black economy and are vulnerable to exploitation, as without a residency permit they are excluded from the country's labour legislation, social security system and other social benefits such as education and training.
Sources from the Education Ministry headed by Pilar Alegría confirmed to Spanish news agency Europa Press the that the new decree hopes to "include all groups" and "open the door for vocational training to the foreign population".
The measure will officialise and normalise the new arraigo por formación (settlement through training) temporary residency authorisation that was introduced last August.
It is designed for citizens from non-EU countries who have remained in Spain continuously for two years, and are willing to carry out professional training.
According to the government, the temporary residency authorisation will be dependent on passing the corresponding courses.
Sources from Spain’s Ministry of Education have said that these will be "shorter" training courses that offer them a series of qualifications and allow them to access the labour market quicker.
Sources from the ministry have confirmed that it will be available to people of all ages, not just the young.
Up until recently, for a non-EU foreigner to be hired by a company in Spain they would either have to be applying for a job on the skills shortage list (a very limited list, mainly for maritime work) or the employer would have to prove that there was no EU candidate capable of doing the job.
Faced with huge labour shortages, the Spanish government amended its laws in 2022 to allow Spanish employers to hire non-EU candidates for all types of blue-collar work, including positions deemed high-skilled and low-skilled.
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Spain's Education Ministry is planning to offer a potential solution to some of the roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants in the country by offering them temporary residency if they agree to complete vocational training, what's called Formación Profesional (FP) in Spanish.
Foreigners who do not have official residency in Spain but wish to make the most of the government's offer will have to meet a series of requirements such as having a high enough level of Spanish and certain pre-existing skills which allow them to complete the vocational training of choice.
The measure is part of the first draft of the royal decree on the Regulation of Vocational Training, initially approved in 2022. If it is greenlighted in Spain's Congress and Senate, it will bolster the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration.
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants in Spain are forced in the black economy and are vulnerable to exploitation, as without a residency permit they are excluded from the country's labour legislation, social security system and other social benefits such as education and training.
Sources from the Education Ministry headed by Pilar Alegría confirmed to Spanish news agency Europa Press the that the new decree hopes to "include all groups" and "open the door for vocational training to the foreign population".
The measure will officialise and normalise the new arraigo por formación (settlement through training) temporary residency authorisation that was introduced last August.
It is designed for citizens from non-EU countries who have remained in Spain continuously for two years, and are willing to carry out professional training.
According to the government, the temporary residency authorisation will be dependent on passing the corresponding courses.
Sources from Spain’s Ministry of Education have said that these will be "shorter" training courses that offer them a series of qualifications and allow them to access the labour market quicker.
Sources from the ministry have confirmed that it will be available to people of all ages, not just the young.
Up until recently, for a non-EU foreigner to be hired by a company in Spain they would either have to be applying for a job on the skills shortage list (a very limited list, mainly for maritime work) or the employer would have to prove that there was no EU candidate capable of doing the job.
Faced with huge labour shortages, the Spanish government amended its laws in 2022 to allow Spanish employers to hire non-EU candidates for all types of blue-collar work, including positions deemed high-skilled and low-skilled.
READ ALSO:
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