UKRAINIANS without valid residence permits living in Spain will automatically be given leave to remain in the country, even if they arrived before the war broke out, the national government has confirmed.
Residence will be granted automatically to anyone from Ukraine already in Spain, and the process of moving in will be simplified for all those who have family, particularly partners and underage children, as Spanish residents, and who wish to join them.
The same will apply to those currently legally resident in Ukraine who come from non-EU countries originally.
Residence documents will be accompanied by work permits, so that new arrivals can start earning money the moment they reach Spain, explains government spokeswoman Isabel Rodríguez.
The decision will suppose a 'legal modification' which 'widens the subjective scope' of migration law, creating an 'exceptional mechanism' in line with the recently-announced European Union directive.
This directive allows anyone leaving Ukraine to escape the war to be granted asylum automatically for at least a year and up to a maximum of three, in any EU member State, with full access to national public health and education services and any recognised government aid or benefits the country in question normally offers.
After these three years, it is possible that the cross-State agreement will be modified and extended if the war remains ongoing – if peace has been declared, many refugees will probably want to return home, but those who wish to stay in their adopted country may then be able to apply for permanent or long-term residence via the normal routes if they are settled and have a regular income.
The automatic residence rights process applies to all Ukrainian nationals in Spain, given that those already living in the country cannot now return there under any circumstances, due to the conflict.
Around 100,000 Ukrainians were living in Spain prior to the war, with or without a residence card, but they will now be given these for a minimum of one year irrespective of their work status or income.
The Spanish government is working on the basis of around 12,000 Ukrainians arriving in the short term – double the figure of 6,000 it initially anticipated – and fully expects the numbers reaching Spain to multiply as the war continues.
So far, the United Nations calculates that around two million people have fled Ukraine in the last fortnight.
Isabel Rodríguez says president Pedro Sánchez and his cabinet are now working closely with the various regional governments across the country on a blanket refugee resettlement plan, which she hopes will be signed off at the forthcoming Presidential Conference in La Palma (Canary Islands).
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com