Municipality/Region

Catalonia, Spain

Summary

The Government of Catalonia offers an information and advice service for immigrants, refugees and returnees called ‘Info-migration’ (Info-migració). The service responds to all kinds of questions regarding legal issues, as well as questions about registration, the Catalan education and health systems, being active in local associations, language courses and other topics related to integration in Catalonia.

Areas of integration covered by practice

• Undocumented migrants
• Integration of migrants in political and civic local life
• Fighting discrimination and promotion of diversity

Background and purpose

Most immigrants, regardless of their administrative status, must go through various procedures to come to a country and then to stay. Because legislation on immigration differs from one country to another, it is important that immigrants have all necessary information about their rights and obligations, as well as how necessary procedures work and expected outcomes.

In Catalonia, the number of immigrants increased significantly between 2000 and 2009 (currently 14.2% of the population are non-nationals). Therefore, it was necessary to establish a service where people could get the information they needed from a reliable source.

Timeframe

This programme started in 2006 and is ongoing.

How does it work?

The Info-migration service responds to questions about legal issues, registration, the health and education systems, getting involved with local associations, language courses and other topics related to integration in Catalonia. Although the service does not handle immigration files, it provides necessary information and recommends appropriate actions. By default, the service is in Catalan, although, depending on the need of the user, it can be adapted to Spanish, English, French, and Chinese.

The Secretariat for Equality, Migration and Citizenship oversees the programme. The direct services are performed by a company hired by the Secretariat. People can access Info-migration by phone, email or in-person.

The service has staff who specialise in non-discrimination and can address questions related to inequality and discrimination due to race, origin, language, belief, ethnicity or other grounds, as well as hate crimes. The specialised staff can also provide legal advice related to these topics. The entire process is confidential. It involves an initial consultation, advice on and facilitation of appropriate actions (including possible mediation) in order to restore the rights that have been infringed upon and to manage the conflict.

Results and evaluation

Since the implementation of the programme in 2006, approximately 295,000 people have used the service. 54% of the consultations were about immigration matters, 38% about residency and working permits, 3% about nationality and 5% on other topics.

Funding

This programme is financed entirely by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia). The annual budget is approximately €1,200,000.

Further information

Website of the practice