Citizen complaints to the Ombudsman related to Aliens and Immigration Law fell 12.4% in 2013.
Every month the Ombudsman submits a document covering the opinions and complaints of those affected by the Aliens and Immigration Law. In his latest, he emphasizes the following:
¨the politics of immigration law, and more so immigration management, affect not only foreign nationals but also Spanish nationals. Millions of citizens are dealing with labor, commercial, professional and familiar administrative procedures that are very similar to the ones overseen by the Ombudsman.¨
(¨cada vez más la política de inmigración y, más allá de ella, la gestión de la extranjería, es cuestión que afecta tanto a los no nacionales como a los españoles”. Muy especialmente a los millones de conciudadanos que por razón de sus vínculos afectivos, familiares, profesionales, laborales o comerciales se ven concernidos por procedimientos y actuaciones administrativas como las que diariamente supervisa el Defensor del Pueblo”.)
Over the past year we have seen the biggest rise in procedures linked to the Civil Registry. From 2010 to 2013, there were 600,732 nationality by residence applications. By the 31st of December 2013, 395,880 of them were resolved. The majority of complaints regarding these procedures had to do with the delay in processing the applications, especially those presented in 2008-2010.
Among those who have been greatly affected by this delay are those foreign nationals who still haven´t initiated their residency applications because their legal status in Spain depends on the employment situation of family members who are waiting for their nationality application to be resolved.
Translated by: Katherine Pascal