MONTEVIDEO.- With the purpose of providing an effective solution to the immigration situation of more than 20,000 individuals, the government of Uruguay announced “residence by link”, a legal measure exceptionally designed to address the irregular status of a considerable population, mostly from Cuba, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The decree, ratified by the president Luis Lacalle Pouseeks to end the uncertainty in which thousands of people of foreign origin find themselves in the country.
This approach focuses on those who arrived in Uruguay as asylum seekers, but who do not meet the requirements to obtain refugee status nor can they access legal residence under current laws.
“We are talking about more than 20,000 individuals in an irregular situation,” explained the chancellor. Omar Paganini at a press conference.
Paganini highlighted that the majority of these migrants are originally from Cuba and requested asylum because they did not have the necessary visa to travel from that country.
With this new measure, these people will have the option to renounce their asylum application and apply for legal residence in Uruguay.
Residence by link offers three modalities: employment or self-employment roots (permanent), family roots (permanent) and roots for educational purposes (temporary renewable). In addition, the possibility of accessing citizenship in the future opens.
The chancellor stressed that this measure will also facilitate family reunification, a process that is not currently available to asylum seekers.
Given concerns about whether this measure could encourage migration to Uruguay, Paganini clarified that “residence by link” only applies to those who are already in the country in an irregular situation.
Currently, the Refugee Commission (CORE), in charge of processing asylum applications, has more than 24,000 pending cases, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source: With information from AFP
