Barcelona nurse Camila Herrera has been granted temporary residency in Spain, one of the first favourable decisions in the country’s regularisation process for migrants.
The resolution was signed by Santiago Yerga, the government’s Director General of Migration Management. Herrera, 23, works at Clínica Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and said she was very happy with the outcome.
Her application was submitted on 17 April and was completed one month and 12 days later. She had previously held provisional asylum status. Herrera arrived in Spain as part of the Venezuelan diaspora, after leaving a country affected by shortages and violence.
Herrera lives in Barcelona with her mother and sister, who are also waiting for their residency documents. Their applications were submitted a week after hers. The government had up to three months to issue a final decision once the application was admitted for processing.
Catalan.News has been following the regularisation process with Barcelona-based law firm Legalteam. The initiative aims to legalise the work and lives of about half a million migrants who were undocumented or held humanitarian international protection. More Catalonia news
The programme is intended to reduce irregular work, which often leaves people without rights or social security contributions. Many migrants in irregular situations also live with the risk of police detection and deportation, even after years in Spain. Legalteam director Guillermo Morales Catá welcomed Herrera’s favourable resolution, and said his firm received another positive decision before Friday evening.
Herrera now plans to enrol in a master’s programme in operating theatre nursing. She said she hopes to combine study and work, with the master’s in the morning and the clinic in the afternoon. She said her goal is to keep building her career in healthcare in Spain.