What level of Catalan is now required of immigrants?
The law guarantees in principle that official languages must be learned and there are courses to do so, but this does not mean that it is decisive for the residence permit.
BarcelonaThe secretary general of Junts, Jordi Turull, and the spokesperson for Carles Puigdemont's party in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, have stressed in recent days that, when the delegation of powers is carried out immigration, knowledge of Catalan will be a "requirement" to obtain a residence permit in Catalonia. Statements that have caused an uproar on the right and have provoked a reaction from the Spanish government. The Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, said that "there is no reference to any requirement" in the bill and the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, clarified that "language is not a requirement to deny a permit, expel a person or prohibit entry." The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, has assured, in any case, that "in our Constitution, in addition to Castilian, the co-official status of three other languages is included. And the immigration law states that a knowledge of the languages spoken in each of their territories is also required." What is now the level of Catalan required of immigrants for a residence permit?
Mariló Carrasco arrived in Catalonia from Colombia five years ago, but it was not until September 2024 that she was able to obtain her first residence permit, which is valid for one year. She explains to the ARA that to do so she had to prove social roots; the most common route of those provided for in the immigration law, developed by the Generalitat. This accreditation is obtained either through just 45 hours of courses from the Normalisation Consortium or by demonstrating a good level in the interview with the city council official. Carrasco is working at the same cleaning company that hired her and allowed her to regularise her status, but her great fear is becoming unemployed, which would complicate the renewal.
Permission is not denied for not knowing Catalan
Article 2 ter of the Immigration Law mentions "learning all the official languages" as "essential factors for integration"; Article 68 speaks of participation in "social, labour and cultural integration programmes" for reports on rooting, and Article 31 makes it clear that, in order to renew the residence permit, "special value will be placed" on the autonomous community issuing "a positive report" that "certifies attendance at the training activities provided for in Article 2". However, it is the Generalitat that has regulated the accreditation of languages for residence permits.
According to the 2017 instruction of the Generalitat, the Catalan administration requires for the first renewal of the residence permit "a basic linguistic competence in Catalan and in Spanish if you can understand everyday words and simple phrases, and interact in a very simple way as long as the other person speaks slowly and with little". In the Vall d'Aran, the language in play is also Aranese. This step is mandatory to obtain the report on effort and integration for social roots, which the Generalitat has been processing since 2012, through the general directorate of Migrations and Refuge of the department of Social Rights and Inclusion. Once approved, this report serves both to initiate other procedures and to obtain the report for the authorization for roots, the renewal of the temporary residence permit, the acquisition of nationality by residence and access to the labor market.
But how is it evaluated? Through an interview with the town hall official, providing an official certificate of Catalan level from the Linguistic Policy, at least level A1 or A2, or by attending a minimum training course of only 45 hours. This course must be accompanied by "certifications issued by the Consortium for Linguistic Normalization" or entities with an agreement that mention "the date of the training and the hours of attendance."
It is even qualified: "If during the interview it is found that the applicant does not speak or understand either of the two official languages, the proposed document and the report will be unfavourable, even if the applicant has undergone language training." However, with regard to Catalan, according to the technicians, although they are unfavourable due to the applicant's lack of knowledge of Catalan, it is normal for the Immigration Office to ignore this point. Although this is not stated anywhere, according to knowledgeable sources consulted by the ARA, not being minimally proficient in Catalan is not a reason to deny any type of permit if the rest of the requirements are in order.