During this time, the so-called Regulation to the Law on Foreigners was in effect, and Spain temporarily left the Schengen Agreement. An immigrant wishing to obtain a residence permit had to meet three conditions. First - have a job invitation for a six-month period. Second - enter Spain before August 7, 2004. Third - provide a certificate of no criminal record.
Citizens of more than a hundred countries submitted 690 thousand applications. Of these, 58.7% were men. Leading were Ecuadorians (140 thousand), followed by Romanians (118 thousand), Moroccans (86 thousand), Colombians (86 thousand), Bolivians (47 thousand), Bulgarians (26 thousand), Argentines (24 thousand), Ukrainians (22 thousand), Pakistanis (15 thousand), and Chinese (12 thousand).
The main surprise in the statistics is Romanians taking second place. As for Russians, there are not many of them - about 8 thousand. Overall, the Russian-speaking diaspora in Spain is estimated at 120-130 thousand people, of whom nearly half were living illegally until now.
After receiving a positive response to their application, each immigrant must register with the local tax authority and start working while paying the social security tax. This tax, as in other countries, is paid by the employer. It amounts to €250-400 per month, depending on the salary. Pension payments are made from this money, which in Spain any person who has paid this tax for 10 years is entitled to. Thus, an immigrant does not have the opportunity to leave for another country immediately after their legalization, otherwise their residence permit, issued for only one year, will not be extended.
During this time, the Spanish authorities hope to earn about 0.7 billion euros from the amnesty, and then repeat this result next year. State Secretary for Immigration Consuelo Rumí stated that the amnesty "did not cost even one euro" for taxpayers, since future taxes will compensate for current expenses. She also believes that no more than 150 thousand illegal immigrants remain in Spain and has suggested they "turn themselves in." Quite seriously, the official asserts that they have nowhere to go, and it is better to do so voluntarily - otherwise they face deportation and a ban on entering the country for up to 10 years.
The last week of the Regulation exceeded all expectations: huge queues formed at the reception points. For example, on May 6 almost 40 thousand applications were collected, and on May 7 - almost 55 thousand. However, nearly half a million illegal immigrants still remain in Spain. These people clearly fall into three categories - those who arrived after May 7, 2004, those with legal problems, and those who arrived shortly before that date but have no proof of their stay in Spain. Many of them kept hoping for a miracle. But it did not happen - the amnesty is over. At the same time, the most important problem of immigration policy remains unresolved: Spain lacks a real mechanism for legalizing law-abiding foreigners. The long-suffering Law on Foreigners does not work, if only because it was stillborn. This means that, as in 2000, the number of illegal immigrants will gradually increase until it leads in five years to a "revolutionary" situation, that is, to another amnesty.
As the newspaper El País reported, Minister of Labor Jesús Caldera, the "godfather" of the amnesty, did not miss the opportunity to demonstrate the success of his department and on the last day of the process appeared near one of the Seguridad Social offices in Madrid. He spoke with several immigrants, one of whom asked him to extend the Regulation, but received a firm refusal. The government's task has been completed. "Almost 700 thousand legalized immigrants are more than 80% of all illegal immigrants in Spain, so we are satisfied with such results," Caldera told journalists.
Once again, he deliberately confuses the desired with the actual. After all, the number of applications is not equal to the number of foreigners who will receive their social security number and keep it for the next year.
In any case, the amnesty should be seen as a humane and economically beneficial step. Spain will gain new workers, mostly young. Its population is growing successfully and has recently reached an unprecedented figure of 44 million people, thanks in part to foreigners. Those immigrants who do not pay taxes will soon be deprived of their residence permits, and the rest will integrate into Spanish society. We wish them success.