BARCELONA, Spain — Paperless Filipino workers here each got pieces of paper hoping that these help them regularize their immigration status in Spain and in the country’s Catalan region.

"Good thing the passport number [in my diploma] is correct," said irregular migrant Julia (not her real name) after shaking hands with her teachers and with officials of the Church-run Centro Filipino Tuluyan San Benito that has been running thrice-a-year idioma (language) classes for 20 years.

Her diploma, printed in a white, ordinary A4 bond paper, certified that Julia finished a certain level of Spanish language instruction.

There had been increasing demands for slots in Centro Filipino’s idioma classes, says Centro president Paulita Astillero, given new regulations that a migrant cannot renew one’s r ... Read more »