The president of Chile said that immigration policies could not keep waiting, and assures that thousands of foreign citizens are already participating in this process

In recent years, Chile has become a host country for thousands of foreigners who seek for a better future for their lives and who feel limited by the political and social conditions of their countries of origin. And Haiti, Peru, and Venezuela have the highest rate of foreigners with residency in the country.

Leer en español: Piñera quiere que Chile siga siendo un país abierto y acogedor para quienes necesiten residencia

This has led to new measures being taken to receive migrants, in search of a good for both the Chilean society and the new residents. The president of the republic, Sebastián Piñera, in his speech Public Account (Cuenta Pública, in Spanish) he talked about how this process began since he took the office this year.

In matters of migration, the president did not present any news during his first Public Account. His speech focused mainly on detailing how the measures that have already been taken regarding the regularization of foreigners residing in the country have worked.

In this sense, Piñera said that he wants Chile to remain an open and welcoming country for those who need residency, so he finds it necessary to move forward with a new immigration policy to put order and care for the citizens.

In favor of this, a couple of weeks ago a regularization process was initiated for foreign inhabitants who do not have any kind of criminal record, and more than 130 thousand have participated in this registry.

Before the Public Account, on April 9 Piñera announced the sending of a new Migration Law and signed the text in the company of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ampuero, and the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Andrés Chadwick.

Among the changes included in the proposal of this law can be found several that were already incorporated in the program presented by the president during his presidential campaign last year:

• Creation of the Migration Policy Council, which will be in charge of evaluating and proposing other changes to the legislation.

• Creation of specific visas for human capital.

• Generate a National Registry of Migrants.

• Avoid the entry to Chile of people with criminal records.

Also, the president clarified in the speech of Public Account that this process of regulation would also apply to foreigners who entered Chile until April 8, 2018, and stressed that the intention of this new law is to generate more order in the country and that all people who go to work honestly are welcome.

"Welcome to Chile those who want to come to comply with our laws, and contribute to the development of the country," said President @sebastianpinera , in the middle of a Víctor Jara stadium full of migrants willing to regularize. pic.twitter.com/rM8Jvq7FY9

– Press Presidency of Chile (@presidencia_cl) April 23, 2018

With all this, the reaction of the foreign population has been really positive and many have already begun to be part of this process with the purpose of adapting to the new immigration regulations, this having as source the official data of the Chilean Foreign Ministry.

Latin American Post | Sara Morales

Translated from "Piñera quiere que Chile siga siendo un país abierto y acogedor para quienes necesiten residencia"