La ministra Elma Saiz comparte el Plan Estatal de Retorno Voluntario con la colectividad española de Nueva York

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, held a meeting on Wednesday with the Council of Spanish Residents of New York (CRENY) where she shared the main lines of work of the State Plan of Voluntary Return of Spaniards Abroad in which the Government of Spain works.

This plan, which will see the light of day in 2025, includes the creation of a Spanish Office of Return to advise and help people who want to return to Spain. Their actions will be aimed at facilitating the return of Spaniards who had to leave the country for work and/or economic reasons and who wish to return at present.

“The economic and labor landscape of our country has changed a lot since the years of the economic crisis. Now, our country is Europe’s economic engine and the labour market shows very high strength and solidity. For that reason, we launched this Plan and facilitated the return of those people who wish to return to Spain”, said the minister this Wednesday during the meeting.

The Spanish Office of Return will work closely with the different departments of the General Administration of the State and, especially, with the Consulates and Departments of Labor, Migration and Social Security to implement an information and communication strategy for Spanish people who wish to return. The objective is to facilitate the procedures so that they can return to Spain, as well as facilitate their insertion in the labor market and their integration in the country. Likewise, appropriate measures will be taken to facilitate the schooling of returning minors.

Promotion of associationism

Minister Saiz has also been interested in the network of associations of Spaniards in the United States, a country that has almost 234,000 Spanish citizens registered as residents. Of these, more than 50,000 are attached to the demarcation of the Consulate General of Spain in New York. It is the second consulate with the highest number of Spaniards registered as residents, after that of Miami (85,080).

“About 3 million Spaniards are currently registered in the Register of Spanish Residents Abroad, according to the National Institute of Statistics. Faced with this important colony of Spaniards residing outside our borders, it is important that we work on strengthening their ties with our country through an increase in associationism,” he said.

Convention on Social Security

During the meeting, the minister has also been able to share with the Spanish community the consequences of the agreement signed last April on Social Security between Spain and the United States and which allows for improvements in the social protection of workers who develop part of their working life in both countries.

From now on, two pension calculations will be made. A first calculation counting only with the quotations in Spain, and a second adding to them the time quoted in the United States. Compared to the two calculations, the most favorable will be paid. Until now, if you were entitled to a pension only with contributions in Spain, you paid that benefit without you being able to make the second calculation by adding up the contributions in the United States, although it could have been higher.

In addition, the agreement also improves the calculation of the regulatory basis of benefits when contributions from Spain and the United States are totaled, based on the actual contribution bases prior to the last working day in Spain. This change is especially beneficial to those who develop the last part of their working life in the United States, without harming those who have worked in Spain immediately before the application for the benefit.

There are more than 1,000 workers displaced under the agreement to the United States and the pensions in force are more than 7,000. According to the latest data from the Register of Spanish Residents Abroad (PERE), 150,199 are of working age, around 70% of the total.