The Information and Settlement Service telephone helpline and online assistance remain in service
Wed, 22/04/2020 - 18:52
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- PIA
Immigration. The Family Reunification Housing Suitability Reports service has also seen changes to its operations and will stay closed until further notice.
The Family Reunification Housing Suitability Reports service has also seen changes to its operations and will stay closed until further notice.
As a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Barcelona City Council’s Information and Settlement Service (PIA) will not be offering face-to-face assistance until further notice, although its telephone helpline and online assistance remain in service.
The service provides individual assistance to information enquiries on social roots procedures and neighbourhood documents, by emailing pia@bcn.cat or phoning 691 67 65 95 and 662 52 69 17 (Mondays to Fridays, 9 am to 2 pm).
All face-to-face appointments for obtaining social roots reports and neighbourhood documents have been cancelled. Anyone affected by this measure will be contacted to arrange an online video-conference interview as soon as the situation allows.
As regards appointments for legal information and advice, these will go ahead on the day and at the time established, by phone. Administrative staff will contact the individuals concerned before their appointment, to confirm the telephone appointment with the legal service.
Another service with changes to its normal operations is the Housing Suitability Reports service for family reunification procedures, which will stay closed and suspend visits to housing until further notice. Application processing at the proposal stage has also been suspended and administrative processing deadlines interrupted. In this case the public assistance service will continue for general enquiries, by email: informeshabitatge@bcn.cat.
Administrative procedures have been suspended
Bear in mind that, following Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14 March, declaring the State of Alert, the Sub-delegation of the Spanish Government in Barcelona has suspended administrative deadlines until the state of alert has ended. Further information.
The Equality, Migrations and Citizenship Secretariat, the competent authority for issuing social roots reports in Catalonia, has likewise announced that it will start to process registered applications during this exceptional period once the state of alert has ended. Further information.
Other service changes
Remember too that the Care Service for Immigrants, Emigrants and Refugees (SAIER) will only attend to social and legal emergency situations, at Carrer Font Honrada, 10, Mondays to Fridays, 9 am to 3 pm.
And the Guidance and Accompaniment Service for Immigrants (SOAPI) has also suspended its face-to-face activity, though it continues to operate online. In addition, it has also published a series of documents in 10 languages containing the main changes to immigration-related procedures during the state of alert in response to the Covid-19 crisis.