Migration Policy Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean
Immigration, regional free movement, refuge, and nationality
Latin American and Caribbean countries have received increasing number of migrants in the last decade. This report from the Migration Unit of the Inter-American Development Bank presents and describes the most complete database on migration regimes in the 26 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean that are borrowing member countries of the Bank. The database presents information derived from 435 judicial instruments organized around 40 indicators that permit multidimensional comparisons, identification of subregional patterns, and observation of trends in the recent evolution of these policies.

Judicial Frameworks

A migration policy regime for the 21st century

The majority of migration laws of the countries analyzed are recent, modern, and contemplate a broad array of rights that promote the integration and regularization of migrants. The countries of Latin America generally have laws that are more recent than those in the Caribbean. On average, their laws guarantee migrants more than three of the six rights analyzed: 1) permanent mechanisms for the regularization of migrants; 2) access the labor market; 3) access to the public health system; 4) access to public education; 5) family reunification; and 6) rights to vote in some elections.

Source
■ Migration Policy Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean Immigration, Regional Free Movement, Refuge, and Nationality. More informationVisit web

Source
■ Migration Policy Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean Immigration, Regional Free Movement, Refuge, and Nationality. More informationVisit web

Regularization processes

The adoption of extraordinary mechanisms for regularization of migrants is very common

Since the year 2000 the region has seen more than 90 extraordinary regularizations in 18 of the 26 countries analyzed. Regularization is a tool used by countries that face migrant populations in irregular situations, facilitating their socioeconomic integration in the host country.

* Only the 26 countries analyzed are mapped.


Regional mobility

International agreements on residence and mobility influence the labor market and family reunification

Many countries offer preferential access to temporary and permanent residence, by means of subregional or bilateral agreements, or even unilateral measures, for migrants from certain countries that meet basic criteria and, in some cases, preferential treatment in access to citizenship. On the other hand, there are still numerous cases of countries that require entry visas to be obtained prior to travel for nationals of other countries of the region.

Visa requirement
Preference to obtain temporary residence
Source
■ Migration Policy Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean Immigration, Regional Free Movement, Refuge, and Nationality. More informationVisit web

Source
■ Migration Policy Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean Immigration, Regional Free Movement, Refuge, and Nationality. More informationVisit web

International Instruments

Human rights and international instruments

The percentage of international and regional instruments on human rights that have been ratified by countries of the region is quite high, but lower in the Caribbean. Nine of the principal human rights treaties of the United Nations that contain elements relevant to human mobility, two Global Pacts from 2018, and four conventions and protocols of the Americas are analyzed.