Costa Rica and Guatemala improve access to information and regularization through information hubs on migration

Municipal migration information hubs, located in over 20 Mesoamerican communities with a migrant presence, operate in coordination with IOM as spaces that facilitate migrants’ direct access to information on migration procedures and migration related issues.

In this context, Costa Rica opened the first Transactional Hub in the region, thanks to collaboration between the Migrant Information Hub in Upala and the General Directorate of Migration  (DGME).

Beginning Monday August 5, in addition to receiving secure and trustworthy information on migration, migrants will be able to schedule appointments with the migration authority, the General Directorate of Migration, review their case online, check the status of the proceedings to regularize their migration status, and more.

“Now migrants in this region will be able to request service appointments at this hub, to then be transferred to the DGME. It is definitely one of the best projects in the region,” stated Raquel Vargas, General Director of Migration.

“For IOM Costa Rica, this hub represents a strategic model for building the capacities of local governments for migration management, facilitating migrants’ access to regularization procedures, and reducing the risks associated with irregular migration,” stated Isis Orozco, IOM Coordinator for Costa Rica.

For its part, in Guatemala, where 7 Information Hubs currently operate, IOM developed and shared the Municipal Migration Information Hub Manual with the municipal authorities in Altiplano with the objective of uniting their efforts and providing a common framework for implementing intervention protocols.

Jorge Peraza, Chief of Mission of IOM for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras emphasized the current dynamism of migration flows and the increase in return migration of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents, as well as of family units in the western region. “Information hubs play an essential role in addressing this phenomenon and updating them constantly enables them to provide services adapted to each group, especially those in situations of vulnerability.”

These activities are carried out within the framework of the Regional Migration Program: Mesoamerica-The Caribbean, financed by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) of the Department of State of the United States.