Andorra Boosts Immigration Staff by Three to Cut Peak Waiting Times

The Andorran Immigration Service will reinforce its staffing with three additional personnel this winter compared to the previous campaign, once available positions are filled, Justice and Interior Minister Ester Molné has stated.

In her written reply to Pere Baró, deputy president of the Social Democrat parliamentary group, Molné noted that the department operates effectively overall but experiences heightened waiting times when quotas activate. Autumn winter quotas, for instance, can prompt over 5,000 authorisation applications in a brief period, with similar surges during summer and general residency/work quotas. Demand eases after Christmas through March and in August, when users face virtually no delays.

The government anticipates shorter queues during peak influxes thanks to the personnel boost and two new service counters now in operation—one restored for active residency and another in the Obac building for passive residency.

On staffing, seasonal winter hires include three collaborators annually: two for immigration and one for the medical area. Permanent expansions feature positions either created or in the filling process, plus two more in the 2027 draft budget pending Consell General approval. The department lacks data on waiting times, average visits per file, or user complaints.

Digitalisation continues via a contract with Hiberus and Eqtic, in collaboration with the Digital Transformation department. The rollout will proceed step by step, procedure by procedure, to simplify requirements, enable online submissions, clarify rules, and minimise in-person visits while ensuring system reliability.