A/HRC/53/26 suspensive effect of appeal. States should ensure that migrants, including irregular migrants, can apply for procedures themselves and have access to all related information and documentation, so that they do not have to rely upon family members, abusive partners, sponsors, employers, corrupt agents, law enforcement actors or others to submit and follow up on their applications. In addition, a document should provide proof of their legal provisional regularity until a final decision is made. Police and other enforcement bodies should be made aware of the nature of such provisional status. Migrants should be able to work or have access to adequate means of subsistence while their case is being reviewed.49 66. Regardless of the grounds for and length of residence that is granted, migrants should be provided with full and equal access to human and labour rights and essential services, including health care, education, an adequate standard of living, justice, social protection and decent work. Where it is not lawful, legitimate, necessary and proportionate, differential treatment in relation to access to rights and services based on migration status and the grounds under which residency is granted amounts to discrimination. Moreover, limited access to rights and services can itself be a further cause of vulnerability for the individual. When temporary residence is granted to migrants, States should provide for avenues to transition to another status, including those that provide long-term residency. Extensions, renewals and transition to another regular migration status should be facilitated by States through clear, streamlined, accessible and affordable procedures.50 67. The Special Rapporteur regrettably notes that Governments and civil society work separately from each other when it comes to undocumented migrants, effective administration and the wider society. However, it must be acknowledged that involving all stakeholders benefits everyone involved: Governments can be confident of designing and implementing effective processes that will reach migrants and of receiving high-quality applications from migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers eligible for the scheme, while migrants access procedures that are designed with them in mind and can trust in a fair and positive result. In such a scenario, both the design and the implementation of the procedures benefit from everyone’s expertise. IV. Conclusion and recommendations 68. The Special Rapporteur concludes that through human rights-based, genderresponsive pathways for regular migration and for the regularization of undocumented migrants, States must provide options for permanent residence, citizenship and meaningful participation in civic life to facilitate social and family integration. The global narrative on regular pathways must not be narrowed to emphasize temporary migration. Regularization programmes should focus on promoting and allowing access to permanent residence and pathways to citizenship, including family reunification initiatives. The Special Rapporteur particularly notes that existing regularization programmes, including temporary residence permits benefitting asylum-seekers, victims of trafficking and other crime victims, offer solely short-term stays, with restricted or no access to the labour market. As such, they fall short of needed rightsbased regularization. In addition, regularization policies should not be tied to sponsorship schemes that lead to exploitation and rights abuses. While such schemes, in theory, may grant a person regular status, in practice they are precarious, exposing migrants to many of the same risks and challenges as being undocumented. 51 69. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that in some countries, accompanied children may be denied their right to be heard and are treated as a “footnote” to their parents’ files, which means that child-specific or individual reasons for the granting of asylum or other regular status may be overlooked. Unaccompanied children in care systems may fall into irregularity when they “age out” at the age of 18 years, starting adulthood undocumented and leading to their potential exclusion, exploitation and even deportation. Residence or work permits tied to the employer may easily lead migrant 49 50 51 16 Ibid. Ibid. See submission from the Women in Migration Network. GE.23-06641