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Can they require me to answer questions about my ethnicity/place of birth?

I’m applying for a US-based position but the recruiter/hirer is from Europe. The position requires me being fluent in Spanish (I’m not sure if they need Portuguese fluency, but I know they wanted other languages for the position). My last name is Portuguese because I married a Brazilian, but I am not Brazilian. My native language is English and I learned Spanish and Portuguese as non-native languages. I always decline to disclose gender/orientation/ethnicity/race/army affiliation/disabilities. They asked me: “Could you please confirm where you were born? Your last name seems Portuguese, but I would like to confirm where you were born and where you studied.” I get that they want to know if I’m truly fluent in Spanish (and/or Portuguese) but they had me do a Spanish translation test, so if I passed it, why is my country of birth relevant? I’m authorized to work in the US so it’s not…


I’m applying for a US-based position but the recruiter/hirer is from Europe. The position requires me being fluent in Spanish (I’m not sure if they need Portuguese fluency, but I know they wanted other languages for the position). My last name is Portuguese because I married a Brazilian, but I am not Brazilian. My native language is English and I learned Spanish and Portuguese as non-native languages.

I always decline to disclose gender/orientation/ethnicity/race/army affiliation/disabilities.

They asked me: “Could you please confirm where you were born? Your last name seems Portuguese, but I would like to confirm where you were born and where you studied.”

I get that they want to know if I’m truly fluent in Spanish (and/or Portuguese) but they had me do a Spanish translation test, so if I passed it, why is my country of birth relevant? I’m authorized to work in the US so it’s not to figure out my citizenship. It’s to figure out my ethnicity. I did tell them in the interview that the languages are my non-native languages and my resume lists where I’ve studied.

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