The Migration and Asylum Minister of Greece, Makis Voridis, has announced the abolishment of a rule that would have extended deadlines for residence permits.
Voridis told Parliament on Wednesday that he would review if the extension is needed referring to the provision that was initially included in a Public Order Ministry, submitted by the previous leadership of the Migration and Asylum Ministry, Schengen.News reports.
The Migration and Asylum Minister of Greece, Makis Voridis, emphasised the need for stricter migration policies and tighter controls.
We are deleting it because I want to think about whether there is really a need for such an extension. And in any case, this extension, if I ultimately decide to grant it, should be linked to more restrictive policies to deal with illegal immigration than this.
Following Current Rules
The abolishment of the rule means that foreigners in Greece must follow the existing rules, without benefiting from extra time granted.
Residence permits in Greece can be obtained in various ways, depending on the purpose. Among the options to obtain residence permits in Greece are asylum, work or employment, studies, family reunification, the Golden Visa Program and the Digital Nomad Visa.
Renewing or extending residence permits in Greece depends on the type of permit. For example, those who have been granted residence permits through asylum wishing to renew their residence permit must apply no later than thirty days before its expiry date to the Asylum Unit for beneficiaries of international protection.
Through a statement, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum of Greece emphasized that in case of late, unjustified application renewal, there will be fines of €100 imposed. However, there are some exemptions applied for valid reasons for the delay. In these cases, applicants can submit supporting documents to explain the late renewal request.
Increase in Number of Pending Residence Permit Applications
Greece is dealing with an increasing number of pending applications for residence permits. In September last year, the statistics from the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum revealed that there were a total of 273,900 pending residence permit applications registered. In comparison to the statistics registered in the same period in 2023, the number of pending applications increased by 12 per cent.
The figures from the Ministry revealed that about 90,140 of these residence permit applications, or nearly 33 per cent of the total were submitted in 2023.