Permit Changes
Published by deviousdiva October 8th, 2007 in Immigration.The government is making changes to the language requirements for the long-term residence permits for non-EU citizens. In the past, applicants had to prove a near-perfect fluency in Greek and extensive knowledge of history and politics at about the level of a secondary school graduate.
The process is still very problematic for most people because of the mandatory 150 hours of Greek lessons and 25 hours Greek history and culture which are provided by the Institute for Lifelong Education (IDEKE). There are very few places on the courses so applicants might have to wait several years for a place. There are only five classes in Athens and only 3000 places nationwide per year. If you can pass the test without these classes (ie you learn enough Greek independently), surely you should be allowed to apply for the permit. After all, no-one is going to risk paying the 900 euro fee if they didn’t feel capable of passing!
Ahmet Moavias, co-founder of the Greek Migrants Forum, which currently represents 37 immigrant communities, spoke to the Athens News:
I would like to believe this is good news. Maybe now immigrants may begin applying for this new status. Our offices receive telephone calls daily from immigrants across the country asking us about how they can apply. I am glad to hear that the language test has been simplified, especially after such a long delay.
I would like to believe it too. The new longterm resident permit was backed by all EU member states in November 2003. It should have been implemented last year but It looks unlikely that Greece will have anything in place until next year.
The 900 euro fee has not been changed. Remember, this is approximately two months wages for the average unskilled worker and I really don’t understand how anyone could afford to pay it.
Even the Council of State - the highest administrative court in Greece - has formally called on the government to scrap the fee. As previously reported by the Athens News, the court reasoned that the fee must be “abolished” because it is in violation of EU law on the grounds that it may discourage immigrants from applying.
Read the full article from the Athens News.
An American in Athens has a post on the same subject here.
Technorati: Greece, immigration, residence permit, Greek language,
I guess married to a Greek citizen I never had to worry about this stuff. I’d recommend all immigrants to get a Greek wife, that way they don’t have to do all this nonsense. (LOL)
I did this same article except in more detail on Oct 2nd. I guess we don’t sync our ideas!
Hi Kat, our blogs are bound to overlap aren’t they ? We cover the same issues quite often because our sources are pretty much the same. I don’t buy the Athens News very often so I wait until it comes online the following week. I don’t think it matters though as we have our own perspectives on the issues.
I will add a link to your post in a while…
It doesn’t matter to me, I was just laughing about it.
And actually, the original post I wrote in March is sourced from my life, not the Athens News because their article was wrong. The one from Oct. 2nd was an update showing the supposed “relaxed” language requirement they reported is a lie. Even if they claim it’s more basic in content, they increased Greek lessons from 100 to 150 hours.
Sincere apologies Kat, if I mis-interpreted your comment. I think I did
I felt like it was a criticism and felt bad that you were pointing out that I was not up-to-date.
I am sure you didn’t mean it that way and I am glad you came back and wrote that you didn’t.
Thank you.
Surely not a criticism at all! I don’t buy the Athens News either, so I’d normally be looking at the online edition also. Our friendly periptero guy lets me read anything I like for free, as long as I give it back in perfect condition and quickly. It’s pointless to post earlier than the online edition anyway, since I can’t provide the link until then. I post early only if I already have an original post written from days of yore (like this one; plus my site is non-EU oriented on permits, work, etc).
Btw, off topic. Why have we not heard a peep about Alex? I’m quite pissed off about that. Last I heard, a bunch of people recanted knowing anything, and the “justice” system was still trying to decide whether to charge people. Gees!