Lawyers Criticise Malta’s 180-Day Visa Deadline, Arguing It Harms Foreign Workers

A group of lawyers and legal procurators in Malta have criticised the country’s 180-day visa deadline, claiming that it is creating unnecessary difficulties for third-country nationals (TCNs) looking to work in Malta.

Under the current regulations, TCNs can apply for work permits while living outside Malta. If their application is approved, they obtain the Approval in Principle letter, which gives them 180 days to show up before the Identita agency in Malta, Schengen.News reports.

According to lawyers, this period has become an “unrealistic deadline” for many foreign applicants over the past years, mainly because of the long processing times of visa applications in their home countries.

The Times of Malta explains that this causes a situation where once applicants obtain their visa to enter Malta, their approval letter would have expired.

So far, this issue has been addressed with a degree of understanding, where individuals who were granted visas were allowed to enter the country and present themselves to Identita to complete their work permit application even if the approval letter had expired.

However, a group of legal experts said that people who showed up at Identita with a valid visa but an expired letter over the past few days were informed that their visas were being revoked.

Lawyers in question consider this a “drastic and troubling change” that has created distress and confusion.

Regarding this issue, lawyers have called on Identita to stop revoking visas in cases where the ‘approval in principle’ letter has expired beyond the applicants’ control.

Among other things, they called for a more “reasonable and humane solution” that considers visa processing times and respects the basic rights of the impacted applicants.

Although the government has tightened visa rules, its country needs additional workers to tackle shortages in several sectors.

The 2023 EURES report on shortages and surpluses revealed that Malta is facing labour shortages in 20 occupations. Some of the affected sectors include manufacturing, construction, healthcare, food service and hospitality, business and administration.

Source : https://schengen.news/lawyers-criticise-maltas-180-day-visa-deadline-arguing-it-harms-foreign-workers/