Plan in the works to modernize resident permits mechanism

The Migration and Asylum Ministry is working on a draft law to modernize the administrative mechanism granting resident permits to legal migrants. Addressing the relevant House committee on Wednesday, Minister Dimitris Kairidis admitted that the residence permit mechanism for legal migrants is far from supportive as the average waiting time is two years, while there are cases where the process takes longer.

"Within the first half of 2024, four new biometric data collection centers will be opened, three in Athens and one in Thessaloniki, to free up staff," Kairidis said. "A migrant who has come here legally, who works here legally, who pays taxes and contributions and applies for renewal of their residence permit has been suffering for years," he added. 

He said that by the first half of 2026, the digitization of 850,000 migration files will be completed, reducing the...