Red Tape Hot Box on Visa renewals
A few months ago I discussed the difficulties of obtaining a residency visa. However, never did I imagine that renewing a visa could be just as difficult as the application process.
I received a letter from one of our readers who hails from Italy. He's been living here for some time now, and so has experienced the legal obstacles that await foreigners behind every corner. One of them involved the infamous residency visa, and the stipulation that an application for renewal can be submitted no earlier than 60 days before the old one expires.
After receiving an application for renewal, the immigration office then contacts the police, who complete a background check on the applicant to ensure he has been living in the country legally and has all the papers required by the labour office. But the police sometimes send a letter to an applicant, informing him that a more extensive check of his data is required, and this may take upwards of 60 days. If such a procedure is deemed necessary (which is not always the case), the applicant knows that it will be next to impossible to have his visa renewed before it expires.
To date, our Italian reader has twice been subjected to such an investigation which, by delaying the process, has meant he has missed the deadline for renewal. The first time this happened he was summoned to court. After examining our reader's documents, the judge told him he could impose a fine of up to zł. 5,000, but since he knew that the delay was not his fault, the fine would be a mere zł. 500. This, he explained, would satisfy all the administrative bodies, and they therefore would not appeal against his ruling.
Our reader, however, was anything but satisfied about having to pay any fine at all, and took the case to the court of appeal. He won, and in the end all he had to pay was zł. 9 for postage stamps.
Funny enough, the next time he was taken to court he appeared before the same judge. This time the encounter was much shorter, as the judge simply asked, "Will you also settle this time for zł. 9?" As you can see, quite often it pays to fight for your rights.
Red tape bugging you? Tell Mateusz about it at matdem@poczta.onet.pl.
I received a letter from one of our readers who hails from Italy. He's been living here for some time now, and so has experienced the legal obstacles that await foreigners behind every corner. One of them involved the infamous residency visa, and the stipulation that an application for renewal can be submitted no earlier than 60 days before the old one expires.
After receiving an application for renewal, the immigration office then contacts the police, who complete a background check on the applicant to ensure he has been living in the country legally and has all the papers required by the labour office. But the police sometimes send a letter to an applicant, informing him that a more extensive check of his data is required, and this may take upwards of 60 days. If such a procedure is deemed necessary (which is not always the case), the applicant knows that it will be next to impossible to have his visa renewed before it expires.
To date, our Italian reader has twice been subjected to such an investigation which, by delaying the process, has meant he has missed the deadline for renewal. The first time this happened he was summoned to court. After examining our reader's documents, the judge told him he could impose a fine of up to zł. 5,000, but since he knew that the delay was not his fault, the fine would be a mere zł. 500. This, he explained, would satisfy all the administrative bodies, and they therefore would not appeal against his ruling.
Our reader, however, was anything but satisfied about having to pay any fine at all, and took the case to the court of appeal. He won, and in the end all he had to pay was zł. 9 for postage stamps.
Funny enough, the next time he was taken to court he appeared before the same judge. This time the encounter was much shorter, as the judge simply asked, "Will you also settle this time for zł. 9?" As you can see, quite often it pays to fight for your rights.
Red tape bugging you? Tell Mateusz about it at matdem@poczta.onet.pl.
