English language students from outside the EU are facing huge delays to get their visas renewed – a growing problem which industry insiders say could hurt the sector.
Sources who work in the English language industry said some students who came to Malta for long-term courses were giving up. Rather than chasing paperwork to extend their stay beyond their 90-day visas, they were leaving before they completed their course.
“We’ve had students give up. If nothing is done about the situation we might start losing students to other countries,” according to a man who works in the English language industry.
He, and other English language school sources, did not want to be named since they did not want to compromise the relationship of their schools with the federation representing English language schools, Feltom, which is working to address the issue.
He added that Maltese language schools could lose credibility with agents abroad who could start picking other destinations where students did not have to wait for more than eight weeks to be granted a residence permit
The root of the problem is a backlog at Identity Malta, which runs the Department of Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs at Evan’s building in Valletta.
The length of time between application and getting an extension seems to be getting much worse
This backlog is leading to a situation where applications for a temporary residence permit – required by students who want to stay beyond 90 days – are taking longer than the standard eight weeks. Students affected include those from Colombia, Brazil, Libya and South Korea.
This newspaper spoke to students from the impacted countries. Two South Koreans, age 24 and 23, had just started the process of obtaining their residence permits and were worried because of their friends’ experiences.
One said that her friend was constantly asked for more paperwork and had to go to Evan’s building about five times before finally getting the document.
A 20-year-old Libyan man said he felt “very bad” about the hassle he had to go through to extend his stay in Malta. He applied more than eight weeks ago and was hoping to finally get the papers.
Language school sources said they believed the eight weeks was too long and this should be reduced to four.
The number of students from outside the EU and Schengen areas increased considerably last year when compared to 2013.
Figures released by the National Statistics Office last month showed that the average student stay was of just over three weeks with the longest stays registered by Colombians, South Koreans and Libyans – about a year.
Industry sources said the process had become smoother since Feltom, with the cooperation of Identity Malta, started taking students’ biometrics from its Ta’ Xbiex office so that they did not have to go to Evan’s building.
“However, the length of time between application and getting an extension has not improved and very recently seems to be getting much worse causing much frustration, especially in ‘emerging’ markets such as Columbia and Brazil,” said the source who also preferred not to be named.
Feltom chief executive Genevieve Abela said the federation was in contact with the authorities to resolve the problem.
A spokesman for Identity Malta said that, between January and April, the Department of Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs registered 1,745 applications for the purpose of study (not just English language students), of which 1,694 of applicants were non-EU.
Ms Abela explained that students from outside the EU and Schengen zone obtained a tourist short-stay visa valid for a maximum of 90 days.
If their course was longer, they had to apply for a temporary residence permit.
A spokeswoman for the Home Affairs Ministry said the ministry was working with the Education Ministry and Foreign Affairs Ministry to prepare policy guidelines to facilitate the granting of visas or residence permits.