With reference to the letter by Leonard Jackson (February 15) and previous letters in regard to the new e-residence permits, I am hoping that the myriad of expats who are in the dark regarding the issuing of the new documents may get some response from the Department for Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs, who have thrown up a wall of silence surrounding the whole issue.

We have all been told to make appointments by e-mail and given a telephone number to ring. Unfortunately, e-mails are not answered and the telephone is permanently engaged.

A simple automated e-mail acknowledgement would suffice to inform people that their message has been received and that their application would be dealt with in due course.

Like me, there are hundreds of expats who don’t know what to do next and are unable to get any sensible information from anywhere. We are all reminded, however, that our present ID cards expire on March 31, 2013.

As an aside, having recently moved house, I today went to the Vehicle Licensing Department in Gozo to change the address on my vehicle log book. Guess what? They are unable to do this because the address on my ID does not match my new address. I explained the situation regarding the issuing of new identity documents to the clerk who, unfortunately, was unable to do anything.

At the same time, I presented documents to apply for a Maltese driving licence and, again, was unable to proceed.

I am sure that there are more instances that highlight the difficulties we expats are facing, through no fault of our own, and which, in some cases, will put us in breach of the law.

In the likely event that nothing will be heard from the appropriate department, it is surely time that the Government extend the time frame for the issuing of the e-residence permit or, as suggested by Jackson, they should be issued automatically to the holders of a residence permit.

Hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel.