Filipino Jayson Vizconde is looking forward to finally being able to work. Photo: Matthew MirabelliFilipino Jayson Vizconde smiles as he holds a temporary residence permit that will “hopefully” mean he reached the end of his two-month bureaucratic paper chase.
The 35-year-old has not been able to work for the past nine months, relying on relatives in Malta, because he has been waiting for the outcome of an appeal to a deportation order issued last July.
Two months ago the Immigration Appeals Board revoked the decision which meant he could start the process of applying for a residence and work permit.
Since then, he has been bouncing around between the Employment and Training Corporation, the Department for Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs and the police and, finally, on Friday he got a temporary residence permit.
This is not the end of the paper chase as he still has to get his work permit from the ETC that will allow him to get his final residence permit – but Mr Vizconde is seeing his glass half full. He has a job lined up and his new employer has been supportive throughout the process.
“It was not easy. I had to stay home and I was lucky my sister and cousin helped me. There was lots of waiting. But I am happy now. Hopefully I can soon work,” he said in an optimistic tone. He had come to Malta, some three years ago, to work and support his family in the Philippines, especially his mother who was on medication.
In July last year Times of Malta reported Mr Vizconde’s plight after he was held in detention for two weeks after being arrested, on July 9, for working without a permit following “a misunderstanding”.
There was lots of waiting. But I am happy now
Mr Vizconde, who was in between jobs, was waiting for a work permit to be issued under his new employer. The employer, Joseph Spiteri, said he misunderstood a document sent to him by the ETC to mean that Mr Vizconde could start working – following a conversation he had, on those lines, with an ETC official.
It later turned out the document simply stated the work permit application was being processed.
After receiving an anonymous phone call, ETC officials and police turned up at the company and arrested Mr Vizconde for working without a permit. He was arrested and a deportation order was issued.
Mr Vizconde then filed the appeal before the Immigration Appeals Board. His residence permit, that was valid till the end of July 2014, expired but he could stay until the board’s decision. Pending the decision, he was granted bail against a €1,000 deposit.
Two months ago the board decided in his favour but, his lawyer Neil Falzon said, the deposit was not returned to him automatically. A separate application had to be filed, which was still pending.
A government spokesman said that, last year, the Single Permit Directive came into force in Malta and helped simplify the process for non-EU nationals who wanted to live and work in Malta. Now they can apply for a combined residence and work permit.
People who (like Mr Vizconde) did not submit a single permit application had to go through the process of applying for a residence permit and work licence separately. If the work permit application was approved by stakeholders – including the police and health directorate – the permit was issued.
If the applicant was in Malta, a copy of a valid residence permit was needed for the licence to be issued. After the licence was issued, the applicant had to apply for a residence permit, the spokesman said.