An elderly widower has spoken about how his attempt to obtain a work permit for his new Filipino carer turned into a stressful seven-month ordeal riddled with “misinformation and bureaucracy”.
Last July, Frank Muscat, 79, contacted the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) to ask whether he should be applying for the issue of the work/ residence permit for a Filipino woman whom he wished to employ as his live-in carer, replacing his former carer of the same nationality.
The woman’s visa was about to expire the following month, in August.
After numerous e-mails and phone calls to the ETC, Mr Muscat was finally informed that as from July 21, all people from outside the EU would be required to submit their application themselves at the Department for Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs (DCEA) in Valletta. The DCEA also told Mr Muscat that the carer would need private health insurance cover – a request which surprised him, since the carer was already paying National Insurance and this requirement had never applied to his previous Filipino carer.
However, the DCEA insisted it was an ETC requirement. Following lengthy correspondence with the DCEA, the ETC and a representative of the Home Affairs Ministry, it transpired there had been a mistake and that the private health insurance was not required after all.
The unreasonable delay is psychologically detrimental to both employer and employee
In August, the carer was granted an interim visa and Mr Muscat once again asked whether a work permit would be granted before it expired in November, as each interim visa application cost €25.
In November, the carer was finally granted the work/residence permit. However, the address listed was wrong and she was once again issued an interim visa and charged a further €25 to modify it.
“The last seven months clearly demonstrate that, within the Department of Citizenship, the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing,” Mr Muscat said.
“Additionally, the unreasonable delay in issuing a work permit is psychologically detrimental to both employer and employee.”
Work permits, he continued, should be issued without undue delays and without having to wait three months and beyond.
A spokesman from Identity Malta described the incident as “unfortunate”, occurring at a time when the Department and the ETC were introducing a new service on the basis of the EU single permit directive.
The directive, he said, was meant to give the opportunity to “third country nationals” to apply for both a residence permit and an employment permit through the DCEA.
“Identity Malta is confident that problems are being overcome and that a better service is already being offered to citizens, even though there is always space for improvement.
“As a matter of fact, the processing of the application in question has been concluded and the applicant has been informed accordingly.”