Athens News: Immigrant fees still too high

 
DESPITE progress in granting immigrants European Union-wide, longterm resident status, Greece needs to do more, the European Commission says. In a report issued last week, the commission said among other things that the application fees remain too high, the requirements too stringent and social resources inadequate...Even the 600 euro fee may be “excessively high” and “contrary to the principle of proportionality and as equivalent to an unlawful condition for admission endangering the effet utile [practical effectiveness] of the directive”. According to the commission, even fees as low as 260 euros can be seen as “problematic”. The maximum amount which EU citizens are required to pay for a residence permit is 30 euros, and the commission considers everything over that as “disproportionate”... Overall, application conditions in Greece remain the most restrictive in the Europe Union, according to the 2011 Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). Funded by the EU, the study measured a range of legislative indicators, from paths to citizenship to immigrants’ access to public education and the labour market...
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