Draft government bill on EC long-term resident status

[daryl]

Greetings everyone,

I have just received a copy of the draft government bill to implement the new Directive on EC long-term resident status. This draft version (in Finnish only) was recently circulated for comments and is now being redrafted. Anyway, you can now get the draft as a Word document from my fidisk here:

http://daryl.taylor.fidisk.fi/DraftGB.doc

All observations gratefuly received through this forum, and a special thank you to the forum member who took the trouble to request this document and forward it to me.

daryl

[Hank W.]

The good thing there is they actually state deadlines in how fast the permits have to be processed... bad thing is that the change applies only to the P-EY

[sy]

Main points from the draft government bill:

1. EC residence permit is regarded equal to the permanent residence permit from the viewpoint of validity period.

2. EC residence permit is marked by "P-EY".

3. EC residence permit is granted after five (5) years of uninterrupted residence period with continuous permit (i.e., Type A permit). (Thus residence years for studying purpose are not considered, as in the directive it says half of those years MAY be considered.)

4. Permanent residence permit will be canceled after two years of living outside of Finland. The EC permit will be canceled after 12 months of living outside of EU, or 6 years outside of Finland.

5. The EC permit is expired if the holder gets the EC permit from another EU member states.

6. If one's EC residence permit is canceled (as in Point 4) or expired (as in Point 5), new EC residence permit is granted again upon application if the applicant can support himself/herself financially (refer the Section 39 of the Aliens Act).


I hope this should answer most of the questions raised here so far. In addition:

1. It seems the only requirement for the EC permit is the 5-year residence rule. No other requirements such as proof of stable resources and sickness insurance, or integration requirements are needed. Obviously if you have got the Finnish permanent residence permit, those requirements are kind of fulfilled automatically.

2. Because the Directive doesn't concerned the border control (as in the Schengen treaty), an EC permit holder might need a visa to go to, for example, Estonia; just as a Finnish PR holder might need a visa to go to Estonia. This one sounds stupid, but probably for Schengen countries there should be a change to the Schengen Treaty; and for the non-Schengen countries they should modify their national laws to allow EC permit holders to enter their countries freely. Probably they won't. But anyhow an EC permit holder can apply for the residence permit in advance to another member state.

3. It's much easier to re-apply for the EC permit, than to re-apply for the Finnish PR. I guess this is a good point.

[Hank W.]

I think it also says that "free movement of labour" may be subject to national rules...

[sy]

Other observations:

1. The P-EY permit is valid for the time being. As the directive says the permit sticker has to be valid at least 5 year, Finland gives possibly longer period. So Daryl, there won't be the problem of the period of permit being longer than the validity of the passport.

2. As suggested before, when you get the EC permit, they will cancel your Finnish PR. Generally speaking, the EC permit gives more benefits than the Finnish PR.

3. About the living 13 months in St. Petersburg. You will loose your EC permit. But you can re-apply for it easily. If you have only Finnish PR and have lived 25 months in St. Petersburg, you will loose your Finnish PR. Then you have to apply for the Type A permit again and then the Finnish PR again after 4 years since you've got the A-permit. So from this point of view, EC permit is better than the Finnish PR.

4. For special reasons you can request that your EC permit won't be canceled after 12 months of absense.

[network_engineer]

Wow! Don't tell me, A's & B's again! Yeesh!

[network_engineer]

Hi all,

About this part:
------------------
Säännöksen sanamuoto ei käytännössä ole osoittautunut toimivaksi. Käytännössä lupien peruuttaminen säännöksen perusteella ei tule lainkaan kyseeseen. Lupaa ei ehditä peruuttaa esimerkiksi, koska lyhyen ajan kuluessa ei tule ilmi, että perusteita ei enää ole. Erityisesti kun kyseessä on jatkolupa, peruuttaminen ei tällä perusteella ole mahdollista, koska pohjalla on yleensä vähintään vuoden oleskelu. Myös jatkolupa tulisi olla mahdollista peruuttaa, jos ei enää ole olemassa luvan myöntämisen perusteita. Esimerkiksi jos henkilö on menettänyt työpaikkansa tai opiskelupaikkansa.

Edellä mainitusta lainkohdasta johtuen oleskeluluvan peruuttaminen on käytännössä mahdollista vain tilanteissa, joissa peruste on muuttunut hakijasta johtuvasta syystä. Oleskelulupa pitäisi voida peruuttaa muissakin tilanteissa, esimerkiksi jos Suomesta työpaikan saaneelle hakijalle ei olekaan työtä tarjolla Suomessa.
Käytännössä on myös ollut tilanteita, joissa lupa on myönnetty ja annettu jo tiedoksi, mutta luvan saanut henkilö ei ole vielä tullut maahan, eikä siis oleskellut Suomessa lyhyttäkään aikaa. Hakijan itse halutessa oleskelulupansa peruuttamista lupa on käytännössä peruutettu nimenomaan 58 §:n 4 momentin perusteella, vaikka hakija ei ole oleskellut yhtään päivää Suomessa.
-----------------------------------------

Take an example of a qualified immigrant worker having worked for three years (one year on a the first continuous (A) permit plus another two years out of three on the second three-year permit), who because of some restructuring loses his current position even for a couple of weeks... that gives "them" the right to cancel the permit and send the immigrant away. Never mind the fact that he has been working and paying taxes and is part of the social secuity system.

Not renewing his permit would be another thing, i.e. there is no basis for renewal, but this...!!!

Fantastic and fairest way (!) to attract qualified immigrants!!! Yeesh!

Of course, if immigrant on such permits were considered not-permanent-residents-yet and were subject to only a e.g. 5% (five percent) tax on their salaries, that would be another thing. But, oh, that would be unfair too!

Kind of contradicts the message from the Parliament, wherein they are looking for ways to attract immigrants!

The honourable Prime Minister is right, "they" need a big change in attitude!

Cheers.

PS: Sy, thanks for the clarification.

[network_engineer]

I.e. the above posting was about removing this part: "Peruuttamisen edellytyksenä on lisäksi, että ulkomaalainen on oleskellut Suomessa luvallisesti vasta lyhyen ajan."

[daryl]

I.e. the above posting was about removing this part: "Peruuttamisen edellytyksenä on lisäksi, että ulkomaalainen on oleskellut Suomessa luvallisesti vasta lyhyen ajan."

Thanks for pointing this one out. It appears that the interior administration is up to its old tricks again, trying to introduce an amendment to section 58 of the Aliens Act and its established interpretation as part of a government bill to implement Community Law.

It should be patently obvious that the proposed amendment has nothing to do with implementing the new Directive. The permit certifying EC long-term resident status will be issued to immigrants who have lived in Finland for at least five years. In this context it is nonsense to refer to difficulties in cancelling permits because of long official response times. Furthermore, the reinforced expulsion regulations of the Directive cannot be circumvented simply by withdrawing long-term resident status. It is at best severely incongruous to withdraw the residence permit of an immigrant who cannot be expelled.

Network_engineer is therefore correct in saying that the proposed amendment targets holders of temporary residence permits, not permanent residents or those with EC long-term resident status.

Realising this, I went scurrying back to hare in order to check the terms of reference of the Interior Ministry committee. According to the appointment decision of 17 June 2005, the assignment of the committee was ONLY to render the Aliens Act consistent with the Directive:

Tavoitteena on saattaa ulkomaalaislaki vastaamaan direktiivin sisältöä. ... Tehtävänä on valmistella ulkomaalaislakiin tarvittavat säännökset pitkään oleskelleiden kolmansien maiden kansalaisten asemasta.

There is nothing here about amending the provisions on cancelling temporary residence permits.

Without commenting on the content or wisdom of the proposal on permit cancellation, I think the Interior Ministry committee rather clearly overstepped its terms of reference.

The committee was originally supposed to report in autumn 2005, but it missed this deadline and accordingly failed to meet the implementation deadline for the Directive. It appears that one factor contributing to this delay was that the committee was "off on a frolic of its own" instead of complying with the employer's instructions.

I think a complaint is warranted, based on section 14 of the State Civil Servants Act:

Virkamiehen on suoritettava tehtävänsä asianmukaisesti ja viivytyksettä. Hänen on noudatettava työnjohto- ja valvontamääräyksiä.

Missing your deadline because you were occupied doing something other than your assigned duty cannot be consistent with this statute.

daryl

[astrolite]

Just wondering if anyone has heard or read anything in the news about the outcome of this government bill. I couldn't find anything from the Ministry of Interior's website, neither on the UVI website.

[Pondering Jack]

hello sy, daryl and netwrok.

what kind of residence permit do they talk about, that will be canceled if the grounds no longer are existing?

is it the B type or the A type? A & B have to be applied again, mean they are not valid after a specefied time. i mean that both B and A can be temporary. or is it that A is not consider temporary?

thanks.

快 乐 的 猴 子

[network_engineer]

Dear Daryl, Sy, all,

Pondering Jack: I am unable to answer your question at this point, because of a slight confusion myself.

Daryl: § 58, point 4, already states that a fixed term residence permit may be cancelled if the grounds do not exist anymore. This clause implies permits issued for both continuous and temporary purposes.

I apologise, Daryl can best clarify this.

WBR.

[Vallu]

Maybe I am out of topic here, but I have a question.
I am Italian, therefore for 3 months I don't need any residence or stay permit in Finland.
But after 3 months, I need.
In order to get it as soon as possible, should I go to register to the police office immediately when I arrive in Finland or after these 3 months?
I mean, can I apply for it even during those 3-free-stay-months?
Thanks guys!

[sinikettu]

.
I am Italian,
Thanks guys!

Italy is in the EU...
If you are Italain nationality..
You dont have to do anything..you "should" let the imigration police know that you are here.
If you want medical/social services you need a Kela number...
Somewhere there are list of thing to do and in what order for EU citizens,
But basically...You can come here just the same as if you go any other EU country...with no 3 month limit...

Edit found it...

bb/viewtopic.php?t=14496

[Hank W.]

Pitkään EU:ssa oleskelleille lupia aiempaa helpommin

IA, 20.7.2006

Pitkään EU:n alueella oleskelleiden kolmannen maan kansalaisten asemaa aiotaan parantaa ja liikkumista unionin alueella helpottaa. Hallitus päätti asiaa koskevan lakiesityksen sisällöstä torstaina.

Muutoksen myötä ulkomaalaislakiin lisätään uusi oleskelulupa, joka on direktiivin mukaisesti nimeltään pitkään oleskelleen kolmannen maan kansalaisen EY-oleskelulupa. EY-oleskeluluvan voi saada viiden vuoden yhtäjaksoisen oleskelun jälkeen.

Oleskeluaikaan ei lasketa oleskelua tilapäisellä oleskeluluvalla (B), joka myönnetään erimerkiksi opiskelua tai tilapäistä työntekoa varten. EY-oleskeluluvalla saa oleskella toisessa jäsenvaltiossa kolmen kuukauden ajan. Pitempiaikainen oleskelu edellyttää kansallisen oleskeluluvan hakemista toisessa jäsenvaltiossa.

Pitkään toisessa EU-maassa oleskelleen tulo Suomeen helpottuu

Toisessa jäsenvaltiossa pitkään oleskelleen aseman saanut kolmannen maan kansalainen saisi siirtyä Suomeen ja oleskella täällä kolmen kuukauden ajan. Jos sellainen henkilö haluaisi jäädä Suomeen, hän voisi hakea oleskelulupaa Suomessa kolmen kuukauden kuluessa maahan saapumisestaan. Aiemmin oleskelulupaa on pitänyt hakea ulkomailta.

Toisessa jäsenvaltiossa pitkään oleskelleen aseman saaneelle myönnetään direktiivin mukaisesti oleskelulupa työnteon, ammatinharjoittamisen, opiskelun tai muun syyn perusteella sillä edellytyksellä, että hänellä on riittävät varat toimeentulolleen Suomessa. Pitkään oleskelleen aseman saaneen viisumivelvollisen kolmannen maan kansalaisen maahantulo edellyttää edelleen viisumia, jos hän saapuu jäsenvaltiosta, joka ei sovella Schengenin säännöstöä. Näitä valtioita ovat uudet jäsenvaltiot, kuten esimerkiksi Viro, Latvia ja Liettua.

Toisesta jäsenvaltiosta Suomeen työtä tekemään tulevan pitkään oleskelleen kolmannen maan kansalaisen työntekoon sovelletaan ehdotuksen mukaan edelleen samoja sääntöjä kuin muihinkin kolmannen maan kansalaisiin. Työntekoon sovelletaan työvoiman saatavuusharkintaa, jos sitä ulkomaalaislain mukaan kyseisessä työtehtävässä edellytetään.