Another stage of work on amendment of the Foreigners Act 

Information has appeared on the website of the Governmental Legislation Centre about positions on ongoing work on amendment of the Foreigners Act, as submitted in March this year by, among others, provincial governors and the Citizens’ Rights Ombudsman. Already at this stage of work on the Act, there are divergent positions in individual opinions  concerning, inter alia, electronic form of the legalisation process (about which we wrote last week) or the elimination from a decision to grant a so-called EU Blue Card of elements such as the indication of the conditions of work or the employing entity.

Employer representatives note the need to provide entities entrusting work to foreigners with the power to monitor the status of pending proceedings, on which the Act in its current wording is silent.

On the other hand, the Governor of Mazowiecki Voivodeship postulates, among other things:

• the simplification of procedures for granting another residence permit in the case of employment with the same employer, continuation of studies or education, etc.,
• no application of Article 37 of the Administrative Procedure Code from proceedings on granting a temporary residence, permanent residence or long-term EU resident permit,
• inclusion in the law of the obligation to submit, together with an application, a proper power of attorney document,
• eventually the statutory regulation of the institution of a professional proxy.

  Currently, the proponent of the draft, i.e. Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, should refer to submitted comments and positions.

We will closely monitor further process and keep you informed about the most important changes in this draft law amending the Foreigners Act.