Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area

On 31 March 2024, Bulgaria and Romania were ‘partially’ accepted into the Schengen area.

Controls on persons at the internal air and sea borders of both countries have now been abolished. However, controls remain in place at land borders between Bulgaria, Romania and the other Schengen countries.

The next step of integration is expected to be a decision on the targeted abolition of controls also at land borders by the end of 2024.

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.

Is the Digitalisation of the Residence Permit Procedure under Threat?

On 9 February 2024, a draft bill on amendments to the Act on Foreigners and certain other acts was published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre, which envisages revolutionary changes in the way applications for residence permits are submitted.

Among other things, the draft provides for the introduction of an obligation to submit the above-mentioned applications via an ICT system.

The first opinions of the provincial governors on the planned changes were made known at the beginning of last week. Most of them are negative – mainly because of the proposed change in the way applications are to be submitted.

Reactivation of the Forum on Foreigners

The Forum on Foreigners at the Mazovian Province Governor’s Office was reactivated on March 1^st. On that day, the Deputy Governor of Mazovian Voivodeship Office met with public institutions and non-governmental organisations acting on behalf of foreigners in order to plan further activities and discuss current needs in the area of broadly defined support for foreigners in Poland.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 15 NGOs, the Office of the Capital City of Warsaw, as well as the Director and Deputy Director of the Mazovian Voivodeship Office Department of Foreigners’ Affairs.

Attention was drawn at the meeting to the great importance of cooperation with NGOs handling foreigners’ affairs. The need to streamline administrative procedures, such as  access to an efficient office helpline or an appointment booking system, was also discussed.

The reactivation of the Forum implies a return to systematic and organised cooperation, which is expected to improve the quality of services provided to foreigners.