Sentidokomon

Green Card not Allowed for Third-Country Nationals

The hope to avail the Long Term Residency Status by non- European migrants seemed to have been thrown in the bin following the decision of the full bench of the Supreme Court in the case of a domestic worker applying for the green card.

Motilla case vs the Republic of Cyprus (Case No. 673/2006 is a clear-strong example to it. KISA or Action for Equality, Support, Anti-Racism has issued a press release expressing its grave concern about the Supreme Court’s decision denying approval of a domestic helper’s application for a long- term status. The press release states: “The full bench of the Supreme Court has, fortunately not unanimously, fully adopted the policy of the Civil Registry and Migration Department, which, in KISA’s opinion is illegal and in violation of the Directive 2003/109/European Council about the status of the long- term resident third world country nationals. This policy considers all migrant workers as temporarily resident with formally limited residence permits, irrespective of the fact that they have legally and continuously resided in Cyprus for five years. As a result, it excludes all migrants from the Directive’s scope of implementation. In other words, with the blessings of the Supreme Court, the overwhelming majority of migrants cannot benefit from the provisions of the Directive 2003/109/EC as almost all residence permits are formally limited.�

KISA, it said, “also denounces the Supreme Court’s omission to refer particular question for interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CoJ), which is solely competent to interpret community law, as it was its obligation to do, given that it considered the clarification of this question necessary for the outcome of the case. Instead, the Supreme Court itself interpreted community law, which has not up to now been interpreted by the CoJ, in a negative manner and decisively for the rights of third-country nationals who have submitted or will submit applications for acquiring the long-term status.�

KISA in its stand anticipates “a massive chain reactions on the aggravation of the long-standing problems in the area of migration and especially in the increase of migrants without papers and asylum applications as well as the super-exploitation of the affected migrants by the various rings and “specialists.�  KISA therefore has called on all the migrants affected to this matter to denounce it and mobilize against this policy.