Dozens of emigrants and homogenous citizens wait for hours under the cold weather in front of the service office for foreigners at the Thessaloniki prefecture.
Most of them are Albanian emigrants who wait to renew their work permits.
They say that there are very long delays with the procedures.
“You have to come at 1:00 am to take a place at the queue”, said Ermal Gjura, an Albanian immigrant.
The Greek opposition has taken this case at Parliament.
They showed as an example the case of an Albanian who had to wait for seven years.
There are cases when Albanians are exploited by paying large amounts of money for services that should be carried out by the Greek institutions.
“This is a shocking case at the city where I was elected as MP. 1494 days to finalize the documents for the interview. These are people who contribute in the Greek society, economy, and their children and born and raised here”, says Christos Giannoulis from the Syriza Party, in Thessaloniki.
“An inspection is already undergoing from the Ministry of Immigration in Thessaloniki, in order to conduct an investigative for this case.
“It is incomprehensible that there are circles which play games with the pain and need of these citizens by taking advantage of their situation, and demanding money to carry out these procedures ”, stated Theodoros Livanios Deputy Interior Minister.
The Greek government has promised to accelerate these procedures and fight bureaucracy, while the law for taking citizenship is considered by emigrants as very harsh.
From 2010 to 2018, 230.000 requests have been filed for citizenship, but 60.000 are still unanswered.
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