As of Monday, the suspended civil registry and migration department’s online portal for making appointments is totally scrapped after rampant exploitation and abuse of the program has been exposed.
The portal was suspended 10 days ago pending investigations after an expose by UK’s Sunday Mail.
The report said shady “agents” were selling slots for €200 for the past two years to citizens in urgency of either hiring foreign workers or renewing existing work permits.
Appointment slots were not available for about three to four months because the slots were being mass booked by “agents” instead.
A slot would appear for just a day or two ahead when they paid an “agent” between €100 to €200 to book an appointment under the online system.
New Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou on Sunday said other arrangements – in effect as of Monday – have been made so that citizens can arrange a relevant appointment.
The new procedure, he added, is via an email with specific days set aside for specific categories of applicants. Moreover, once or twice a month, the public will be updated to resolve any questions and to be informed on their application’s progress.
