I wish to refer to Noel Grima’s article entitled “Malta creates visa problems for students, other countries can’t get enough of them” (TMIS, 4 September) regarding Malta’s visa policy.

Without going into the merits of the cases mentioned in this article, allow me to clarify certain points he raised and, more specifically, the comments made by Mr Nick Callus, chairman of Computer Domain.

Mr Grima’s assertion that “one of the main problems facing the internationalisation of the local private education sector is the issuance of visas” is totally incorrect.

It is pertinent to highlight the fact that, in April 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spearheaded the introduction of a policy aimed at facilitating the issuance of “fixed-term” residence permits to those third-country nationals wishing to undertake studies in Malta for longer than three months, and who are not covered by the provisions of Legal Notice 29 of 2008, which applies only to third-country students who are admitted to pursue full-time courses of study leading to a higher education qualification. The objective of the policy and procedures concerned manage the admittance and residence of such a category of students through the visa system, thereby curbing any forms of abuse. In a recent letter to The Sunday Times of Malta, a spokesman for the English language schools in Malta acknowledged the fact that this policy is, in fact, “working well”. Furthermore, in an article entitled “Malta Forges Ahead”, a columnist of an influential language travel magazine published in August 2008, highlighted the fact that while some schools complained about the tightening of visa procedures for non-EU students, others reported that the new visa rules, the new residence permit policy and Malta’s extended consular network through representation have had a “positive” effect on business.

While Mr Callus confirms that Computer Domain applies very stringent selection criteria to filter applications from students, he also admits that some 500 applications received weekly from India are filtered down to “less than 10” – a rejection rate of almost 98 per cent per week.

I can assure Mr Callus that, like his own educational institution, the Central Visa Unit and Malta’s diplomatic missions, who assume full responsibility in assessing whether there are immigration risks, are also extremely vigilant when receiving visa applications. Mr Callus knows that the entry of a third-country national largely depends on whether such an applicant fulfills the entry conditions. It is our responsibility to examine visa applications in order to detect those applicants who are seeking to immigrate to Malta or other Schengen member states and set themselves up here, using grounds such as tourism, business, study, work or family visits as a pretext. Mr. Callus is also aware of the fact that it is necessary to be particularly vigilant when dealing with “risk categories” – unemployed people, those with no regular income, etc., especially from “risk areas”.

On an almost daily basis, Malta’s diplomatic missions in such “risk areas” are inundated with cases of passport jacket substitution, fake foreign visas, re-stitched passports, forged passports, forged residence permits – all presented by so-called agents of educational institutions, whose only intention is simply to mobilise migrants. I can assure Mr Callus that in its efforts to be more responsive to the international students industry, the Government is certainly not willing to shed its responsibility to this effect.

It is for this reason, therefore, that I cannot fully understand Mr Callus’s point when he himself is admitting that such scrutiny results in only two per cent of student applications being actually approved by his educational institution.

According to Mr Callus, Malta’s diplomatic missions should “have their resources beefed up to exploit the great potential in the private education industry”. Surely Mr Callus is aware of the fact that such support for the education and training of students from developing countries is an integral part of Malta’s overseas development policy. Surely not only because, as Mr Callus implies, such students “can obtain higher-paid jobs” but, even more importantly, because students bring cultural benefits and enrich the institutions they attend by contributing new ideas, attitudes and experience. Furthermore, they return home with an enhanced appreciation of Maltese and European life, ideas and values, culture and institutions, and a good command of the English language. Once such students rise to positions of influence in their professions, their experience is likely to predispose them to look to Malta for ideas, technology, trade and investment.

Finally, I wish to assure Mr Callus that, as Malta’s central authority on visas, the Central Visa Unit has a responsibility towards the legislative sources such as the Immigration Act and, since December 2007, those governing the Schengen system, such as the Schengen Agreement of 14.6.1985 between Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and The Netherlands; the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement of 19.6.1990; the Common Consular Instruction (CCI) adopted by the Schengen Executive Committee in Paris on 14.12.1993 and its amendments and Regulation (EC) 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders. The adoption of such a common visa regime, provided by the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement, is surely not intended, as Mr Callus implies, for Malta “to shoot itself in the foot”. Committed to ensuring all those who have a genuine reason to come to Malta to do so with as little inconvenience as possible, the Central Visa Unit has established an efficient, effective and professional immigration control in the interests of sustainable growth and social inclusion, not only in respect of Malta but also for the rest of Europe.

It is also important to note that the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs personally met Mr Callus, prior to the report in your newspaper. It was agreed that Mr Callus forwards his complaints to the Ministry in order to investigate the matters further, but up to now Mr Callus has not obliged.

Melvyn Mangion

Communications Coordinator, Foreign Affairs Ministry

VALLETTA