An Indian man who was fired while he was in jail on charges that were thrown out of court is now being refused a new residence permit, because his renewal deadline ran out while he was behind bars. 

Identità says Dasari Saiteja, who was jailed after the agency reported him to the police, is in an "irregular immigration situation" because he did not apply for a new permit in time. 

Saiteja was in prison at the time and had no idea that he had been fired, as he had no access to email.

Saiteja was kept in preventive custody for almost two months after he was charged with submitting forged lease agreements. During that time, his employer, QK Services, fired the Indian national because he “did not report for work”. 

The immigration agency Identità had called in the police to arrest Saiteja at its Msida head office after it had questioned the 25-year-old over his lease agreement. 

In March, a court ruled that Saiteja was not guilty of the charges against him. Saiteja only found out he was sacked after he was acquitted, as he had no access to email while in prison.  

On his release from jail, Saiteja soon found another job but when he applied for a new residence permit Identità refused it, telling him he was now an irregular immigrant. 

In Malta, third-country nationals have 10 days to find new employment when they lose or resign from a job. When Saiteja was out of prison, those 10 days had lapsed. 

“Without doing anything wrong, I am in a horrible situation and I don’t know what to do,” Saiteja told Times of Malta. 

“I was hoping they (Identità) would have understood my situation,” he said. 

In refusing his application, Identità told Saiteja in an email: “This application cannot be processed in view that Dasari Saiteja is in an irregular immigration status at the time of submission of this application.”

Questioned by Times of Malta, Identità said: “TCNs are only eligible to remain in Malta if the individual holds a legal migration status in Malta.”

“Should a TCN fall into an irregular migration status, for whatever reason, it is only the Principal Immigration Officer who can regularise such status,” the Identità spokesperson said.