Parents facing year-long delays in getting their children’s identity documents processed are now being slapped with school fees running into thousands of euro.

At least 25 non-EU families, who have been residents in Malta for years, are faced with having to scrape together the money and some may have to pull their children out of school.

It is the latest in a string of issues impacting third-country nationals resulting from delays by Identity Malta – the state agency responsible for issuing residence permits.

“I feel worthless as a mother not being able to help my child continue studying,” one parent told Times of Malta.

Ana Zdravkovic, speaking on behalf of the families, said the issue was due to the Education Ministry no longer waiving their children’s school fees while they wait for permits to be issued.

In an email addressed to one of the families in mid-February, and seen by Times of Malta, an Education Ministry official wrote: “Please note we cannot process the application before your son has been issued with a renewed residence permit or before we have confirmation from ID Malta that the residence permit as family member will be issued.”

I feel worthless not being able to help my child continue studying

Up until the last school year, children in similar circumstances were able to access free state education, with the so-called ‘blue paper’, an interim document, issued while their permits were being processed.

However, since January 15, families with teenage children at MCAST have been receiving emails saying deregistration will be triggered unless they pay their fees or supply the required documents, Zdravkovic said.

A further 10 families have been requested to pay school fees for their children attending elementary and secondary schools, Zdravkovic explained.

School fees run into thousands

Marina Lukic, who has been waiting for a year and half for the renewal of her son Pavle’s identity documents, has been told by MCAST that if she is unable to pay €6,600 for his foundation course in ICT, he will have to leave.

Lukic said that she has no idea why the renewal of her son’s permit is taking so long to be issued, and has been desperately going back and forth between Identity Malta and the Education Ministry to try to solve the problem.

“He is such a good student but has become demotivated and angry by this problem, and I feel worthless as a mother not being able to help him continue studying,” she said.

Gele Rajcinov, whose son has been waiting for his residence permit for a year and seven months, was also sent a letter by MCAST in mid-February saying that he is required to pay around €4,000 for his son’s information and technology course since he has not been able to present his documents.

“We have been here for four years straight and have been working permanently. We pay taxes so I can’t understand why I need to pay for my children’s school,” said Rajcinov.

“The issue has made my son become very stressed and worried about his future and he’s very disappointed,” he added.

Malta Serbian Community president Predrag Andrejevi told Times of Malta since families are entitled to stay and work in Malta with a ‘blue paper’, children should be entitled to free public schooling.

Andrejevi said he had been approached by several families encountering this particular serious issue, and that, of course, it was impossible for the families to produce official ID for the schools in question when their status was still pending.

He had already met the Education Ministry and was offering whatever support he could “to speedily resolve the issue for the benefit of the children concerned,” he said.

The Education Ministry did not reply to questions sent by Times of Malta.

Third-country nationals have to renew their children’s permits every year with many reporting that long processing delays by Identity Malta creates numerous problems.

Asked whether it was normal for families to be waiting over a year for the renewal of their children’s permits, a spokesperson for Identity Malta said the processing time for applications of family members “may take up to nine months or even more, depending on the complexity of the examination of the case”.

In the meantime, he said the children of third-country nationals working in the country and in possession of an interim permit do continue to have access to state education.