Foreigners’ Police department in Bratislava (source: SME)
The number of foreigners legally living in Slovakia has nearly doubled in the past six years, which also impacts on the work of police departments.
“We’re aware of this situation, which is why we have already adopted several measures and are working on other significant ones,” the police informed on their Facebook page. “The basic aim is to improve the quality of our services to clients but we also want to offer comforting working conditions to our police officers.”
Among the already adopted measures are the gradual increase in workplaces dealing with foreigners and making organisational and legislative changes. The police have also introduced a systematic redistribution of files among the Foreigners’ Police departments, said Ladislav Csémi, the head of the Office of the Border and Foreigners’ Police (ÚHCP) of the Slovak Police Presidium.
The police had to process 38,600 applications for residency permits last year. Currently, there are 120,000 foreigners legally living in the country, of whom 65,300 come from non-EU countries.
“For the first time, their number is higher than those from the EU,” the police added, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Since the number of foreigners is still increasing and the process of dealing with their agenda is becoming more demanding, they want to amend the law on the residence of foreigners with the aim of simplifying the processes, he said in a video published on Facebook.
New booking system to be introduced
The police also plan to open a new Foreigners’ Police department in RuĹľomberok in three months time. They also want to continue in rebuilding the other departments so that they meet the standards and improve the environment for both foreigners and police officers, Csémi said, as reported by TASR.
In addition, they want to introduce a new, nation-wide booking system for all categories of foreigners, he added. Until now, this was possible only for employees of strategic companies.
The main aim of these changes is that the police will adequately offer services to foreigners while maintaining the emphasis on Slovakia’s security and controlled migration, Csémi said.
