The Greek immigration authorities extended until December 31 this year the deadline for immigrants' residence permits that ended on March 31.
According to the circular, announced on Tuesday by the Greek Ministry of Emigration, foreign nationals from third countries, most of whom are citizens from Albania, have the right to exit and re-enter Greek territory with a residence permit, which they the validity period has expired.
The decision also includes the category of foreigners who are in the process of obtaining new residence permits, or renewing them.
This category of immigrants can move to the border points by presenting a proof of residence permit application at the border.
The latest decision by Greek authorities comes after delays in providing migrants with new residence permits.
Associations of Albanian emigrants in Greece link the delays to the low capacity of human resources in the Greek centers for handling emigrants' claims.
According to the data of the Greek Ministry of Emigration, Albanian citizens constituted in December 2023 about 59.6% of foreigners with regular residence in a total number of about 278 thousand people.
This number of Albanian immigrants is significantly lower than two years ago when there were 435,000 Albanians in Greece, which constituted about 62.8% of foreigners with regular residence in Greece.