digitizing immigration bits and bytes of stories untold george k. matsaridis, m.sc. | head of...

DIGITIZING IMMIGRATION

Bits and Bytes of Stories Untold

GEORGE K. MATSARIDIS, M.SC. | HEAD OF RESIDENCE PERMITS DPT. | PREFECTURE OF IMATHIA

‘EUROPEAN LAW STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION’ WINTER SCHOOL - THESSALONIKI 2015Migration Law and Refugee Issues

Monday, 07 Dec. 2015


ELSA WINTER SCHOOL THESSALONIKI 2015Digitizing Immigration: Bits and Bytes of Stories Untold

FACTS_

PROBLEMS_

SOLUTIONS_

(understand)

(focus on)

(come up with)



STATUS OF IMMIGRANTS IN GREECE

FACTS

550.000 documented immigrants live in Greece

today




FACTS

550.000 documented immigrants

ALBANIA (380.000)

GEORGIA (18.000)

INDIA(14.000)

UKRAINE(19.000)

PAKISTAN (17.000)RUSSIA (15.000)

EGYPT (12.000)

SERBIA-MONTENEGRO (20.000)

MOLDOVA (9.000)

BANGLADESH (6.000)SYRIA (6.000)

PHILIPPINES (10.000)

CHINA (4.300)USA (2.300)




FACTS


MEN: 290.000

WOMEN: 260.000




FACTS


EMPLOYMENT: 70.000

FAMILY REUNION: 238.000

STUDENTS: 2.000

OTHER: 240.000- indefinite/long-term residents (over 50%))- special certificate of legal residence: 15.000- humanitarian reasons: 19.000- exceptional reasons: 6.000- permanent residents: 9.000




FACTS

ALBANIA (380.000)

image source: http://www.worldembassyinformation.com

work: 12%family members: 43%other: 45%(mainly indefinite/long-term

residents)




FACTS

former SOVIET REPUBLICS (60.000)

image source: http://www.lib.utexas.edu

work: 12%family members: 47%other: 41%(mainly indifinite/long-term

residents)

Ukraine, Russia, Georgia




FACTS

PAKISTAN(17.000)


work: 15%family members: 15%other: 70%(mainly indefinite/long-term

residents)




FACTS

INDIA (14.000)


work: 8%family members:

37%other: 55%(mainly indefinite/long-term

residents)



ADMINISTRATION

MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AND ADMINISTRATIVE RECONSTRUCTION (1)

DECENTRALIZED ADMINISTRATION REGIONS (7)ATTICA | THESSALY-CENTRAL GREECE | MACEDONIA-THRACE

EPIRUS-WESTERN MACEDONIA | PELOPONNESE | AEGEAN | CRETE

REGIONAL DEPARTMENTS OF RESIDENCE PERMITS (50)

i.e. RESIDENCE PERMITS DEPARTMENT OF IMATHIAi.e. RESIDENCE PERMITS DEPARTMENT OF THESSALONIKI

i.e. RESIDENCE PERMITS DEPARTMENT OF HERAKLIONi.e. RESIDENCE PERMITS DEPARTMENT OF RHODES

(about 1.000 appointed civil servants)

FACTS



LEGALITIES

Law No. 4251/2014 – “Immigration and Social Integration Code” (June 2014)

Ministerial Decisions(Twenty three (23) issued already, regulating various specific topics)

FACTS

Circular Directives & Internal Documents & Official Memos(Forty three (43) issued already, interpreting & analyzing various specific topics)

Hundreds (more than 500) of legal pages and directives, in just 17 months since June 2014

EU legislationPRESIDENTIAL DECREES

includes authorizing provisions

AND



PROBLEM

HOUSTON, WE’VE GOT A...



PROBLEMS

LEGISLATIVE COMPLEXITY

LEGAL FRAGMENTATION

A (not so happy) Greek immigration

officer



PROBLEMS

LET’S RECAP...

Hundreds of pages of legal texts

101 types of

residence permits

Current fiscal

policies in Greece

My status as an employee

and an individual


Immigrants’ pressing

needs



PROBLEMS

WE ALREADY HAVE AN EXCELLENT AND ROBUST SYSTEM FOR ISSUING AND

RENEWING RESIDENCE PERMITSIt is centrally controlled by the Directorate of

Immigration and it’s official



PROBLEMS

WHAT WE DON’T HAVE THOUGHIS A SOLID AND RELIABLE WAY OF

MONITORING, DOCUMENTING, CORRELATING AND ARCHIVING

ALL LEGALITIES



PROBLEMS

SO, WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?



PROBLEMS

Productivity drop & efficiency loss

Work insecurity & stressFor Immigration employees: No motives for excellence

Managerial cost (paper, toners, etc)Need to keep physical archiveErrors

For Immigrants: Confidence drop

Insecurity & stressLong queues & waiting time Bad mood

Bad mood



PROBLEMS

IN OTHER WORDS:

• Staff finds it difficult to track, catalog and follow the numerous changes in the legislation.• Staff finds it difficult to understand, interpret and implement the legislation.• New staff is very hard (and time consuming) to get trained adequately.• Staff in the same agency may not follow the same procedures.• Staff and applicants, mainly, get easily strained and exhausted.• Administration product (e.g. issue of a residence permit) is delayed and of low-quality.



PROBLEMS

WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING. WE NEED A TOOL...

• To facilitate staff’s work.• To speed-up administration’s response to citizens’ applications.• To enhance and optimize administrative outcome and product (more solid decisions).• To reduce managerial costs (archival space, ink toners, photocopy paper)



SOLUTIONSsome (really) viable



SOLUTIONS

(1) www.metanastefsi.net



SOLUTIONS

(2) A Graphical Conceptual Model (Roadmap)

for Documented Immigration



SOLUTIONS

(3) “Kivotos” Information System



FACTS_

some (really) tangible (again)



KIVOTOS’ MOST INNOVATIVE FEATURES

-Automation in correlating relevant, yet diverse and mainly dispersed legislation through an Entity/Relationship (ER) computational model.

-Decision Support System (DSS).

-Agency’s workflow modeling (One-Stop Shop modeling).

-Automated Report generation.



KIVOTOS’ IMPACT ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION1) By June 2014 up to today, over 60 legal texts and directives have been issued by the Ministry of Interior summing up to approximately over 500 pages for EACH civil servant to print, study and archive. Since then, no photocopy has been produced in our Department, for that reason.

2) By December 2014 up to today, our agency has served more than 3.000 immigrants with only 3 civil servants available at post. Every immigrant was served the day of visit with total time of service reduced from 30min. to about 10min. The workflow was managed by “Kivotos” . At the same time we managed to keep expenses regarding running costs (photocopies, printing, long-distance phone calls, mails and emails, etc) at extreme minima.3) Since the implementation of "Kivotos" in everyday practice, staff reports being “more self-confident”, “coming to work with a better mood”, “feeling safer”.

4) By using “Kivotos”, our agency managed to dramatically alter its day to day functional strategy by a) reducing running costs and expenses, b) creating a comprehensive and integrated public image of itself in the eyes of applicants, c) minimizing applicants’ waiting time in the office, d) optimizing, in qualitative terms, residence permit acquisition from the stage of applying for it until the stage of having it attached on one’s passport.

5) At the end of the day, civil servants report being “more motivated” to offer their services since their hard work’s results are now tangible and measurable while third-country nationals feel confident that they receive fast and professional, error-free, private-sector like services with minimal delays and maximum benefits.



BY USING KIVOTOS SYSTEM IN OUR EVERYDAY PRACTICE:

•Administration shares one, unique and homogenous outside image to its citizens-customers.•Administration shares one, unique and homogenous inside image between its officers.•Administration saves time.•Administration saves money.•Administration saves and reuses valuable resources.•Administration enjoys a boost in productivity and efficiency.•Civil servants finally get the theoretical support they needed during judgment formation.•Third-country nationals receive first-class services.



Thank you!

digitizing immigration bits and bytes of stories untold george k. matsaridis, m.sc. | head of...

Documents

documented immigration

head of residence permits

immigration law

im george matsaridis

bytes of stories untold

bytes of stories untoldfacts

documented immigrantsalbania

documented immigrantsmen