Fewer social security stamps for residence permits
Migrants working in Greece will need fewer social security stamps to renew their residence permits and to be able to get state healthcare, according to a decision made public on Monday by Alternate Labor and Social Insurance Minister Giorgos Koutroumanis.
To renew their residence permits, migrants will need to gather 120 stamps compared to the 200 that are necessary now, while securing state healthcare will require 50 stamps compared to the current 80.
Koutroumanis said these changes would be included in a draft bill foreseeing the reorganization of the ministry?s labor inspectorate, due to be submitted in Parliament soon, along with a crackdown on businesses caught employing workers without paying their social security contributions.
?The bill currently being drafted is the cornerstone of our policy to crack down on clandestine employment and income tax evasion,? said Deputy Labor Minister Anna Dalara.
Early in February, sources told Kathimerini that the government was drafting legislation aimed at granting legal status to thousands of migrants who have been working in Greece for years. Authorities reportedly plan to record the details of migrants working in different sectors. Home help, farm laborers and construction workers are some of the categories to be drawn up.
