L.N. 156 of 2020, entitled the Malta Residency Visa Agency (Establishment) (Amendment) Order, 2020 has come into force with the scope of introducing a new system of distribution of applications among the Approvals Board.
This has been done primarily to help with ensuring that each Approvals Board is assigned an equal number of cases, with the said assignment to be carried out by the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency.
An Approval Board shall be composed of a Chairperson and four (4) other members all appointed by the Minister responsible for the public administration.
The members of the Approvals Board shall upon appointment, hold office for a period of three(3) years, and may be re-appointed, with the same Minister retaining full discretion of each individual's appointment and also the responsibility for setting their remuneration for holding the post. The Chief Executive Officer, employees and members of the Board of Directors of the MRVA, are not eligible to be members of the Approvals Board.
Decisions of the Approvals Board shall be taken by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting, with the board having the final say on whether an application is favourably considered for approval or not.
L.N. 157 of 2020, entitled the Malta Residency Visa Agency (Establishment) (Amendment No. 2) Order, has also amended Subsidiary Legislation 595.26, in an effort to afford the MRVA more autonomy (from Identity Malta) within its own executive structure.
Originally published 30 April, 2020
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