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In the Department for Foreigners…
"Just a moment, please, Mr. Rasim, while my secretary gets your kind plea for citizenship from the archives."
This cartoon pretty much sums up how I felt during my long and tortuous attempts to get a visa to live and work in Slovenia. Except that the guy was never that polite.
(Thanks Miran!)
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I feel for you. For many many years the department for foreigners made sure me and my husband had unforgetable experience visiting their office
after we were told Slovenia likes foreigners 
Notice that the applicant in the cartoon has an apparently Muslim name - Rasim. I’m an American with good language skills and my own company, and though it was a long and wearisome process to get a work visa in Slovenia, all the officials I dealt with were very polite and sometimes even quite helpful, despite the apparent circularity of the process (you need document A to get document B which requires that you first have document C, which means you have to get document A). But I can’t imagine what it must be like for a Bosnian or Kosovar Albanian to try to get residency here.
After 1 May 2004 the process should have become very simple indeed. If you are married to an EU citizen all that is required is for that citizen to show that you two are married and that he/she is living or working in the country. You should then be given an automatic five year permit that should also allow you to work. I have been through all of this nonsense stuff as well. (In another new EU member state.) A few weeks after 1 May I went to the immigration office with a copy of the relevant EU directive (2004/58/EC PDF) in English and the local language. Unsurprisingly, they had not seen it yet. However, once they had read it and confirmed that it was correct they immediately issued the permit to my wife, who is from a non-EU country, valid for five years (Art.11, Para.1). Interestingly, other people we know who did not know their rights were still being issued with the 1 year permit several months later! (Of course, they may try to be difficult and leave the full implementation of the directive until 31 April 2006, by which point it must be in force.)
Jim, you are my hero.
The Glory of Carniola - solving your legal problems.
Thanks for sharing, Jim!
I’m having a bitch of a time getting a temporary residence permit to STUDY, with proof of residence, health insurance and financial resources.
Bureaucracy has been slowly corroding my soul from the age of 8.
What can I say that Kafka hasn’t written better ?
Regarding the cartoon: the circular file, I presume.
Well my fiance and I went through some very similar problems with U.S. immigration law, he is a Croat Catholic with an OBVIOUSLY Christian name.
We gave up on the process for the U.S.,Even the fact that he has some close relatives here, and that I involved the office of my Senator, I know BOTH Senators for my state, I would probably have an easier time going to live in BiH, or even Croatia, especially since I will be graduating with two skills, medical interpreting and Billing, and Codeing, ok the Billing will be BLOODY useless over there, but the Coding is relevant internationally.
Yeah, I caught the Muslim name riff too. Some of that predjudice is DIRECTLY in contradition to what the late Papa Ivo Pavo wanted.
This subject came up as I observe the long forgotten Catholic traditions about modest dress.
I had to explain the real traditions of the Church on this matter, and on matters like predjudices.
I have to say that Kosovars don’t have an easy time getting into BiH,either, let alone Croatia.
Thanks for the great comment, Jim!
I can also confirm Rolig’s experience of needing A for B for C for A. And I really have to wonder how difficult it must be for others since I had a perfect hand getting my visa: I already had a job and was being sponsored by a big Slovenian company. And I had a Slovenian wife to boot. And it was still long, drawn-out and difficult.
These things take time.