S.L. 217.5 Art. 18Examination of applications and issueofaresidence permit.

(1) The Director shall give the applicant for a residence permit under this Part written notification of his decision as soon as possible and, in any event, no later than four months from the date when the application was lodged:

Provided that, if the applicant does not submit documentary evidence as required by regulations 13 and 14(2)(a) and (b) or, in exceptional circumstances which are linked to the complexity of the examination of the application, the time limit of four months may be extended by another period of not more than three months.

(2) The Director shall notify the applicant when the period for the examination of the application is extended.

(3) If the conditions of regulations 13, 14 and 15 are met and subject to the provisions relating to public policy, public security and public health in regulations 16 and 17, the Director shall issue a residence permit to the long-term resident.

(4) The residence permit shall be valid for a period of one year and shall, upon application, be renewable.

(5) In the case of a person who holds a long-term resident permit issued by another Member State and which contains a remark that he was granted international protection in that Member State and where Malta has accepted the transfer of international protection from the same Member State and the person concerned has not yet been issued by the Director with a long-term resident permit in terms of the proviso to article 8(3), the Director shall ask that Member State to amend the remark accordingly.

(6) In the case of a person who holds a long-term residence permit issued by another Member State and where Malta has granted international protection to such person, the Director shall ask that Member State to amend the remark accordingly.

(7) The Director shall issue an amended long-term resident permit containing the relevant remark to a person who has been granted long-term residence in Malta, and who has exercised his right of mobility to another Member State as provided for in Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 Concerning the Status of Third-Country Nationals who are Long-Term Residents, within 3 months of having received the request from the Member State to which the long-term resident has moved where -

(a) that Member State has accepted the transfer of protection of the said person; and,

(b) that Member State has granted international protection to such person.

(8) The Director shall keep the responsible authorities of the Member State which had issued the long-term resident permit informed about his decision to grant or renew a residence permit under this Part.

(9) The Director shall issue residence permits to the family members of the long-term resident, which permits shall, upon application, be renewable, and which shall be valid for the same period as the residence permit issued to the long-term resident.

(10) In the case of a decision rejecting an application for a residence permit, the written notification referred to in sub-regulation (1) shall include the reasons therefor and details about the possibility of lodging an appeal with the Board.

(11) In the event that the Director fails to give a decision within the period specified in subregulation (1), the application shall automatically be passed on for appeal to the Board.