After the queues at the Vilnius migration department increased again in the summer, the Migration Department announced the selection of 20 new customer service specialists, and the authorities are considering the possibility of delivering passports to homes.
On Monday morning, the establishment located on Naugarduka Street had queues that stretched to cars parking lots, not visible. But inside, the waiting room was packed, almost all the seats were taken, and dozens of people were waiting for their queues "at the window".
Jolita Šimkevičienė, a 20-year-old lawyer's assistant, who has been waiting for her turn on the chairs with her son and husband for about 37 minutes, says that additional employees would be useful.
"I wish it was faster, but it is the way it is. I think that an additional 20 employees would help here," 37-year-old J. Šimkevičienė told BNS
She came here to pick up her passport and hoped she wouldn't have to wait for hours, just "another ten minutes or so."
In the middle of summer, every year, the media is full of outraged comments from people who spend several hours in the migration departments.
Last week, the delfi.lt portal announced the queues of residents exchanging documents even on the street.
Erikas Usonis and Elena Dibner, the young people who waited for their turn on Monday, say that they had to spend three hours in the department.
"Very long queues every day, full of people. Now we are waiting, I don't know, about 20 minutes," the 19-year-old student told BNS.
"The last time I ordered an ID card, I waited three hours, it was very frustrating. I came around noon and left around three," said the 18-year-old schoolgirl.
Salary "on paper" - 917 euros
The Migration Department, which is looking for two dozen additional employees for the Vilnius department, is waiting for applications from candidates until next Wednesday.
These people are being searched for after July 1, when the migration system reform came into force.
"After the restructuring, we are trying to fill all the existing positions as much as possible and we will wait for the end of the tenders," Artūras Gromovas, head of the Vilnius department, told BNS.
A person who wants to work as a customer service specialist must have a university or college education, speak English at the B1 level, and be familiar with the laws required for the job.
Customer service specialists are also wanted Beautiful, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Utena, but only one each.
In Vilnius, the promised salary for customer service specialists amounts to 917 euros, in other cities - 865 euros before taxes.
According to A. Gromova, it is difficult to find new employees for the Vilnius department, there is also a high turnover of employees.
“There are limited resources and internal competition is fierce. Vilnius is a big city, staff turnover and everything else. This is not a provincial city where you can get a job and work for a long time," said A. Gromov.
He could not answer the exact number of people who left their jobs recently due to the restructuring of the migration system, but said that no one had left their workplace since the first of July.
The Migration Department did not provide BNS with data on how many employees of the Vilnius branch have left their jobs in recent years. According to unofficial information, at the end of June, eight people left the work department almost simultaneously.
Work starts at nine, people have been waiting since seven
A. Gromov, who has been in charge of the Vilnius department since the first of July, said that 34 customer service specialists are currently working in the department.
"Yesterday we opened at nine in the morning, so people gathered before seven in the morning. Or they don't know that our working hours have changed, even though the online time has already changed. That waiting, there is a wave of queues - it is felt in the morning, but as the evening approaches, those queues decrease. You really don't need to wait there for two hours," said the head of the Vilnius department last week.
It is currently impossible to find the working hours of the departments on the website of the Migration Department - the website states that "the page is under preparation".
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the Vilnius branch opens its doors to customers at half past eight in the morning and works until half past five in the evening. On Tuesday and Thursday it is open from nine in the morning to six in the evening.
"For now, we are working with these working hours. Of course, if it is not confirmed, other decisions will be considered and taken", said A. Gromov.
According to him, the employees of the department are working at maximum capacity, they are trying to accept as many people as possible, and they are also reviewing the process of issuing documents - they are trying to shorten it.
"Summer time - peak. Many are on vacation, have more free time, are planning trips - the number of people is automatically higher. Here is the trend from year to year. With a queue at our place - we try to optimize that number, sometimes more people are accepted per day than the available human resources. All efforts are being made to handle the queue situation," said the migration specialist.
"We are reviewing our internal resources - the number of people, we are reviewing the processes of issuing documents, what can be shortened. We are working purposefully, but we have been working since the first of July, so that time is too short to change something in one day," he added.
A. Gromov says that he is aware of the problem of queues that overwhelm the Vilnius branch year after year. He says this trend shows that the problem "really exists".
"Queues are year after year, we got such a result, but we are working to reduce them. Obviously, this indicates a problem and we got that situation, but we are purposefully working to reduce the number of queues", said A. Gromov.
Deputy Minister: delivery of documents to homes is planned
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Darius Urbonas emphasized that queues would not form at the Vilnius branch if people planned their arrival, but promised to take measures to reduce the queues.
"It is not unusual that in midsummer that flow increases significantly. We can see from the statistics that those flows should begin to decline little by little. Perhaps when this season comes, we will redistribute the capacities a little and perhaps send the relevant employees to Vilnius," said D. Urbonas to BNS.
"Finally, it should be emphasized that it is possible to apply for a change of document based on the declared place of residence. Our citizens could use it," he added.
According to D. Urbon, a new service would also help to reduce queues - delivery of an identity document to the home, if a person so wishes.
"Now we are working on it intensively, but it will probably be for next season. A courier would do that. Such a system is possible, but it will be necessary to change the information system, to change legislation," said the vice minister.
According to him, the Vilnius department plans to extend the working hours by one hour, so that more people can be served.
Author Ramūnas Jakubauskas
