The rush by parents for floating visas, which ensure their children a path to a better school and famous teachers, has become a real national sport. Although we have a law in this sense, the phenomenon can neither be prevented nor sanctioned. Even the authorities recognize it, who shrug helplessly. Cosmin Andreica, head of the Europol union, explained where the hibes are and what should be done.
Parents ended up breaking the law to send their children to a better school. Photo source: archive
“I'm looking for a free-floating visa for a fee to enroll a child at school 176, Sfinţii Constantin și Elena”/ “Can someone help me with a free-floating visa for a fee to enroll a child at the Pia Brătianu school? Thank you!”/ “Hello. Can someone help me with a floating visa for my daughter's enrollment at Secondary School no. 56 sector 2? I offer a considerable sum of money which we discuss privately. Thank you!”.
These are just a few of the thousands of ads that have flooded social networks during this period, but also many sites where parents are desperately asking for help. And this does not only happen now, but every year, with the start of kindergarten and preparatory class registrations. The fight for an address is often fierce, traffic with such documents is in full swing, and documents are distributed like hot cakes. The reason? A floating visa is needed by parents who choose to send their child to an educational institution to which they do not normally belong. Practically, these documents provide the children with a way to a school closer to their parents' work, their grandparents' home, maybe a better school, even a reputable one, with one and one teachers. However, we are talking about a phenomenon that is at the limit of the law, because we are dealing with false statements, both on the part of the parents and on the part of the home owners who take them into the space. In reality, however, everything happens fictitiously, only on paper and, obviously, for a fee. And this is how the floating visa became one of the most trafficked documents in Romania.
The phenomenon cannot be kept under control
According to the law, if a person lives at another address for more than 15 days, he must apply for a floating visa. “We have Government Ordinance 97 which regulates the obligation of people to apply for a floating visa in the situation where they live in a location for more than 15 days”, explained Cosmin Andreica, representative of the Europol union, for “Adevărul”. “Fthe phenomenon of floating visa traffic cannot be kept under control because I, like policeman, I have no way of knowing what is the intention of the two – parent and owner -, what they discussed in private. Moreover, once they reach the police, they declare that the 15 days have already passed. And there is no way for anyone to check whether or not that parent actually lived there and exactly at that time. Only the owner, who will obviously confirm. We are basically taking note of a situation that has already occurred and that we cannot verify. The only time the police can intervene is when these floating visas are sold“, stated Cosmin Andreica.
There is therefore no possibility that the people involved in this transaction will be held accountable. “A policeman comes to the owner's house, knocks on the door, the owner opens it and says that the person he took in the space is not at home, he is at work. What can you do? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
As for the testimonies of the residents of the respective block, which confirm or deny the statements of the two, they do not constitute evidence, the policeman also says. “Anyone can say anything. It's not proof. Even if you have a witness, there is still nothing you can do. A person who comes to say that the neighbor has changed her float… from here to concretely establishing whether or not she lived elsewhere is a long way. Or… let's say that the neighbors, those who live in the block where the floating visa was applied for, really have never seen the parent in question. But what is the proof? Maybe the man didn't leave the house. You, as a police officer, have to prove that the man didn't live there. The fact that the neighbors did not see him does not constitute evidence. Such a hypothesis does not hold up“, says the head of the Europol union.
We have laws, but in vain
We are therefore talking about an illegal practice, which the police cannot prevent or sanction. Everyone knows about the phenomenon, they talk about it, everyone says that what is happening is not right, but beyond that, no one can do anything. Although, nevertheless, we have a law in this sense. Specifically, it is a legislative proposal to amend the Emergency Ordinance 97/2005 regarding the records, domicile, residence and identity documents of Romanian citizens and which establishes that no more than ten people can be registered with an identity card at an address. Failure to comply with this provision is sanctioned with a fine from 75 lei to 150 lei. “The home address cannot be entered in the identity document if more than 10 people are registered at that address in the National Register of Persons. The limit does not apply to the owner of a residential right on the property located at the address or extended family members. By extended family is meant the owner of the housing right, his husband, his wife, the owner's relatives and those in the collateral line up to the fourth degree inclusive“, stipulates the project adopted last year.
Cosmin Andreica refers to the situation created by Moldovan citizens who, in order to work in the European Union, had to be domiciled in Romania. “We had situations in Bucharest when, on paper, more than 300 people lived in a studio apartment. All Moldovans. At the moment the number of people who can live at an address is limited“, the policeman also specified.
He is of the opinion that the phenomenon could be prevented only if the procedure underlying the enrollment of students in school is changed. “At the moment when those from Ministry of Education this situation suits them, we have nothing to do. If the mechanism is changed, the problem would also disappear“, he concluded.
Prices for floating visas vary widely depending on the area. They start from around 500 lei and can reach a thousand lei or even exceed this amount.
