Today, at the "Ourpat Club" members of the ARF Nigol Aghbalyan Students Union discussed the residency issues being faced by Diaspora-Armenians at institutions of higher learning in Armenia. Members Ani Azadgol, Mher Hagobyan and Haig Asatryan noted that when it comes to handling the residency permit matters of such students the individual schools and colleges do not always fulfill their obligations in a timely fashion which leads to a myriad of problems for the students. Hetq recently reported on the matter and noted that the ROA Law Regarding Foreigners defines the forms od residency for these individuals. According to Article 14, Part 3, of the Law, a state tax is paid for the granting of residency status to foreigners. In the case of foreign students, the individual institutions of higher learning are supposed to handle the process. OVIR (the Police Department's Division of Passports and Visas) entered into an arrangement with the state universities for this tax to be paid from the tutition fees paid by the students. Temporary residency status is granted for a period of one year and 30 days before the expiration date, a renewal for another year can be applied for. The schools usually present the required paperwork for extensions at the start of the school year. But not all do so according to the student representatives. Thus, many returning students from overseas were hit with penalties ranging from 50,000 - 100,000 drams for expired visas at the start of the school year this September. Ani Azadgol stated that the police have been visiting the homes of many such students demanding payment of the penalties and threatening students with deportation if the sums aren't paid. The students have petitioned the Ministry of Education and Science reagrding the matter and were told that the foul-up was one of logistics and that the Ministry has informed the schools to pay whatever penalties have been levied on the students. However, the student reps say that police visits continue and that the schools have yet to pay the penalties despite the fact that they are the ones at fault.