The number of mixed marriages has increased by 20% in the Czech Republic since 2010
At the same time, as Radio Prague notes, there is no effective method for detecting this practice. Police also face a number of cases concerning knowingly false unions between Czech women and residents of tourist areas in North Africa who seek to enter Europe at any cost.
Nevertheless, Turkish citizens top this ranking, seeking to gain entry to the EU and obtain residency permits.
"In many cases, these are individuals who are obliged to leave the Czech Republic. By entering into a sham marriage with Czech citizens, they gain the opportunity to legalize their stay in the country. In one month, we check about twenty such cases. Some Czech women enter into marriage on paper, not in fact, to improve their own financial situation, but there are also a number of Czech citizens whose trust has been abused by foreigners," Vladimir Takac from the Directorate of the Foreign Police told Czech Radio.
Similar cases have also been registered in Poland and Slovakia. According to the National Center for Combating Organized Crime, criminal groups are involved in organizing sham marriages. Marriages are registered not only in the Czech Republic itself but also abroad, which opens the way for the fictitious spouse to obtain documents for permanent residence in the EU.
"Proving the fact of a fictitious registration of a relationship is very difficult because women are not forcibly taken abroad; on the contrary, they are paid a considerable financial reward for such services. Some of these Czech women stay abroad and often end up working as prostitutes in nightclubs," remind employees of the National Center for Combating Organized Crime. It sometimes happens that one party actually enters into a sham marriage without informing the other party.
Experts also draw attention to the increasing attempts by Russian-speaking criminal elements to become citizens of EU countries, including the Czech Republic. This allows them not only to move freely within the EU but also to avoid deportation to their homeland. "To obtain Czech citizenship, they seek to bribe low- and high-ranking officials, as well as politicians at the regional and national level," the Center's report states.
In such a situation, people who marry a foreigner from a so-called third country automatically fall under suspicion, according to employees of some non-profit organizations. They warn against lumping together migrants who want to flee their country and foreigners who build personal relationships with Czech partners based on genuine love and respect.
As many newlyweds who have married a foreigner from so-called third countries (i.e., non-EU states) report, to obtain a residence permit in the Czech Republic ("Resident Card of a Family Member of an EU Citizen"), they have to answer awkward and sometimes tactless personal questions. Although officials are not entitled to ask questions concerning the couple's intimate life, many newlyweds still hear such questions. "They push you to disclose intimate information about yourself," Ukrainian Nastya, who met her future husband, a Czech, while studying at a Prague university, told Lidové noviny.
The number of marriages between Czech citizens and foreigners has increased by almost 20% since 2010. Czech women who marry foreigners most often choose Slovaks, Germans, and Britons, while their male compatriots who decide to marry foreign women mostly consider Slovaks, Ukrainians, and Russians as the most desirable partners. And it is brides of the latter two nationalities who may have the beginning of their married life marred by the feeling that they have fallen under suspicion from law enforcement authorities.
"Very often, international couples face the fact that employees of the Ministry of the Interior behave towards them as if they had entered into a sham marriage. Some newlyweds cannot be sure that the interrogations by the Ministry of the Interior are over for up to a year. During interrogations, police separately question each spouse in detail about the details of their acquaintance, their life together, including the color and pattern of the bed linen, the menu they last cooked for dinner. Then they compare the answers of the husband and wife. Along with this, officers of the Foreign Police carry out unannounced checks at the couple's place of residence, during which they may question neighbors," Lucie Ditrichova from the Center for the Integration of Foreigners told Lidové noviny.
According to current rules, the Ministry of the Interior must decide on granting the right of residence within 60 days of the application, but employees do not meet the deadlines, notes L. Ditrichova. She, like her colleagues, reminds that clients have the right to decide for themselves how much to disclose about their personal lives. However, according to some social workers, foreigners from third countries are "recommended, in their own interest, to answer all questions from officials."