Standing in line at the Czech foreign police, you hear a lot. Optimistically minded holders of annual visas enthusiastically draw on a map of Europe the routes of their future visa-free travels. Pessimists curse the hours-long scrum in the police's "anteroom" and swear at picky officials. There is no limit to indignation: previously, the police needed a week to affix a visa, but now even two months is not enough. "Schengen..." someone will inevitably sigh, and everyone will nod in agreement.
Lawyer Pavel Čižinský from the Prague Consultation on Citizenship, Civil and Human Rights, immediately disappointed me by stating that the law does not mention any reduced waiting period for permanent residence. But this issue will definitely be considered in another normative act, into which the 2003 European Union directive on long-term resident status must be transformed. According to Pavel Čižinský, the adoption of a law that would halve the waiting period for permanent residence in the Czech Republic from 10 years should be expected before January 2006. Nevertheless, the bill currently in parliament also deserves attention. Especially since it will come into force earlier - presumably already in October of this year.
Foreigners residing permanently or on the basis of a visa in other EU countries will be allowed visa-free stay in the Czech Republic for five days. But the life of foreigners in the Czech Republic will be complicated in some ways by the new law. The legislator imposes stricter requirements regarding medical insurance. At the border, all foreigners, except those for whom insurance premiums are paid by an employer, or those applying for family reunification with a refugee, must present proof of medical insurance covering expenses up to €30,000.
To arrange an invitation for a foreigner, the host will have to prove that they always have the same €30,000 at hand, in order to be ready to pay all expenses related to the guest's stay in the Czech Republic. Considering that the average salary in the country in US dollars is about $750, one can imagine with what "enthusiasm" Czechs will rush to open guest visas.
The legislator makes significant changes to the institution of family reunification, again in favor of the corresponding EU directive. A foreigner from a non-EU country, after 15 months of legal stay in the Czech Republic, is given the right to bring their family members here. It even specifies how to deal with a foreign citizen in a polygamous marriage. Czech law is on the side of the "main" wife. If a man who has several wives is already living with one of them in the Czech Republic, he will not be able to get "family" visas for the others. You cannot envy amorous men: the Czech Republic automatically imposes its monogamous rules on them. Although, as they say, into someone else's monastery...
Another important innovation - this time a pleasant one. The new version of the law stipulates that foreigners staying in the Czech Republic on family reunification visas will be able to freely work and engage in business. But only if family ties connect them to holders of refugee status or permanent residence. "The goal is to equalize the positions of family members on the labor market and provide them with equal opportunities in doing business," explains Pavel Čižinský.
In September 2004, the Czech Public Defender of Rights Otakar Motejl strongly criticized the unlawful practice of Czech consulates abroad. There were cases when foreigners were obliged to submit applications for a Czech visa in their country of citizenship, rather than at any Czech representation outside the Czech Republic (as the law allowed). The position of human rights activists left parliamentarians indifferent. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtained for the police the right to decide itself at which representation a foreigner will submit visa documents. In this way, the Czech Republic will be able to fight terrorism more effectively, the drafters of the bill explain. And less effectively - against illegal migration, adds lawyer Pavel Čižinský. And he explains: "Until now, a foreigner who had problems with the police could go to Slovakia or Poland and resolve his problems at the Czech consulates in those countries. Now this opportunity disappears, which threatens to turn many foreigners into illegal aliens."