In the near future, citizens of Ukraine will be able to visit Czechia without obtaining visas
Let us recall that on April 6, the European Parliament voted to grant Ukraine a visa-free regime for visits by citizens of that country to Schengen zone states for up to 90 days. This decision was supported by 521 deputies, 75 voted against, and 36 abstained. After the vote in the European Parliament, the decision must be confirmed at a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU member states, followed by approval by the EU Council, which is expected to take place at the end of May. If everything goes according to plan, on June 12 the borders of the Schengen area will open for Ukrainians.
In this connection, questions are answered by David Nový, head of the visa department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, for Radio Prague.
– What documents will a citizen of Ukraine need to have after the abolition of the visa regime for entry into the Czech Republic for up to 90 days?
– First of all, I would like to note that the abolition of the visa regime for citizens of Ukraine will affect short-term trips of up to 90 days. A citizen of that country will be able to travel without a visa to the Czech Republic and other Schengen countries for up to 90 days within any 180-day period. In practice, this will mean that a citizen of Ukraine will need a valid biometric passport when crossing the Schengen border. Border guards may also require confirmation of the purpose of the trip or proof of sufficient financial means. They may also ask to present health insurance, but this depends on each specific country and the individual border guard. But the most important thing for citizens of Ukraine is to have a valid biometric passport.
– Just recently, short-term visas for entry into Schengen were abolished for citizens of Georgia. Is an increase in interest from residents of that country in the Czech Republic expected?
– Each abolition of a visa regime with a particular country gives hope for an increase in tourist flow from that country to Czechia or another Schengen state. We hope that the abolition of visas with Georgia will also contribute to an increase in the number of tourists, students, and simply travelers from that country interested in visiting the Czech Republic.
– According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, in the 11 days since the abolition of the visa regime, 7,000 citizens of that country have headed to the EU. Three of them were denied entry. One did not have a biometric passport, one did not provide border guards with confirmation of hotel booking, and one did not have documents confirming the purpose of the visit. It must be emphasized that the visa-free regime with the EU does not grant permission to work in the territory of European Union member states. The purpose of a short-term visit can be business, tourism, visiting relatives, or participation in cultural events.
Thus, could the abolition of tourist visas for Ukraine somewhat free up the hands of employees of Czech consulates in that country, allowing them to devote more time to processing documents for work and other long-term visas?
– Of course, there are such expectations that due to the reduction in the number of Schengen short-term visas that our consulates in Ukraine will issue, there will be more opportunities, more capacity for processing, for accepting applications for long-term visas or so-called employee cards. It is difficult to predict how many applications our consulates will be able to accept after the abolition of the visa regime, but such a possibility exists. We hope to meet the demand for student visas, visas for relatives, and so on. It is also expected that Schengen visas will continue to be issued for citizens of Ukraine who come to the Czech Republic for work. Work visas will not be affected by the abolition of the visa regime, so it is expected that thousands of visas of this type will continue to be processed.
– Can we expect a similar abolition of the visa regime for other states of the former Soviet Union, for example, Belarus, in the near future?
– Currently, negotiations are underway in Brussels on simplifying the visa regime with Belarus, similar to the agreement in place for Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, there is no talk yet of abolishing the visa regime, as has now happened with Georgia and Ukraine.