The conditions for joining the project are being eased each time. Recently, participants with higher education working in their field were given the opportunity to apply for permanent residence after just a year and a half. The project is managed by Ms. Zdena Caisova, who presented the project in Uzhhorod and Mukachevo on August 29 and 30. She graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague with a specialty in East European Studies and from the Czech-French Institute of Management in the MBA program. She interned in France, England, Russia, Ukraine, worked in commercial structures, the organization 'People in Need' affiliated with Czech Television, and since last year, at the Ministry of Labor of the Czech Republic. In addition to her native Czech, she speaks English, French, Russian, and Ukrainian.
- What is the essence of your program?
- Our project helps foreign workers avoid many bureaucratic barriers and integrate faster into Czechia. It is currently a pilot project and is subject to changes. After all, migration cannot be stopped, and we do not wish to stop it, but we aim to learn to manage it. This should benefit both employers and migrants themselves. In the 10-million-strong Czechia, there is a fairly large number of foreigners – over 350 thousand. Ukrainian citizens make up the largest number – 115 thousand, and these numbers are growing every month. The Czech government, regardless of its political color, understands the social, economic, and demographic importance of these people.
- Skilled workers are becoming a deficit in Ukraine as well. Indeed, the flea market has ceased to be a kind of labor exchange for former engineers. Can it be said that your project is a kind of 'brain purchase'?
- Not at all. We do not offer any material benefits, because we cannot give foreigners privileges over our own citizens. The migrant must take care of the job, housing, and documents themselves; only after that can they join the project. In essence, anyone who has obtained a work visa for Czechia can do this. And if they decide to settle here, they will receive the right to permanent residence (the so-called 'trvalý pobyt') in half or even one-third the time required by current law. Joining the project is free, and the participant does not sign any agreement with the state that would force them to stay in Czechia. Whether they decide to actually stay with us in the future depends only on themselves.
- Will successful project participants also have the right to Czech citizenship?
- Citizenship and 'trvalý pobyt' are different things. Successful project participants, after obtaining 'trvalý pobyt', remain citizens of their countries, but no longer need a work permit, can receive social benefits, etc. This status can also be obtained by the closest members of their families. And only on general grounds – after five or more years of permanent residence in Czechia – can they apply for citizenship.
- On one hand, Czechia wants to attract Ukrainian workers, on the other hand, the visa process is becoming more complicated, there are queues at consulates, many refusals. How do you explain that?
- This is not entirely within the competence of the Ministry of Labor. But with the approach of our country to the Schengen Area, the requirements for clarity of document completion and their compliance with the actual situation have increased. It is planned that from 2008, border control as such will no longer exist, and the requirements will be the same for guests and foreign workers in Germany or Austria as well as in Czechia and other Central European countries. Perhaps precisely because of this, the number of visa applicants has sharply increased, and it is not easy for consulates to cope.
- Why does Czechia not want to conclude a new employment agreement with Ukraine?
- In October 2004, a new employment law came into effect in Czechia. It is quite transparent, describing the entire procedure for employing foreigners, and therefore there is no need to create any interstate agreements in this area. In our view, foreigners who work or wish to work here should be well informed about the possibilities of finding legal employment, and for this we try to use all possible means. Ukrainian citizens constitute the largest group of workers migrating to Czechia, and that is why on the Internet we offer job vacancies, among others, in Ukrainian. So they can find work with us directly from their home country.
- A final question: are there many Zakarpattia residents among the project you manage who work in Czechia?
- We generally expected that Ukrainians would apply for the project more actively. Only in the last year has their number noticeably increased. You will be surprised, but unfortunately, there are not many Zakarpattia residents among them. Obviously, they mostly seek to work in Czechia temporarily.
Based on materials provided by the International Organization for Migration (representation in Ukraine).