"As of July 1, 60 Ukrainians have become participants in the project," Zdena Caisova said, adding that the project will continue until mid-2008.
"The goal of the project is to attract qualified workers from abroad to improve the economy of the Czech Republic," said Lucie Sladkova, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Prague.
At the same time, she said that all interested parties can apply for participation in the project on the website www.imigracijacz.org, after which they will be offered to undergo a selection procedure. Among the selection criteria are work experience, education, age, previous experience living in the Czech Republic, language skills, and others. The conditions for participation for Ukrainians are: completed secondary education, a contract with an employer in the Czech Republic based on a work permit, as well as a work visa for stay in the country for more than 90 days or a long-term residence permit for the purpose of employment.
According to the IOM representative, the website also provides a list of available vacancies. The most in-demand, according to Lucie Sladkova, are representatives of technical professions, in particular, engineers and IT workers.
According to the test results, citizens who score 25 out of 66 points will be given the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the Czech Republic, including for their family members, after just 2.5 years of work in the country. At the same time, for those who do not participate in the project, this period is 5 years.
According to the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, a total of about 190,000 Ukrainians currently live and work legally in the Czech Republic.
Answering a question from the Interfax-Ukraine agency about whether Czech migration policy will change in the near future, Lucie Sladkova emphasized that currently a new migration law and legislation on employment of foreigners in the Czech Republic are being discussed. "The law will have very strict instruments, but not towards illegal workers, but towards employers who hire them," the IOM representative said.