Czech Parliament approves tightening of law on stay of foreigners
As Radio Prague notes, despite criticism from human rights defenders, most of the amendments proposed by Social Democratic Party deputy Vaclav Klucka in cooperation with the Czech Ministry of the Interior were included in the law on the stay of foreigners in the Czech Republic. Here is the official comment of Interior Minister Milan Chovanec on the amendment adopted by parliament:
"This is a response to the migration crisis and to the National Security audit. We are satisfied with the adoption of the amendment because such a law helps the Czech Republic, our position regarding the employment of foreign nationals. It is not a restriction or an attempt to expel foreigners from here. It is an effort to establish clear rules that apply here to everyone."
The situation was commented on for Radio Prague by the head of the Organization for Aid to Refugees, Martin Rozumek:
"The tightening of rules concerns a number of areas. For example, one of them is entrepreneurship. According to this amendment, if a foreigner works in the Czech Republic, he cannot start entrepreneurial activity earlier than after five years. In other words, he cannot change the purpose of his stay in the country to 'entrepreneurship'. In our opinion, this is a big mistake, because the Vietnamese community has built its existence in the Czech Republic on running private businesses. Therefore, I see no reason why a foreigner could not engage in this type of activity during the first five years in the Czech Republic."
Another point of the amendment is the so-called 'institution of an unreliable employer'. The state plans to thereby prohibit employers who are debtors or who have been caught illegally employing foreigners or failing to pay social insurance for employees from employing foreigners. However, according to Martin Rozumek, the wording of this provision is poorly constructed, because the employer in such a case will have to constantly prove that he has no debts, that he is conducting business at the company's registered address, that he is engaged in exactly the activity specified in his registration. Trade unions led by the Chamber of Commerce protested against this provision.
"So imagine, if an employer employs 200 foreigners, and with each extension of the work card he will be obliged to prove whether he is a reliable employer or not, this will ultimately lead to Czech companies simply stopping hiring foreigners. So, if some mistake occurs, the foreign worker will pay for it by not receiving a work card," continues Martin Rozumek.
However, a positive aspect is that the period of stay in the country without extending a work visa increases from three months to six months. The foreigner also retains the right to appeal the Ministry of the Interior's refusal to grant or extend a residence permit in court. Citizens of other states, according to the amendment, will be required to submit to the authorities of the Czech Republic not copies, but originals of their documents. A foreign national will lose the right to stay in the country for any criminal offense, provision of forged documents, etc.
One of the most sharply criticized provisions by human rights advocates was the restriction on family reunification with foreign nationals. "If a Czech marries a foreign woman and wants to apply for a visa for her for the purpose of family reunification, she will be obliged to leave for her country of origin. It will also be impossible to change the grounds for staying in the country for the purpose of family reunification without leaving the Czech Republic. In practice, this will mean that if a spouse is expecting a child and does not have a family reunification visa, she will have to leave, for example, to Ukraine, and there, through complicated procedures via VisaPoint, apply for family reunification."
Who might benefit from this amendment? Perhaps large investors, whose scale and benefit of their investments for the Czech Republic are proven, are placed in an advantageous position. They will be able to stay in the country for up to two years without needing to extend their visa. Otherwise, as Martin Rozumek believes, this is an attempt by Interior Minister Milan Chovanec to gain points with xenophobic voters.
"We believe that these are too serious restrictions that contradict European Union law, and often also the decisions of the Czech Constitutional Court, so most likely some parts of this amendment will later be overturned by it. We will strive to ensure that the most significant restrictions do not come into force, as I have already said – obstacles to entrepreneurial activity, administrative red tape for Czech companies. It seems that these rules were written by someone who absolutely does not understand entrepreneurship. Of course, we will also strive to ensure that mixed families do not suffer from the problems that this law may bring," concludes Martin Rozumek.
The amendment to the law on the stay of foreigners was necessary in connection with EU directives that were approved three years ago. Now the law will go to the Czech Senate for consideration.