Photo by Dmitry Onishchuk
Main mistakes of Ukrainian illegal immigrants
Is it difficult to become a citizen of the Czech Republic? How long does a foreigner have to live in the Czech Republic to obtain citizenship of this country? How does the legal status of citizens differ from that of foreigners who have obtained permanent residence permits in the country? Maybe it's best to live free as a bird and not be a subject of any country? Radio Prague asked Pavel Bouček, legal consultant of the Czech Helsinki Committee on citizenship issues, to answer these questions.
A candidate for Czech citizenship must have lived in the Czech Republic for at least five years with permanent residence status and have no criminal record. He must also be fluent in Czech. The tax police must confirm that the candidate regularly paid taxes and social and health insurance contributions during his stay in the country. He will also have to give up his own citizenship, but only after the Czech authorities issue him a notification of obtaining Czech citizenship. From that moment, as a rule, he has one year to renounce the citizenship of his homeland.
However, with the permission of the Ministry of the Interior, virtually all conditions can be circumvented. Most often, the ministry agrees to reduce the mandatory five-year period of residence in the Czech Republic, but the very possession of permanent residence, even for the shortest time, is mandatory. The five-year term condition, as a rule, is not required from foreign spouses of Czech citizens. Mute and elderly people need not be fluent in Czech.
Difficulties often arise in the process of renouncing a previous citizenship. The Czech Republic does not recognize dual citizenship, and not all countries are willing to easily release their citizens. Sometimes there are real fears that a person who wants to renounce the citizenship of a country may become a victim of repression by that country. Young people, for example, fear that they will be immediately drafted into the army at home. This problem is especially acute in countries at war. There are cases when consulates refuse to process renunciation documents and send the person to their homeland for a certificate, but not everyone can go there for various reasons. Some states do not issue such certificates at all and do not allow the possibility of renouncing citizenship. In such cases, the Czech authorities do not insist on providing a document of renunciation of previous citizenship, but each specific situation must be explained and documented. The Ministry of the Interior treats foreigners' explanations with great distrust and, in case of the slightest doubt, makes a decision not in their favor.
Czech immigration laws strictly divide foreigners living in the country into two groups. The first is family members of Czech citizens, that is, mainly husbands and wives. The second group includes all others. If, for example, a Ukrainian marries a Czech woman, he will be able to obtain permanent residence and citizenship within two years. If a Ukrainian moves to the Czech Republic with his Ukrainian wife, he will be able to apply for permanent residence only after ten years of living in the country, and for citizenship - 15 years after moving to the Czech Republic. In this respect, Czech laws are among the strictest in Europe.
A holder of Czech permanent residence has almost the same rights as a citizen of the country, except for the right to participate in elections and the right to obtain a Czech foreign passport. But one has to live on annual visas, as already mentioned, for a full 10 years. However, for valid reasons, permanent residence can be obtained earlier. First of all, if a person who has already lived in the Czech Republic for several years came here from a country where a disaster occurred - it could be a war or a natural disaster. The main thing is that the applicant can prove that he simply has nowhere to return. Also, foreign citizens of Czech origin, for example, Czechs from Ukraine or Kazakhstan, receive permanent residence on an expedited basis.
I want to draw attention to two aspects. A foreigner who is on the territory of the Czech Republic illegally cannot obtain permanent residence, even if he married here and had a child. Such cases are not rare in my practice. Often these people, for some reason, turn out to be Ukrainians. They live illegally for several years, then marry a Czech woman and think that all problems are solved. In reality, it is the opposite - problems only begin, because it is very difficult for a person whose illegal residence in the Czech Republic becomes known to the immigration authorities to get even a one-year visa, let alone permanent residence.
And second, if a person ever had a break in his legal stay in the country, if there is even a single day gap between annual visas, then he will also have trouble, because the immigration police will claim that he has not lived in the Czech Republic for 10 years.
It is said that it is very beneficial to be a stateless person. Allegedly, you can come to any country and you will be granted citizenship everywhere. But that is not the case. If such a person does not have Czech permanent residence, then the Czech Republic will refuse to issue him a passport with which he can travel, and he will thus become unable to travel abroad. Moreover, most likely, he will have problems with extending his Czech annual visa. But even if a person has a foreign passport, traveling is very difficult for him.
A stateless person needs a visa for all countries without exception. Moreover, some European states fundamentally refuse visas to such people. Being a stateless person is a legally complicated status; I do not recommend anyone to deliberately become one.