“I work as a consultant and help citizens obtain residence and work permits in the Czech Republic. In the past, a long time ago, I processed similar documents for my partner. Well, then he asked me to help another acquaintance. That’s how I started doing this work, and today it brings a certain income. The fact is that a foreigner, without knowledge of the language, can hardly handle all the paperwork on their own. Earlier it was easier to open your own company and get a residence permit in the country. Today in the Czech Republic it is better to do this through a work permit,” says Bohdana, who helps foreigners process documents for moving to the Czech Republic.
A study conducted by the consulting company Deloitte, which every two years examines migration formalities in the EU for highly qualified third-country nationals, indicates that the process of reviewing immigrant cases for the Czech Republic, which lasts on average 12 weeks, is one of the slowest in the EU. Only Italy takes longer to process applications, the study reports. When asked how this process works and why it takes so long, press secretary of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic Martina Nemcova responds:
“First, a foreigner submits an application to a Czech Republic embassy abroad for a work permit or a so-called ‘blue card’ to take up a vacant job. However, under Czech law, the employer must report the vacancy to the Labor Office at least 30 days in advance. The review procedure begins from the moment the application is submitted. Moreover, in a number of countries where there is great interest in working in the Czech Republic, an applicant must wait for an available appointment to visit the embassy.
Then the application is sent to the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic for review. If the decision is positive, a visa is issued to the foreigner, allowing them to come to the Czech Republic for the purpose of obtaining a work permit or a so-called ‘blue card’. Upon arrival, the person goes to the Ministry of Interior, where their biometric data are taken, which are necessary for issuing the identity card. After that, the foreigner can start working.
The length of the process is due to several factors, one of which is the need to wait for an opportunity to submit an application at the embassy. Further, during the application review process, the main cause of delay is often the need to suspend the process due to errors or inaccuracies in the application.”
The legally established timeframe for processing work permit applications is 60 to 90 days, and for the ‘blue card’ – 90 to 120 days. However, the study conducted by Deloitte found that this does not always correspond to reality; in practice, the deadlines are often extended.
“From our experience, it also follows that, unfortunately, the immigration authorities do not have enough staff to process applications in a shorter period. In addition, the education level and experience of these employees also do not allow shortening this period,” says Anastasia Verkhorubova, manager of the migration services department at Deloitte.
In half of the countries examined in the study conducted by Deloitte, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, and China, the document processing times are less than a month. What are the main difficulties a foreigner may face when collecting documents for submission?
“Obtaining additional apostille or legalization of documents can be quite problematic. This requirement does not apply to all foreign nationals. For example, Russians and Ukrainians do not need it. But for citizens of, say, India or the United States, this requirement is mandatory, and they may even have to travel within the country to obtain such confirmation. Also quite problematic is obtaining confirmation of where the future employee will live. The validity of this document must be long enough, ideally for the entire duration of the employment contract. At the same time, obtaining such confirmation before the foreigner arrives in the Czech Republic and starts looking for housing is very problematic.”
However, as Martina Nemcova clarified, obtaining the above documents from the Czech Republic largely depends on the willingness of the employer to provide them. Sometimes it may seem that all this ‘red tape’ is deliberately designed to make it seem to the foreigner that moving to the Czech Republic is not so easy. When asked whether these thoughts are justified, Anastasia Verkhorubova responds:
“From our experience, rather, we can say that the ministries in the Czech Republic understand that there is currently great interest in having highly qualified specialists from various countries work in companies. For these purposes, special programs within the ministries are created to attract investment, as well as special projects, for example, to attract specialists of various levels from Ukraine. Unfortunately, these measures cannot help all categories of employees, and in practice, obtaining a work permit and residence permit in the Czech Republic is not easy at all.”
In turn, the Ministry of Interior emphasizes that if all conditions for submitting the application were met, then the department issues a residence and work permit in the Czech Republic without any problems: “The Ministry of Interior, during the procedure for reviewing applications for residence permits in the country, makes a decision based on whether all conditions established by law were met,” comments Martina Nemcova.
Can we expect that in the near future the conditions for obtaining work permits and related stay in the Czech Republic will be simplified?
«In the near future, amendments to the law on the stay of foreigners are planned, within which EU regulations on seasonal workers and on transfers within international corporations should be implemented. Expansion of the already mentioned special programs provided by the ministries of the Czech Republic is also planned. But, despite these measures, we do not think that the duration or procedure for obtaining work permits will be significantly reduced in the near future.»
The words of Anastasia Verkhorubova are confirmed by an official comment from the Ministry of the Interior: «Here it is necessary to emphasize that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, since 2012, in addition to the standard migration process, has been creating special opportunities for selected target groups of foreigners. For example, for highly skilled employees of multinational corporations, as well as for citizens of Ukraine. These opportunities serve to speed up their immigration process. However, we do not plan to simplify the criteria for obtaining a residence permit through legislation in the near future.»
However, the difficulties for foreigners do not end with obtaining a work and residence permit in the Czech Republic. Of course, if a person plans to stay in the country.
«Obtaining a work permit is not an easy process, and as a result it may be limited to a specific validity period. When the period ends, the foreigner must leave the Czech Republic. This is often abused by intermediary agencies. We know of cases of abuse not only against citizens of Russia or Ukraine, but similar cases are encountered, for example, by English teachers who come to work in the Czech Republic from Australia or Florida» – concludes Bogdana.