In the Visapoint system, only two out of a hundred Ukrainians get a place in line.
As Radio Prague notes, the Visapoint system has long been under fire. Created to facilitate the process of submitting documents to embassies and consulates of the Czech Republic, it has turned into an insurmountable barrier, the approaches to which have been occupied by numerous 'intermediaries.'
Now the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic has issued an official verdict: 'The visa processing system used in Vietnam and Ukraine promotes corruption.'
The court ruling notes that errors in the system have been pointed out for five years, starting in 2012. Foreigners are practically deprived of the opportunity to independently register for an appointment at the consular section, forcing them to turn to intermediaries who charge significant sums for their services. The court stated that the Czech state has not yet resolved the problem.
The Supreme Administrative Court also suggests allowing applications for registration to be submitted by mail. Such applications could number in the tens of thousands, which could become a problem.
'The ministry is currently analyzing the content of the court verdict,' commented Irena Valentová from the press department of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The diplomatic department also states that 'the court ruling concerns problems that occurred in the past.' 'We can already state that the problems considered by the court have already been overcome. The system has been adjusted; other measures have also been taken,' claims Irena Valentová.
The system for scheduling document submission appointments should undergo changes in the near future. 'Whether these problems have been overcome or not, I cannot say yet. We – as is inherent in the nature of our work – considered what happened with a certain time interval. Specifically, we considered two cases of processing work cards for Vietnamese citizens. Based on these documents, specific Vietnamese citizens can stay in the country and work here,' comments Supreme Administrative Court judge Karel Šimek.
The court verdict mentions the results of an inspection carried out by the office of the Czech Ombudsman Anna Šabatová, conducted in connection with complaints received from Ukraine. Out of 277 attempts to register in the Visapoint system, only 5 applications were successful. Out of every hundred Ukrainians trying to book an appointment at the Czech consulate for visa processing, only two get free slots. Everything else is taken by intermediary agencies.
'Naturally, there were many people who did not want to seek help from intermediaries. As a result, rather unusual methods of submitting applications began to be used. For this, we also criticize the diplomatic department, as it did nothing about it for a long time. People began to come to consulates in person to submit documents. At the diplomatic mission, they were refused a personal appointment and were advised to file a complaint on the spot. As a result, a complaint and simultaneously a visa application were submitted. It was precisely two such cases that we considered and assessed – what to do with such applications and who should consider them,' explains the judge.