Despite the fact that registering for a Czech visa through the Visapoint system is free, fraudsters manage to get from 200 to 1,200 euros for their "services"
Work cards freed foreigners from having to apply to the Czech labor office for a work permit. Now they just need to find an employer in the Czech Republic and, with a signed employment contract, appear at the Czech consulate in their country. At the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, they believe that foreigners have every reason to be happy about the introduction of work cards.
“The advantage of work cards is also that they can be issued for up to 2 years – if the employment contract is concluded for an unlimited period. Then they can, of course, be extended. Long-term residence visas were previously issued only for 6 months. This innovation eases the situation for employers and the foreigners themselves,” says Deputy Head of the Department Pavla Novotná.
All jobs for which work cards are issued must be pre-checked by the Czech Labor Office. Within 30 days, candidates with citizenship of the Czech Republic or another European Union country are sought for the vacant position. Only if such a candidate cannot be found can a foreigner from a non-EU country apply for the position.
Refusals to issue work cards amount, according to Pavla Novotná, to about 18 percent. And for what reasons does the Ministry of the Interior decide that a foreigner does not deserve a work card even with a contract with a Czech employer? “In practice, the most common reason is an unreliable employer. Sometimes during an employer check it turns out that they have no office. Or through other state institutions we receive information that the employer has other foreign employees registered but does not make any insurance contributions for them. We regard these factors as risk factors,” explains Pavla Novotná, Deputy Head of the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.
That is why the interview that an applicant for a work card undergoes at the Czech consulate is considered by the Czech Ministry of the Interior as a help to the foreigner. “In interviews at consulates, we check how well the foreigner understands what awaits them when moving to the Czech Republic. Whether they know their rights and obligations and have enough information about the future workplace and the environment they will enter. For us, this reduces the risk that the foreigner, once in the Czech Republic, will fall into dependence on semi-legal structures. A foreigner who understands the situation always finds it easier to pass the interview,” says Pavla Novotná.
Despite the fact that the Czech authorities praise work cards, in some countries of the former Soviet Union it is not so easy to obtain them. And not only because of suspicious employers. In Kyiv, for some time now it has been very difficult even to submit documents for a work card. Judging by numerous complaints from Ukrainian citizens on the Internet, the Visapoint system, designed for booking appointments at the consulate of the Czech Republic, does not offer available dates for booking. At the same time, supposedly it is not difficult to purchase a date through an intermediary.
Is the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs taking steps to resolve this situation? We asked this question to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Martin Smolek: “The importance of the Visapoint system, in my opinion, is greatly exaggerated. It is a technical tool, essentially the same queue that used to stand in front of our consulates abroad. The actual queue has been replaced by an electronic one. And the queue in front of the consulate of the Czech Republic in Kyiv arises because there are many people who want to get a visa, while the Czech Republic's capacity to accept foreigners is limited. The demand for work visas from Ukrainians will always exceed our supply. Now it is important for us to improve the capacity to accept foreigners to better respond to the demand from their side. For the Czech Republic, the employment of Ukrainians within reasonable limits is beneficial because our enterprises need them.”
Can we hope that the situation at the consulate in Kyiv will improve? “Recently, a meeting was held with representatives of the government, employers and trade unions, where this topic was discussed – how to expand the capacity to accept Ukrainian workers and how to do it in the shortest possible time. I expect that improvements can be expected in the coming months,” noted Martin Smolek.
As for the issue of intermediaries, according to the Czech Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the problem seems far-fetched. “The problem is that we often hear about intermediaries, but no one has yet provided us with any evidence of their existence. Visapoint is protected from hacking by a number of technical means, and so far we have not registered a single hack of the system. Until evidence is presented to us, we cannot work with this information,” concluded Martin Smolek.
Asya Chekanova.
Commentary from "Zagranitsa": We are ready to give Mr. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Martin Smolek the address of a website registered in the Czech Republic that offers foreign citizens guaranteed appointment booking at the Consulate of the Czech Republic through the free Visapoint system for 200 euros (student visa) or 1,200 euros (work visa).
We also warn our readers: we strongly do not recommend using the services of the site shown in the screenshot!