• What is the dialogue "You need a visa for the festival" about?

Apart from refugees, i.e. asylum seekers and recognised refugees whose residence is subject to the Asylum Act, the vast majority of foreigners are subject to the Act on the Residence of Foreigners. This distinguishes between many different types of residency, which can be summarised into three groups: short-term, long-term, and permanent. Their character has a fundamental impact not only on the actual life of foreigners in the CR, but their motivation to become integrated into Czech society and the possibility of availing themselves of the most varied opportunities (studies, work, but also accommodation and travel). Each of these operations is encumbered by a certain administrative burden and a range of obstacles, always depending on the type of residency involved.

Moreover, with the entry of the Czech Republic into the EU, foreigners are divided into two new groups: citizens of the EU and citizens of so-called third countries. Since for EU citizens who meet relatively simple administrative prerequisites, the same conditions apply as to CR citizens in respect of residency, work, etc., we shall focus on the second group. Not only is it a larger group, it also encounters incomparably greater difficulties on the one hand and the pressure and requirements of majority society on its integration on the other. Naturally, we have to take into consideration that this group includes Americans, Canadians, Japanese, etc., whose status, despite the de jure same conditions for acquiring residency and work, is completely different from that of, for instance, Ukrainians, Vietnamese, Arabs, Africans, etc.

• What is...?

Foreigner: The Act on the Residence of Foreigners defines a foreigner as a citizen of another country residing within the CR.

Immigrant: This term is commonly used for foreigners with permanent or long-term (with the possibility of permanent) residency. However, this designation is not enshrined in any Czech legislation – on the other hand, it appears many times in strategic documents of the EU and CR relating to the integration of foreigners.

Short-term residency: The short-term residency of a foreigner refers to a stay of up to 90 days, e.g. tourists or someone on a short-term work attachment.

Long-term residency: This is a stay in excess of 90 days. In practice, long-term residency usually refers to a stay in which a foreigner with a visa for over 90 days resides in the country for more than a year. This visa must be extended every year, and all the facts which the foreigner had to corroborate when applying for the visa must be corroborated every year, i.e. financial resources, purpose of stay (work, studies, etc.), accommodation, etc. However, there is no right to this visa, i.e. foreigners may be refused a visa without reasons being adduced even though they have corroborated everything necessary. This naturally leads to considerable insecurity and great arbitrariness on the part of the administrative body, the Foreign Police.

With certain exceptions, access to healthcare, medical treatment and other services is more complex for these foreigners. Although an economically-active foreigner must pay the same taxes and deductions for social security, they have much more restricted access to these resources in the event of emergency, while sickness and unemployment benefits do not apply to them, etc.

Visa: This is an entitlement to enter and reside within a designated territory. Visas are divided into short-term visas (up to 90 days) which relate only to certain countries (usually the countries of the former USSR, Asia, Africa, etc.) and long-term visas (over 90 days), which every foreigner must apply for if they are not a citizen of an EU country. There are many such visas and they are distinguished according to their purpose (c.f. below). An application for such a visa must be submitted outside of the CR. It is not possible, for instance, to arrive in the CR on a tourist visa and then to apply for a long-term visa. However, it is under certain circumstances possible to have, for instance, a visa for the purpose of employment, residence within the CR, and then to apply for a visa for the purposes of doing business. The important thing is always that the first visa has not lapsed prior to the second visa becoming valid. Otherwise, it is necessary to leave the country. NB – not even a valid visa is a hundred-percent guarantee that a foreigner will be allowed to enter the CR, or that they will be explained the reason for such a refusal!

Purpose of visit: This refers to the purpose for which a foreigner is issued permission to visit, e.g. study, work, to start a family, to participate in a company, to set up a company, etc. It is important to know that a student may not, on the basis of their visa, also work, etc. A special visa is necessary for each unique purpose. Theoretically, a foreigner could have several types of visas for various purposes. There is a fee charged for all of these visas, and specific facts have to be corroborated.

Permanent residence: This is residence which a foreigner can acquire after five years of living continuously in the CR (previously this was 10 years), and there is now a legal right to acquire this residency. This means that it must be justified to a foreigner why they are not being allowed long-term residency, and the foreigner may appeal against such a decision. An important condition is that the foreigner may not have lived outside the CR for more than a total of 10 months during the previous five years. A foreigner with permanent residence enjoys all the rights and duties of a Czech citizen, with the exception of the right to vote, to serve in the army, to work in military units, and to work in positions for which the state reasonably requires Czech citizenship.

Permanent residence can also be acquired by marrying a citizen of the CR or a citizen of the EU residing in the CR, and this means a relatively high occurrence of marriages of convenience, since this is a fast, easy way to obtain long-term residence without waiting many years. On the other hand, these foreigners are regarded more strictly, and if there is any reason for suspicion, the Foreign Police may attempt to inaugurate proceedings on the withdrawal of long-term residency. In the case of the more “classic” permanent residency, such measures can be taken only if there is a security threat to the CR and in other serious cases.

Another special category is permanent residence for humanitarian reasons, which a foreigner may receive if either they or a member of their family is suffering serious health problems which are such that to return to their own country could involve a threat to their lives.

Resident of the EU: This is a new category, or rather a supplement to the existing practice of treating foreigners of third countries residing permanently (a minimum of 5 years) in a member country of the EU. Using this statute, a citizen of a third country may enjoy the same advantages as a citizen of the EU, i.e. free movement, the possibility of working in countries which have not applied transitional measures on the market against workers from the new member countries, etc. Without this statute, a foreigner with permanent residence in the CR would be regarded in Europe purely and simply as a citizen of a third country and would have to meet visa obligations, would encounter a different approach when entering the jobs market, doing business, etc. The aim of this measure is to balance the status of these foreigners and that of EU citizens throughout the territory of the EU, in order for it to correspond to their status within the framework of the country which has awarded them permanent residence. At present, this status is supposed to be awarded automatically with permanent residence or asylum, and at the very most a simple verbal request from the foreigner should suffice.

Integration: In accordance with the latest know-how and approaches applied (e.g. within the framework of European integration policies), this is a two-way process, i.e. it is the totality of the activities of a foreigner on the one hand, and the approaches of the accepting society on the other. Though disputes are underway on the concrete form and requisite level of integration of new arrivals to Czech/European society, it is clear that, at the very least, this is a process during which the individual is gradually incorporated into the accepting society as a legal member if they accept its rules, respect its laws and basic principles – in the case of the CR, examples include liberal principles, democracy, equal rights for women and individual freedom. A substantial role when assessing and promoting integration is played by the language of the local society. On the other hand, there are also demands placed on the society to allow the new arrivals to integrate, i.e. to learn the language, to understand its rules and norms, etc., and to approach them openly and to gradually ensure equality with its own citizens. Also important is the incorporation of the new arrival into the regular daily activities of the community. For instance, there is talk now of the need to create links of mutual dependency at work and the services of local people with new arrivals, in order that the natural requirement for mutual contact is ensured and the social exclusion of immigrants prevented, who, on the contrary, should feel themselves to be a strong and responsible part of the new society.

Thanks to developments over the last few years in Western Europe, perceptions of foreigners as being primarily refugees or members of some religious or other community are being abandoned, and on the contrary the foreigner is now seen as an individual with an individual history, needs, potential, rights and duties.

The natural culmination of the integration of an immigrant into society should be their acceptance as a citizen of their new-found country. In the Czech Republic, citizenship can be acquired after five uninterrupted years in the country, but only on the basis of permanent residence or asylum, and there is no legal right to this. Foreigners can thus be theoretically refused citizenship even though they meet all the conditions: they pass a test in Czech, they demonstrate that they owe nothing in the way of insurance or taxes if they are businesspeople, that they have permanent accommodation, employment, and all the authorities in their place of residence support their application.

• Topic

As we’ve seen, foreigners with permission to stay longer than 90 days, i.e. with long-term residence, reside in the CR for a precisely designated purpose. The purpose of their stay influences not only the conditions under which they can reside, work or study, but also the possibilities of their becoming incorporated into society. The conditions which they have to meet are stringent and not even meeting them will always bring the security of being able to stay in the CR. This naturally impacts on the motivation of foreigners to integrate. A bad experience will lead foreigners into isolation, or into finding various middlemen.

This is the case with Suong’s mother, who would like to return to Vietnam, feels isolated here, does not speak Czech, and whose unpleasant experience with the Foreign Police, after which the entire family had to leave the country, apply anew for a visa and thus postpone the possibility of acquiring permanent residence, has not made things any better. In this case, it is clear that the motives and potential for integration into Czech society are often of a social character, i.e. they are given by conditions under which the foreigner resides here and the approach taken by majority society to them, rather being of a cultural character, i.e. underpinned by some differences between cultural backgrounds.

Moreover, the Czech Republic has a considerable deficit in terms of activities aimed at the integration of foreigners living long-term with the potential to remain for good. While there are a variety of programmes organised for refugees by the state and non-governmental organisations, for the long-term foreign resident, very little is done. One of the reasons is the severely restricted time which these foreigners have at their disposal. Work migrants, for instance, are so exploited that it is difficult for them to attend courses in Czech or integration courses, always supposing that these have been organised (frequently by non-profit organisations). Given that they often see no benefit to be had from this, e.g. a greater chance of obtaining permanent residence, a simpler regime for extending their visa, etc., under such conditions they are less motivated. Foreigners with permanent residence have it better in this respect. However, the majority of them, thanks to living in the CR for five or more years, do not need many of these activities.

• Stories and examples

The families of our heroes must undergo the same, drawn-out and psychologically demanding procedure every year – to track down all the necessary documents, stand in a queue for an entire day (or even for several days before they are “successful”) at the Foreign Police, and find themselves face to face with a very unfriendly civil servant of the Foreign Police, experience immediate insecurity as to whether everything is in order, and anxiety as to whether this will suffice for the “body” to extend their visa. On top of this, the foreigner often does not understand Czech, and there is often no other language by which to make themselves understood to the civil servant.

Foreigners encounter various types of misunderstandings with different authorities, be this because of a language problem or insufficient knowledge of the rights and duties of a foreigner with the type of residence in question. In this respect, a huge service is provided by non-profit organisations which accompany the foreigner, and also frequently provide civil servants with training in the sphere in question.

Despite these efforts, the CR is frequently criticised for its approach to foreigners by the authorities of international organisations monitoring human rights, such as Amnesty International or the International Helsinki Committee.

Mr. Nguyen came to the CR at the end of the eighties. He then returned to Vietnam and again came to the CR at the end of the nineties. He came on the basis of a residency permit for the purpose of doing business. A Vietnamese agency in the CR got hold of a Trade Licence and visa for him and placed him in a marketplace in a small town, at a stall selling clothes. He had to buy these clothes himself. Because he did not have any money, the price of the clothes was recorded by the agency as his debt to them. This meant that from the very start, he was in debt and was forced to make a living, pay for his accommodation, etc. only from the takings from the clothes, as well as to repay the agency, which had applied a high rate of interest. Even so, in time, and with considerable self-sacrifice, he managed to repay the debt and save something. He noticed that the town lacked a shop selling mixed goods which would stay open longer, including Sundays, and so he obtained a new Trade Licence. This time around, he discovered that the price of a Trade List is some ten times cheaper than what he had paid the agency. In time, he left the marketplace and opened his dream shop right on the square. The local people began to visit it in droves, and Mr. Nguyen began speaking with some of them, in doing so making huge strides in his learning of Czech. He began to think about getting married to his girlfriend, who had followed him from Vietnam in order to help him. However, there were problems. From the very start, it was clear that the people from the “agency” and the marketplace were not too happy with his activities. They first of all tried to claim that by leaving the marketplace he was in breach of contract and the rules covering residency in the CR, and if he didn’t pay something he would be expelled. However, because he had ensured that everything was in order with the Foreign Police, the Trade Licence Department, his health insurance, etc., after a while they tried something new. If the agency suffered damages as a result of his departure from the marketplace, he would have to pay a fine in the order of tens of thousands of crowns. However, after consulting a lawyer, Mr. Nguyen discovered that nothing of the sort ensued from the contract between him and the agency, and ignored this too. And so the people from the agency started to threaten him directly. He contacted the Czech Police Force, which informed him that it could not do anything without proof, that it did not have the staff for any larger operation, and that as soon as something happened he was to contact them. Something did happen. One day his shop was completely razed to the ground. The insurance company refused to pay for the damage if the incident could not be properly investigated. However, nothing happened and the police were not able to tell him when things would arrive at some kind of conclusion. Now desperate, with the assistance of a Czech friend he contacted a television station. In the report that was broadcast, a local police spokesperson stated that this was a dispute within the framework of the local Vietnamese community and that the police could not (did not want) to get involved, despite the fact that Mr. Nguyen felt himself to be more of a businessperson than a member of the “community” in question – he lived in a rented apartment in a building with Czech neighbours, he was on good terms with one or two of the local people other than the Vietnamese, and his experience with the “agency” had done nothing to increase his trust in his compatriots at the marketplace. One Czech friend eventually found him a contact at a non-government organisation, with whose help Mr. Nguyen eventually achieved some kind of satisfaction – the police completed its investigation and issued a statement to the effect that the crime was committed by person or persons unknown, and that there was no evidence that Mr. Nguyen had caused the damage himself. So finally, the insurance company coughed up. Even so, you will not see his shop on the square. He moved to a larger city and opened a new shop. He is satisfied, though even if nobody is harassing him there, he still feels somewhat isolated. He had slowly started to get to know the people in the small town, they had become accustomed to each other and were even close to friendship. Here nobody notices him, and his natural need to communicate with people only began to be met when he started visiting the Vietnamese club. His Czech has lapsed, even though he got married and has two small children who speak Czech at home because of nursery school. His family has permanent residence here, and over the longer term he is thinking of acquiring Czech citizenship. However, he knows that his and his wife’s poor Czech might prove an impediment. He will have to pay for a course or hope that one crops up run by an NGO. However, without daily contact with Czechs, this will prove difficult.

• Sources

References:

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