At the beginning of this March, a draft amendment to the Act on the Residence of Foreigners (hereinafter “ARF”), the Asylum Act and other related laws was sent to MPs to respond to the current economic migration and to correct the inconsistency with European law.

The ARF amendment responds to the adoption of the Blue Card Directive, which is to be implemented by November 2023. The Blue Card is a long-term residence permit for highly skilled employment. High qualifications must currently be proved by a completed university degree, but after the implementation of the amendment, proof of professional experience could be sufficient, and if the applicant has already held a Blue Card in another EU Member State for at least two years, he or she is not obliged to prove his or her qualifications again.

According to the proposal, asylum seekers or beneficiaries of subsidiary protection could also apply for this card, which would be valid for up to 3 years, compared to the previous 2 years. In addition to the employment contract, the applicant would now be able to submit only a future contract, which would be negotiated for a minimum of 6 months. Under the ARF proposal, holders would be able to notify of a change of employer at any time within 3 days of discovering it, regardless of how long they have held the blue card. However, if a Blue Card holder loses his/her job and the period of unemployment exceeds 3 months, or if he/she fails to notify of a change of employer or termination of employment in time, the card will be cancelled. For people who have held a Blue Card in the Czech Republic for more than two years, the cancellation period is extended to 6 months.

If a woman with a long-term or permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic gives birth to a child in the Czech Republic, this child would immediately become part of the public health insurance system in the Czech Republic for the entire duration of its stay. Minor children who have long-term or permanent residence permits would also be covered by public health insurance.

However, according to the proposal, family cohabitation will not be recognised as a sufficient reason for applying for long-term residence if there are dependent adult children. Children under 18 are still entitled to a residence permit for this purpose.

Another proposed change concerns the competence of an embassy for submitting the application. The possibility to apply for a long-stay visa or residence at a Czech embassy outside the country where the applicant is a citizen could newly be available only to those applicants who meet the condition of continuous residence in that country for more than 2 years. The amended ARF would also tighten the obligation to provide an extract from the criminal record and similar documents. Until now, the document was mandatory only upon request.

The draft amendment needs to go through the approval process, so its final form may be different.

The current article on Blue Card applications, both in the Czech Republic and in Germany, can be found here.

Author: Roman Burnus, Anna Beránková