Novela zakona o pobytu cizincu

Amendment to the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals

The Chamber of Deputies is currently debating an amendment to the Act on the Residence of Foreigner Nationals (hereinafter also referred to as the "ARFN"), the Asylum Act and other related laws. The amendment contains changes reflecting the current requirements of economic migration and responds to the amended text of the so-called Blue Card Directive of October 2021, the implementation of which is due by November 2023. The amendment also regulates the scope and practice of international protection (i.e. asylum and temporary protection).

The most important proposed changes in the area of legal labour migration are summarised below.

• Blue Card

The amendment to the ARFN is intended to transpose the EU Blue Card Directive, which was adopted at EU level to introduce more flexible entry and residence criteria for highly skilled third-country workers within the EU. The Blue Card has hardly been used in many Member States so far, for example in the Czech Republic it does not bring any major advantages over the "standard" employment card.

According to the amendment, an application for a Blue Card, i.e. a long-term work and residence permit for highly qualified employmees, could now also be submitted by an asylum seeker or a person enjoying subsidiary protection and can be approved for up to 3 years (instead of the previous 2 years). 

According to the proposed amendment, the obligation to provide a proof of high qualifications (currently only possible by providing proof of duly completed higher education or higher vocational education of at least 3 years duration) could be fulfilled by providing proof of professional experience.

The proposed amendment should also bring simplification in proving high qualifications for some applicants; in cases where the applicant has already worked as a Blue Card holder in another EU Member State for at least 2 years before applying for a Blue Card, he/she will not be obliged to provide the Ministry of the Interior with this document.

 If the amendment to the ARFN is approved, the applicant for a Blue Card should be able to submit a future contract of at least 6 months instead of an employment contract (originally only an employment contract of at least 1 year was required).

The amendment also modifies the conditions for changing employer and job classification and stipulates that Blue Card holders are entitled to change employer or job classification at any time. They will have to notify the Ministry within 3 working days, regardless of how long they have held the Blue Card in the Czech Republic.

On the other hand, the conditions regarding potential unemployment of Blue Card holders are being tightened. The Ministry will cancel the Blue Card if unemployment exceeds 3 months in the first two years of residence. For Blue Card holders residing in the Czech Republic on the basis of this authorisation for more than 2 years, unemployment must not exceed 6 months.

The transposition of the Directive will also affect the Employment Act. If an applicant applies for a Blue Card in the Czech Republic as a holder of a Blue Card issued by another Member State, he/she can be employed on the 30th day after the date of application and therefore does not have to wait for the Ministry of the Interior to issue a decision.  

• Residence permit for the purpose of family reunification for adult children

The draft regulation abolishes the possibility for dependent adult children to apply for long-term residence for the purpose of family reunification in the territory, so only minor children under 18 years of age should be entitled to this type of residence.

• Jurisdiction of the embassy in connection with applications filing

The amended ARFN would also tighten the possibility to apply for a long-term visa or long-term residence at a Czech embassy outside the state of which the applicant is a citizen or the state that issued the travel document. The latter option would now be available only to an applicant who meets the condition of continuous residence in such a country for at least 2 years. Such a change would thus make the possibility of applying for some applicants residing outside their country of origin considerably more difficult. 

Another proposed change is the obligation (so far upon request, but in practice almost always required) to submit a document similar to a criminal record extract with applications for visas and Long-term residence permits for more than 90 days from countries of which the applicant is a national and countries where the applicant has resided for more than 6 months in the last 3 years in aggregate.

• Health insurance for minors 

The amendment should also bring a change in the scope of health insurance under the Public Health Insurance Act for minors. According to the proposal, children born in the territory of the Czech Republic whose mother holds a long-term or permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic would be covered by the public health insurance system. At the same time, all minor children will be insured by the public health insurance for the duration of their long-term residence permit. 

It is likely that the amendment will be commented on during the legislative process and may therefore undergo more significant changes before its eventual approval by the Parliament. We will keep you informed of any changes and developments in the legislative process.

If you are unclear or have any other questions, please contact the authors of this article or the EY tax team with whom you regularly work.

Authors:

Jan Lachmann

Sabrina Pastorková