Certificates of Temporary Residence to Expire After 10 Years

At a Glance

• Starting August 2019, all certificates of temporary residence for European Economic Area and Swiss nationals in the Czech Republic will become invalid after 10 years.
• There will be no change to the legal status of temporary residence card holders when their current residence card expires.
• However, since all applicants must provide valid certificates of temporary residence when applying for permanent residency to evidence their lawful stay in the Czech Republic, and because certain services like opening a bank account requires valid residence status, temporary residence permit holders should apply for a new temporary residence permit.

The situation

New legislation expected to come into effect in August 2019 will set an expiry date of 10 years for the validity of certificates of temporary residence for all European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals in the Czech Republic.

Impact

There will be no change to the legal status of temporary residence card holders when their current residence card expires. Only the residence document itself will expire.

However, since all applicants must provide valid certificates of temporary residence when applying for permanent residency to evidence their lawful stay in the Czech Republic, and because certain services like opening a bank account requires valid residence status, temporary residence permit holders should check the date their permit was issued to calculate when it will expire. The below is a guideline for action based on the issuance date of the permit:

Background

• Expiry date for temporary residence cards. Temporary residence cards in the Czech Republic were intended to only be valid for 10 years, but in practice they have been issued without an expiry date leading to the perception that they are unlimited. The new law due to go into effect in August 2019 clarifies this issue.

• Other legislative changes. The change is part of a wider reform to Czech immigration law. The new law will also bring consular application quotas in September 2019; introduce shorter labor vacancy posting periods; introduce civic integration requirements in 2021; and relax and streamline immigration processes.

Looking ahead

The upcoming changes to Czech immigration processes are expected to streamline the immigration process and create certainty for the increasing number of European migrants to the Czech Republic and ease growing labor market needs in the region. As immigration to the Czech Republic continues to rise, public concerns regarding migration have also risen, leading to the introduction of the civic integration requirement.

Further changes considered in the Czech Parliament include the potential to allow in-country application filing, which would further expedite and streamline immigration processes. However, further updates on this proposal are not expected before the end of 2019.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to emea@fragomen.com