The Government of the Czech Republic have secretly approved the worst changes in the immigration law since we came into business ten years ago. Some of the changes are brutal and we are describing them all below. We start listing them from the most brutal and go to the less important.
End of private health insurance in the Czech Republic
Honestly speaking, we did not think something like this could happen in a developed country like Czech Republic. But it has happened anyway! The Czech government decided that from August 2nd 2021, there will only be one private health insurance company allowed to provide health insurance in the Czech Republic for the next five years. The other insurance companies will have to close down and sent all their employees to unemployment and all their clients who knows where.
The only company allowed to stay is – surprise surprise – a daughter company of the biggest public health insurance provider – pVZP. All the other companies such as Maxima, ERGO, UNIQA and other will stop existing from August 2021.
Well, not exactly, the contracts you have now will still remain valid (until they expire) but you will not be able to extend them, or get new ones. Hard to say what it will mean to the current clients since we are not sure how much support the insurance companies will want to provide given they will have no incomes from now on.
One thing is for sure – given there will be no competition in the insurance field and everyone will have to buy from them, pVZP will for sure have increased their prices. So, if you want to keep the good price (and are not really worried about the level of support provided), buy insurance from Maxima, ERGO or others right now, before the end of July!
Fill in the form below and we’ll be happy to send you quotes. Other changes in the immigration field are listed below the form so keep reading after you fill it in.
EU citizens and their family members
The other biggest changes have been introduced in the field of EU citizens and their family members. Let’s unfold them one by one.
Fees
Until now, all the immigration applications have been free of charge for EU citizens and their family members. This is no longer valid from August 2nd 2021. EU citizens and their family members will have to pay 200 CZK in revenue stamps (“kolky”) for every application submitted. This applies to all new application (temporary residence certificate, temporary residence permit – “partnership visa”, permanent residence permit) and all their extensions.
New definition of an “EU family member”
This could potentially be the biggest change in the law (other than creating a monopole in 21st century) with the biggest impact. Honestly speaking though, we do not know how the MOI will approach this yet. We’ll find out when we actually start submitting applications after the August 2nd. We’ll for sure update the article then.
The new law introduces two new terms with very important changes to each of them. First term is a “Close family member” and the other one is “Distant family member”. Based on what definition you fall under, you either will or will not need to submit some additional documents.
The rules and required documents do not really change for he “Close family members” (spouses, children, parents). The “Distant family members” (partners) though will now have to submit two new required documents:
- Proof of income after arrival to the Czech Republic.
- Health insurance valid for the whole period of expected stay (up to 5 years).
This could be brutal since not having to prove your income was one of the biggest advantages of the “partnership visa”. Also, buying a health insurance for 5 years straight, given there is no competition so the prices will go up, also does not seem too feasible to many of our clients. We’ll see how the MOI will go about this though. It always takes some time for changes like this to settle down and get some “best practice” established.
New residence documents
From August 2nd, all family members of EU citizens will be issued new version of the residence permit which will include biometric details. We do not know yet if that will still be the “blue booklet”, just modified or if that will be a standard third country national residence permit (plastic biometric card).
EU citizens themselves will also start getting a new residence certificate. As of now, it seem like just a renaming (so, the same document just with a different name printed on it) but again, we’ll see when we start dealing with this after August 2nd.
Great thing is that we work with around 1 000 clients a year so we’ll see about all the changes very soon and we’ll be able to update you asap.
Other changes
There have been couple more changes in the law which are not that significant and impactful.
- Kids born in the Czech Republic will become a part of public health insurance for 60 days (to be exact until the end of the calendar month where the 60 days end). The insurance will have to be paid by the parents.
- British citizens and their family members have to replace their current residence certificates or permits for the new ones until the end of August 2022. That is not completely new though (the rule has been there since Brexit), it has just been specified in the law now.
If you have any questions, please get in touch using the form below and we’ll be happy to help as much as we can!
