Canada to open Prague visa office

Czechs planning to visit Canada no longer need apply to the embassy in Vienna for visas as the Prague embassy will now process them, Canadian Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said Dec. 10.

Ottawa abolished visas for Czechs in 2007, but re-introduced them this past July after hundreds of Roma applied for asylum in Canada, citing discrimination.

In September, European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Jacques Barrot warned Canada "it could face retaliatory measures" if it did not scrap the visa obligation by the end of the year.

He suggested the EU may, in turn, impose a visa obligation for Canadian diplomats as a first tit-for-tat measure. An initial sign of good will would be for Canada to open a consulate in Prague, enabling Czechs to apply for a visa in their own country, instead of having to travel to Vienna, as they do now, he then said.

Canada claimed in July that its asylum system was flooded with asylum seekers of Roma origin from the Czech Republic, suggesting some of the asylum seekers might actually be economic migrants.

The visa office will open Dec. 21, and a spokesman for the embassy told The Prague Post visas should be processed within 10 working days.

The fee is the same worldwide: 75 Canadian dollars (about 1,260 Kč) for one entry visa and 150 Canadian dollars for multiple entry visas, spokesman Michal Vlček said.

"The fee is payable in euros. We recommend the applicants to make sure what the exact amount is and how to pay it on our Web site, www.canada.cz," he added.

In July, the Canadians said they would not offer a visa service in Prague as their embassies work on a "hub system." Vlček said Ottawa had now analyzed the situation and, "We are glad that we can now extend the visa services for Czech citizens in Prague."

Applicants will have to satisfy visa officers that their visit to Canada will be temporary and they won't overstay the approved time. They'll also need to have enough money to cover their stay, be in good health, have no criminal record and pose no security risk.

Czechs filed 3,000 refugee claims since the previous visa requirement was lifted in October 2007. That compares with fewer than five claims in 2006.

In the first half of this year, there were 1,720 refugee claims from Czechs in Canada, double the number from last year.

The Czech government had called on the European Union to impose visa restrictions on Canadian diplomats in retaliation.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has criticized Canada over the visa move, drawing attention to attacks and discrimination against Roma people in the Czech Republic and stressing their right to claim asylum.

In the last month, Canada has rejected approximately 400 Czech Roma asylum requests, while a similar figure have given up on seeking asylum in Canada, according to Gabriela Hrabaňová from the Government Council for Roma Affairs.

Hrabaňová, who is trying to get local authorities to do more for those returning to the Czech Republic, believes more will decide to come back.

"We are sure more and more will return to the Czech Republic," she said.

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Tom Clifford can be reached at
tclifford@praguepost.com