Are you a foreigner planning to apply for Czech citizenship next year? If so read on attentively. The conditions for the acquisition of Czech citizenship will be changed next year.
Obtaining the Czech citizenship
Until now, to gain the Czech citizenship it was necessary to pass a Czech language test. Since the new year, candidates will have to take an additional exam from Czech history, geography, culture, legal or constitutional order.
Government of the Czech Republic was inspired by EU member states in which the test is normally done this way for many years. The Ministry of Education therefore prepared an amendment to the law, according to which the new test will have fixed rules.
The Czech language exam
The Czech language exam is a requirement to obtain Czech citizenship for the last 4 years. The exam itself is followed by a thirty-minute conversation with the clerk. This will, however, change in the new year. Applicants for Czech citizenship will have to go through rigorous testing, in which clerks shall verify that the alien manages tasks in everyday life, such as transport, health system, education, customs and traditions, the base legal and constitutional system, geography, culture and history for the Czech Republic.
The applicants for Czech citizenship
The applicants for Czech citizenship do not have to be afraid because one of the obligations of applicants for Czech citizenship is the minimum length of residence in the Czech Republic 5 years (3 years for EU citizens). Over this time the applicants for Czech citizenship have enough space to become acquainted with all the necessities (such as how to write a resume, apply for a job or how to pay taxes).
To this date, the first attempt at the Czech language exam is paid by the state treasury and foreigners have to pay for further attempts. Since the new year, foreigners will have to pay for all tests themselves. This is one of the reasons for which the fee for Czech citizenship application will be reduced from the current 10.000 CZK to 2.000 CZK. According to surveys, every foreigner will have to prepare about 5.000 CZK to pay preparatory courses that will help him to prepare for the exam. Since this change, the government promises, that through this knowledge the number of foreign nationals who are victims of mafia or gangs will be reduced and it will help them to integrate better into the social life in the Czech Republic.
