Migration

Migration Policy of the Czech Republic, Legal and Illegal Migration in the Czech Republic and in the European Union, Visa and Readmission Policy, Analytical Centre for Protection of State Borders and Migration 

Migration Policy of the Czech Republic

Since the foundation of the sovereign Czech Republic, the situation in the field of migration has undergone substantial development. From a source country in early 1990s, through a period of a large inflow of applicants for international protection and transiting foreign nationals at the turn of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, the Czech Republic has become, in recent years, a country that is the destination country for foreign nationals migrating for work and business reasons, who want to settle here on a long-term basis or permanently. The comparison between the initial situation in 1993 when just below 80,000 foreign nationals were staying in the territory of the Czech Republic with various forms of residence statuses and the situation characterised by the most up-to-date data from the last quarter of 2008 indicating that nearly 425,000 foreign nationals now live in the Czech Republic with various types of residence permits shows that international migration is and must be one of the carefully addressed issues.
  
As early as in 2003, in the Resolution No. 55 of 13 January 2003, the Government of the Czech Republic approved a fundamental strategic material for migration, entitled the Czech Government’s Migration Policy Principles. In six fundamental points, this material defines the direction of the migration policy of the Czech Republic. The wording of the individual principles expresses the wish of the Czech Republic to address migration policy actively and responsibly, while respecting the obligations arising from international conventions, treaties and recommendations. The priority of national activities in migration is to formulate effective measures, which will support managed legal migration, while minimising illegal migration.
  
The activities supporting legal migration include, for example, the project entitled Selection of Qualified Foreign Workers, the introductory five-year phase of which was launched in July 2003, or the most recent Green Cards project, which will be launched in January 2009.
  
As concerns combating illegal migration, a number of smaller projects are being implemented; a significant segment with focus on prevention of illegal migration is contained particularly in the projects of Foreign Development Cooperation as well as in other projects financially supported by the state.
  
As a result of the accession to the European Union in May 2004, the national migration policy is addressed, to a considerable extent, in consensus with the partner countries and with the application of the instruments of European law.