Canada renews visas, Prague plans response and asks EU for solidarity

As of today, Canada is once again introducing a visa requirement for the Czech Republic. The Canadian Immigration Ministry reported the news on its website yesterday. Canada says it is taking the step because of the pronounced rise in the number of asylum seekers from the Czech Republic. The Czech government will meet to discuss the situation this morning. The visa requirement starts today as of 06:01 Central European Summer Time.

Czech passport holders arriving during the first 48 hours after visas are introduced may request entry into Canada. After that, Canada will require them to already have visas. These can be requested from representatives of the Canadian authorities in Vienna.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout considers the way in which Canada announced the introduction of the visa obligation to the Czech Republic to be unprecedented. “This is not how countries that are allies and partners behave toward one another,” Kohout told Czech Television. According to him, Prague has not yet received a diplomatic note regarding the issue, only verbal information. Speaking on the television program “Události, komentáře” (News, Comment), Kohout responded very sharply to the news, saying “This is simply not done, I am quite irritated.”

“The decision was communicated to me – and to our embassy in Ottawa – just a few hours ago. At 10 PM (22:00) we were to have received an official diplomatic note. We have yet to receive it,” Kohout said. In his view, Canada has not taken into consideration all of the various options and recent trends.

Kohout warned that the Czech Republic could introduce visas for Canada even if the so-called solidarity clause is not invoked, through which the entire European Union would introduce visas for Canada. Kohout said on Czech Television that the Czech Republic would be pursuing the EU route. “Visas will either be introduced by the entire European Union, or if the solidarity clause does not apply, we will then be fully within our rights to introduce visas for Canada,” he threatened.

The Czech cabinet is meeting in extraordinary session today at 08:30 due to the Canadian moves. Czech PM Jan Fischer convened the session, Czech Government spokesperson Roman Prorok told ČTK.

The first response from the Czech side will evidently be to introduce visa requirements for Canadian diplomats and diplomatic passport holders. In an interview for Czech Television, Kohout said such a proposal would be part of the materials submitted to the government this morning.

Canada has reintroduced the visa requirement for Czech citizens due to the rising number of asylum seekers from the Czech Republic. Czech citizens filed 1 720 requests for asylum during the first half of this year, twice as many as for all of last year. Ottawa had lifted its visa requirement for the Czech Republic in 2007.

Yesterday the Canadian Immigration Ministry said Czech citizens were filing the second-highest number of asylum requests in the country. Only citizens of Mexico have filed more requests. The applicants from the Czech Republic are mainly Roma who feel discriminated against in their home country.

The Canadian authorities say the visa system will make it possible to better distinguish among the people coming to Canada. Most of the Czech asylum requests are rejected, which is interpreted to mean that many of the applicants are not “real refugees”. Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in a press release that, “The visa requirement I am announcing will make it possible for us to evaluate who is coming to Canada as a legitimate visitor and who might try to exploit the refugee system in order to get to the front of the line of those waiting to immigrate.”

The Canadian ministry reiterated that the country regularly evaluates its visa policy vis-?-vis other countries. “Countries are aware that if they do not meet the conditions for a visa exception, the visa obligation can be reintroduced,” the ministry said.

Everyone applying for a visa must prove that his or her visit to Canada will be short-term, that s/he will not remain in Canada longer than the permitted time, that s/he has enough money available to cover the costs of staying in Canada, that s/he has a clean bill of health, that s/he does not have a criminal record, and that s/he does not pose a security risk. These requirements are the same for everyone who wants to visit Canada.

The introduction of the visa obligation for Czech citizens has come at the worst possible time, according to Tomio Okamura, Vice-President of the Association of Czech Travel Agencies, because as many as 4 000 Czech tourists visit Canada every month during the summer. However, Okamura says Canada has announced that its embassy in Prague will once again open its visa department within one month.

HISTORY OF CANADIAN-CZECH VISA RELATIONS

15 May 1990 – Czechoslovakia unilaterally abolishes the visa requirement for Canadian citizens. The Czechoslovak government unsuccessfully attempts to get Canada to do the same. Visas are reintroduced for Canadians wanting to visit the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic as of August 1991. This requirement stays in effect after the creation of the independent Czech Republic.

1 April 1996 – Canada lifts the visa requirement for Czech citizens. One day later, the Czech Republic lifts its visa requirement for Canadians. During 1996, a total of 148 citizens of the Czech Republic seek asylum in Canada.

August 1997 – The TV Nova television channel broadcasts a segment of its “Na vlastní oči” (“With Your Own Eyes”) program which describes the fate of Roma from Ostrava in Canada; many Roma, especially from Ostrava, take an interest in the possibility of emigrating there. The Czech government conducts an inquiry into the situation.

8 October 1997 – Canada renews visa obligations for citizens of the Czech Republic. During 1997, 1 221 people from the Czech Republic requested asylum in Canada.

1 May 2004 – The Czech Republic joins the EU and lifts the visa requirement for Canadian citizens.

1 November 2007 – Canada lifts the visa requirement for citizens of the Czech Republic for the second time.

January – April 2009 – The Canadian daily The Sun reports that between January and April, 1 077 Czech Roma arrive in Canada requesting asylum. In 2008, 853 citizens of the Czech Republic requested refugee status.

1 July 2009 – Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout meets in Prague with Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. Canadian representatives then issue a serious warning to Czech diplomats that the visa regime may be reintroduced in the next few days due to the high number of asylum seekers. Kohout confirms the warning.

3 July 2009 – Kohout telephones his Canadian counterpart Lawrence Cannon over the threat to reintroduce visas, and subsequently. says no date has been announced and no precise decision has been taken yet.

7 July 2009 – Canada has not yet introduced visas. According to Kohout, Prague is continuing its diplomatic pressure. According to the Canadian Embassy, the Czech Republic, with 1 720 asylum-seekers, has the second-highest number of asylum seekers in the Canadian system (Mexico is in first place). During 2008 and the first four months of 2009, Canada has awarded asylum to 132 Czech asylum seekers.

12 July 2009 – Kohout says negotiations have reached a turning point and that Canada is hesitating to reintroduce visas after the European Union joined the discussion. He says visas may be introduced, but not in the next few days (the previously considered deadline was Tuesday, 14 July). The probability is said to be higher that the situation will be regulated by a different kind of regime, such as an electronic registration system or controls at airports.

13 July 2009 – Canada announces during the evening hours of Central European Summer Time that as of Tuesday, 14 July at 6:01 Central European Summer Time it will be introducing a visa requirement for citizens of the Czech Republic.