Czech Immigration Law

[hokien]

I read that the Czech republic offers residency permits to those who create a Czech company. Does anyone know any further info about this? Or Czech immig law in general?

[raina]

Hokien- They do give residency for a year which can be extended upto every year for5 years after which they give Permanent Residency.

But if you check out the URL below its more detailed and hands on

http://www.expats.cz/prague/f-6.html

[Administrator]

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Most countries allow a path toward permanent residency by this method.

In big, general terms:

A person comes to a country and begins a business.

The business MUST meet local government standards.

It may then issue a work contract to a foreign-born person, which usually sets minimum wages (& associated taxes) as per law.

USUALLY, they can by-pass local tests that normally require posting the job for anyone so that the owner/director can be hired directly by work contract.

The company usually needs to formally invite the foreign-born person to come to the country.

Some demonstration that the foreign-born person is self-sufficient is usually required (i.e., will NOT require welfare/social benefits).

The immigration department then judges the seriousness of the application & the company & the investment, etc., and then issues a work permit.

That work permit becomes the basis for a residency visa.

Residency visas can be renewed, so long as wages & taxes and book keeping all remain in order.

At some point, the foreign-born person qualifies for permanent residency.

Part of the beauty of this is that many, many expenses can be paid through the company and (semi-)recovered outside the taxable capital/income stream. Your company can, for instance, write into the work contract that it will provide housing for you as part of your work agreement .. and thus, all your rent is a company expense. One of many examples.

Company ownership of fixed assets (physical equipment) is liable to loss if you are sued. However, the company can pay for services (phone, etc.) and it's all pre-tax expenditure that can't be confiscated by anyone.


Also note that after 12 months in the EU, you begin to gain European Union protections and rights on traveling, residing and working throughout the EU.


There are wide variations, but this is a general framework. For example, in Latvia you can begin a limited liability corporation (the equivalent of a British Ltd.) for about 2000 GBP.

In Germany, you need 500,000 euros, and you must employ a minimum of 5 more citizens/legal residents in Germany.

However, as far as the EU is concerned, if you are a director/ owner/ tax-paying resident in Latvia, Romania, Germany or the UK (etc.), you have equal rights & protections for activities in the EU.

I can't advise you on the Czech Republic, but if you consider Latvia, very definitely contact me.

I have more than a passing familiarity in that area ...

the Admin

[raina]

Also note that after 12 months in the EU, you begin to gain European Union protections and rights on traveling, residing and working throughout the EU.

Admin-- Can u elaborate on what exactly you mean by these rights?

[Administrator]

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I can't go into details at this moment ... time constraints at work and also I have to look up relevant articles and papers.

I'll try to come back to it over the weekend .. if I don't, please PM me and remind me.

What I had in mind when I made that post is a bit I read in the past couple of months that said that immigrants in an EU nation that pass twelve months of continuous employment/residency gain certain rights to remain in the EU and to travel.

I don't recall where I saw that, but I read through an enormous amount of EU news and it was SOMEWHERE on one of those sites.

To find it again I need to google search. And read a lot. I have about 1000 *.pdf documents on my hard drive right now all about EU & European Commission agreements & treaties, etc. etc.

A couple of sites I've bookmarked on the workstation I'm using at the moment:

http://ec.europa.eu/policies/index_en.htm

http://europa.eu/index_en.htm
http://euobserver.com/
http://www.eupolitix.com/
http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/news/i ... tro_en.htm
http://europa.eu.int/eures/home.jsp?lang=en

the Admin

[Administrator]

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Also, this one doesn't apply to self-employed foreigners, but it's a critical bit of valuable information:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/ci ... ent_en.htm

The general trend right now is that people who have relocated into the EU and are legal, participating members of the tax-paying economic community are gaining increasing rights.

The EU is trying to give them most of the same rights as EU citizens.

Keep in mind this is a process, some parts of which have begun but have not been agreed upon. There is more on the way, and some countries are resisting it and negotiations are on-going. But, over the next five to ten years, a long-term legal resident in the EU will gain most of the rights of EU citizens.

I'm sure there will be local caveats, both officially & unofficially, but the trend will continue in that direction.

the Admin

[raina]

Admin-

Thanks for the clarification. .

Will study the URLs and see if they shed any light on this.

[Administrator]

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Sorry about the long delay. I still haven't found the specific reference I remembered regarding the 12 continuous months of employment in an EU Member State.

However, this is pretty interesting :

http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/im ... tro_en.htm

In general, this is a good place for non-EU citizens to begin exploring EU Commission laws & policies. The website is extensive.

In particular, look at the "Integration" parts of this page. Note II) b., for example :

EU long-term resident status - The Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 on a long-term resident status for third country nationals who have legally resided for five years in the territory of a Member State entered into force on 23 January 2004. Member States legislation had to comply with this Directive by 23 January 2006 at the latest.

Not the 12-month reference I was looking for, but still a critical bit of information. Residency in Lithuania or Romania has the same meaning to the EU as residency in the UK.

EUR-Lex : http://eur-lex.europa.eu/ is a reference site for EU-wide legislation and laws. I consider it a critical bookmark and worth the time to revisit & explore whenever time permits.

Citizens have many specific rights. Non-citizens with legal residency are gaining MOST of the same rights, although many are still under debate and finalized agreements are pending on others.

the Admin