Czech Republic will not issue visas to Russians and Belarusians, even if they have other citizenship

The Cabinet of Ministers of the Czech Republic adopted this resolution on 22 March, Czech public broadcaster ČTK reports.

Last year, the Czech government stopped issuing visas to citizens of Russia and Belarus, except in humanitarian cases. The extended provision will be extended until the end of March 2024.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has proposed to expand the exemptions for granting Ukrainians residence permits in the Czech Republic. 

Until now, they concerned Ukrainians applying for a residence permit to study and those who have been granted or applied for temporary protection in another EU country. According to the law, other applications for a residence permit in the Czech Republic submitted at embassies were not accepted.

Now, the exception will apply to applications for family reunification, research and study.

However, applications for residence for profit will not be accepted for the time being, except for applications for blue cards from persons who no longer reside in Ukraine. 

In addition, applications for study purposes are limited to studying under accredited university study programmes and scholarships based on existing international agreements or decisions of the Czech government.

"In the future, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to expand the range of accepted applications further, but given the development of the security situation in Ukraine, it is not yet possible to determine the timeframe for this step," the ministry added.