It is the Interior Ministry that has been making decisions on stays and long-term visas of foreigners since January. Until then, this agenda was done by the foreigner police.
John said the conditions for foreigners have improved thanks to the change. The ministry seeks to provide more information, speed up the proceedings and eliminate corruption, he said.
At present, information on the major changes resulting from the new amendment to the law on foreigners' stays is available in Czech, English, Russian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. In future, eight language versions would be available.
Deputy Interior Minister Jaroslav Salivar said foreigners do no longer queue outside the offices dealing with their visa and residence permit applications because phone reservations are possible and waiting lists are used. Reservations through the Internet will be possible in future, Salivar said.
Salivar pointed out that the clerks who deal with the applicants do not decide on the applications in order to limit possible corruption. The clerks who decide on the visas and stays cannot be contacted in any way, he added.
Tomas Haisman, head of the ministry's asylum and migration policy section, said the new conditions aim against the system of mediators who demanded high sums from foreigners for ensuring that their application is accepted and who often had friends among the foreigner police and offered bribes.
The ministry established an anti-corruption line to help foreigners fight such practices.
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Quelle/Source: Prague Daily Monitor, 07.02.2011
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