The ‘Adventure’ of Getting Czech Permanent Residency – Part 1

The ‘Adventure’ of Getting Czech Permanent Residency – Part 1

I’m using a mind ploy to keep myself motivated and focused in the next few months applying and getting a Czech trade license (Zivnostensky Lists). By calling this over mundane and administrative process ‘adventure,’ I hope that I won’t yank my hairs and scream murder in the next few months.

It will be almost another year before I can consider myself a permanent resident of this country I can not wait to leave. But for this to happen, I need to main a continuous legal presence of five years which is fine if I continue to work for the same company during this period. I want to have a backup just in case I get fired, lay-off or fed up and just quit (the last is more likely). By having a Czech trade license before my working visa from my current company terminates, I don’t breach the five-year requirement.

I would not care about the Czech permanent residency especially when I don’t plan to stay here in the future and will leave immediately after I get it. However, after living here for 4 years plus, why should I throw away the free bono. On the other hand, it is not the Czech permanent residency that I am after; it’s the freedom and flexibility to move around the EU for work.

The following is the information I got from a conversation with the visa office and from a friend who got her permanent resident status.

1) Which rights I will have with permanent residency?
There are several rights for the holder of the permanent residency permit, such as:
– access to paid and unpaid employment, conditions of employment and working conditions (working hours, health and safety standards, holiday entitlements, remuneration, and dismissal, ); – education and vocational training, recognition of qualifications and study grants;
– welfare benefits (family allowances, retirement pensions, etc.) and sickness insurance;
– social assistance (minimum income support or retirement pensions, free health care, etc.);
– social benefits, tax relief, access to goods and services;

For more information, please see the following website:

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/free_movement_of_persons_asylum_immigration/l23034_en.htm

2) What is the maximum time I can leave the Czech Republic not to affect the permanent residency permit? For example, can I go to Russia for 6 months and then go back to CZ without any problem or they will cancel my permit?
The permanent residency permit may be withdrawn in case of absence from the territory of the European Community for more than 12 consecutive months.

3) Permanent residency in the Czech Republic equal to permanent residency in the EU countries?
The permanent residency permit in the Czech Republic differs compare to other permanent residency permits in EU countries as each country applies slightly different rights.

4) With the permanent residency, do I have the same status as EU citizen or permanent residence? For example, can I just move to France, Germany or other EU countries and work there?
Yes, you can.

Resources

“A guide to getting a trade license and what it cover” [Link]