Czechs Angry with U.S. And Canada Over Visas

When the Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004, not many Czechs were very optimistic in regards to the United States and Canada changing their tourist visa requirement for Czech citizens at any time in the foreseeable future, but now three years later, the Czech people have become adamant that the U.S. and Canada change their policies or face retaliatory measures.

The United States and Canada have reciprocal visa waivers with the original fifteen nations of the European Union. Meaning that 90-day tourist visas are obtained at the point of entry and consists only of a stamp in your passport. But for the ten nations that were added to the EU in 2004, only Slovenia has been granted visa waiver status. The other nine are still subject to the what is known as the visa duty program which includes probably two trips to the embassy, a mountain of paperwork which includes your work history, family history, a list of assets including bank accounts and property. Then there is what can be up to a thirty minute interview with a member of the State Department. You then surrender your passport and pay a fee of $82. When your passport is returned to you a day or so later, if you have a State Department issued sticker on one of the pages, you've been granted short-term permission to enter the U.S. over a ten year period.

Politically, the visa duty issue has become a small political firestorm for the government. The Parliament is united on the issue, and people are united; they all want visa waivers from both Canada and the United States. The only difference is that those in government are willing to accept "progress" on the issue, while most of the populace is clamoring for action. If the Czech government cannot deliver the visa waiver programs, and if they don't stand up to the Americans and place a similar visa duty on Americans visiting the Czech Republic, the government may not be the government after the next elections.

Interestingly, Czechs are mostly upset with Canada. U.S. President George W. Bush has said that once his new missile shield system that he wants to put in the Czech Republic and Poland gets the go-ahead, both the Czech Republic and Poland will be granted visa waiver status. Canada, however, has not been so forthcoming. Their Foreign Ministry has recently issued a statement to the fact that they will be announcing new guidelines soon. Essentially, a list of demands that the Czech state must meet before Canadian visa policy can be reconsidered. Czechs at large don't know whether they're more angry with the content or the arrogant tone of the Canadian government.

It should be said that the Czech Republic has a much closer relationship with Canada than the United States. In 1968, when the Communist government of then Czechoslovakia briefly opened its doors and allowed thousands to flee, Canada was one of the more welcoming countries, and today, Toronto especially has a large Czech populace. Also, it should be said that Canada formerly had a visa waiver program for the Czech Republic. The status was changed ten years ago as a result of abuse of the system by Czech gypsies (formally known as Romany). Gypsies started showing up in Canada on tourist visas in the thousands and then refused to leave. They started signing up for social welfare and flooded the system with specious asylum claims. In the end, Canada was able to deport all of them, but it did take time, money, and effort better used elsewhere.

All this said, it should not be thought that Czechs are very eager to visit America. It has more to do with the politics of the European Union. As the EU attempts to further define the relationship between member states, the Czech Republic doesn't want to be seen as any kind of second class citizen, and what is important is demanding the same rights that other EU nations have. And the visa issue is one that the average Jiri Czech can understand.