posted
An angry faced woman will yell at me alternately in German and Czech, until I hand her my passport, and she glues a big sticker into it that says, albeit not in English: "Legal Resident of the Czech Republic."
Rights and Responsibilities:
1. Universal Health Care- no deductibles, prescriptions covered, hospital stays and regular check ups, optometry, and dentistry (for a small additional fee, equivalent to $20 or so).
2. The right to live and work in CR and pass freely within the Shengen Zone and European Union for a period of one year from date of issue of this Visa.
3. The right to apply, upon expiration of this visa, for a visa valid for 2-5 years. Also the right to apply for and obtain a Czech driver's license (doubt I will).
Responsibilities: Keep a job and legal residence, pay taxes, maintain a clean criminal record, reside in the Czech Republic for the duration of the visa.
So after one year and change of legal limbo and changing jobs several times, during which time I have been uninsured and had no bank accounts, phone plans, or any other legal documentation aside from a Prague transportation service passport, I'm on my way out the door on a night train to Vienna, Austria, to pick up my Czech visa, and join the magical world of the legally enfranchised.
I suppose technically I have already been a legal resident for about a month, but they just called last week and this is my first chance to go down there and pick it up (for various reasons not worth talking about, you have to gain entry on a new visa from a foreign consulate, so yeah).
What this means: no sweating it out while the border controllers look at my passport and its suspicious lack of proper documentation (nobody likes to see "visa applied"), I can be legally employed, which also means I can't be legally fired without 3 months severance, which is nice.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Very nice. I'm glad that in 12 hours you'll be more easily living in a place that works well for you.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Done and done. 10 hours on the train today, all so that somebody could glue a sticker in my passport. Fun! At least next time I can renew it from in-country.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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