Work Permit #3

I finally received my new work permit.  The Czech Labor Office had a backlog so it took much longer than normal.  I applied at the end of January and I should have received it around the end of February but instead I received it today.

Due to the delay in getting my work permit, I was informed that the Interior Ministry has put my visa renewal on hold.  Now that everything is legit they will continue processing my next residency permit.

This new work permit is good for another two years.  Hopefully this will be the last one I ever need.  In 2014, I will have been here five years and will be eligible to apply for permanent residency.  It doesn't mean that I will live here forever.  The big benefit is that as a permanent resident I will no longer be required to apply for work permits or residency visas.  Hurray!!  I will qualify for a decrease in the amount of bureaucracy I have to endure.  Of course, that's a year away and I'm sure that to apply for permanent residency I will still have to jump through hoops like a trained circus poodle.

Visa Time...Again

It's time for another visa extension.  Well actually, it was a couple of weeks ago.  First, I had to get all of my paperwork in order and then I submitted it a few weeks back.  Here's what's required for a non-EU citizen like me:

1. A notarized copy of my original lease.
2. A notarized amendment to my lease extending the contract until 2015.
3. A notarized document from the co-op that authorizes my landlord to rent the flat to me.
4. A copy of the business registry for the co-op board.
5. A land registry statement
6. Since my new work permit is still processing, I had to give proof that it has been applied for.
7. A copy of my passport.
8. A copy of my biometric ID card (which the Foreign Ministry issued me).
9. A copy of my health insurance card.
10. A new passport photo.
11. A four-page application.

I've done this a few times now so I'm kind of used to it.  But somethings I just don't understand.  Why on earth do I need to provide the Foreign Ministry with a photocopy of the ID card which they issued to me?  Shouldn't they be able to look up on the computer that they are the ones that issued it to me and that it is valid?

I've been in the same flat since I moved here.  This is the third time now that I've requested an extension.  The apartment building hasn't moved in all of this time.  So why in the hell do I need to provide a copy of the land register statement again?  Bureaucracy!!!

This year I've gotten smarter about it.  A friend helped me out with getting all of the documents notarized.  And I was told that I can just mail in all of my paperwork directly to the ministry.  Once my work permit is finally approved then I will have to go down to the ministry and submit it.  Then another visit to provide new biometric data for my new visa.  Followed by a third visit to actually pick up my new card.  Ugh!!

Work Permit Time...Again

On Tuesday, I had a meeting to sort out the renewal of my Czech work permit.  In order to apply for a new two-year permit, I had to submit:

1. A copy of my previous work permit
2. A copy of my passport ID page
3. A copy of my Czech biometric ID card
4. A passport-sized photograph
5. A signed power of attorney for the Bureau of Labor

The one thing that they didn't require was the nostrification of my diploma and transcripts.  I was told last year that having the nostrification would be mandatory for all non-EU citizens when applying for, or renewing, a Czech work permit.  Well apparently the rules changed.  Now it is only necessary when applying for a new work permit.  Since I am renewing an existing work permit, the nostrification is not necessary.

I'm really glad that I was notified about this change.  I gave up an entire day of my vacation in Atlanta just running back and forth between the University and the court house to get the apostille needed in order to apply for nostrification.  And poor Steven had to drive me back and forth across town to get it done.

Since I have everything ready for nostification I was advised to go ahead and do it even though I don't need it.  The reason was that "you never know when the rules will change again".  That's comforting.

I received my first work permit when I was still in the USA.  It was valid for two years.  In 2011, I received my second work permit.  It too was good for two years.  This new one will hopefully be the last one I ever have to apply for.  This permit will last until 2015.  However, I will be eligible to apply for permanent residency in 2014.  Getting permanent residency is not the same thing as getting citizenship.  And I will not give up my American passport.  Having permanent residency doesn't even mean that I will live here forever.  But the big benefit for me will be that with permanent residency I will never again have to apply for a work permit or a new long-term visa. 

So here's to applying for, hopefully, my last Czech work permit.  I should have it in about 30 days.  In the meantime, now I also have to start gathering all of the documents needed in order to apply for my last long-term visa.

Update March 2013:  It's now the end of March and I still don't have my new work permit.  Apparently, there is some delay and the Czech government is way behind.  I'm told that it should be ready within another week or two.

Update April 2013:  I finally received my work permit on April 10th.

Nostrification

Some labor laws changed in the Czech Republic which took effect this year.  I think that politicians are trying to be proactive about protecting Czech workers (and voters) in light of the current global financial situation.

The first change is that non-EU citizens, which includes Americans, Canadians, Australians, Russians, Ukrainians, etc., can no longer be employed by companies as a subcontractor.  You can only hire non-EU citizens as regular employees.  I think that this was meant to protect Czech jobs from foreign workers.  In my humble opinion this change will actually produce the opposite of the intended effect.  What this tells companies is that the work around is to give non-EU citizens the regular employment contracts and give the subcontractor contracts to EU citizens.  Fortunately, this one doesn't effect me at all.

The second change is that in order to issue a new, or renew an existing, work permit an applicant's educational history must be validated.  So even though I gave the Czech government a copy of my master's diploma three years ago I now need to go through nostrification.

Nostrification is the process of granting recognition to a degree from a foreign university.  Basically, I must find a public Czech university to certify that my degree is equivalent to a course of study offered by their university.  Here's where I get annoyed...

I have an MBA and public universities in ČR don't offer MBAs, only private institutions do.  Secondly, my degree is AACSB accredited which is the highest level of accreditation that can be achieved by a business school.  Less than 5% of the world's 13,000 business programs have this.  No institution in the ČR has this level of accreditation but I need to have a Czech university authenticate that my degree is equivalent to what it offers.

I'm hoping that Masaryk University, here in Brno, will validate that my MBA is equivalent to their Master's program in Economics and Management.  Here's what I have to do to make all of this happen.

1. I have to get notarized copies of my diploma and transcripts from Georgia State University.
2. I need to get an apostille for each notarized copy.
3. Most institutions required government approved Czech translations.  Fortunately, Masaryk allows for the documents to be in either Czech or English.
4. Submit an application to the university for nostrification.  The whole evaluation process should last 30 to 60 days.

So what's an apostille?  I sure as hell had never heard of it before but it does make a lot of sense.  It is basically a "super notary" that is valid between countries that authenticates the validity of public documents such as birth certificates, marriage licenses and educational records. 

The USA has delegated this responsibility to each state where the document was originally issued.  A public document issued in Georgia can only receive an apostille from the State of Georgia.  A document issued in California can only receive an apostille from the State of California.

I made a copy of my diploma and had a Georgia notary stamp and notarize it.  I took it to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority in Atlanta which is the only place authorized to grant an apostille.  They gave me the necessary validation within 10 minutes and it only cost $3.

However, the transcripts were a different story.  For some reason, they will only issue an apostille on student transcripts if the university issues the official notary.

So after multiple trips back and forth between the court office and GSU, I finally got what I needed.  Again, in and out in less than 10 minutes and only another $3 fee.

Dealing with all of this bureaucracy is not exactly what I wanted to do while on vacation.  My work permit is good until April 2013 so I'm ahead of the game in getting together what I need.  Thank goodness that I just happened to already have this trip home planned.  This would have been a royal pain in the arse if I had needed to try to coordinate this from Brno.  Once I get the nostrification completed then I won't have to ever deal with this again.

Atlanta, Georgia

Even though I was born and raised in Southern California, and that I now live in ČR, I still consider Atlanta home.  Back in 1996, right before the Centennial Olympic Games, I went to Atlanta for a two-week vacation and never left.  I stayed there for 13 years before moving to Euroland.  

 
Atlanta is the capital and largest city in Georgia.  Georgia was the 4th of the original 13 colonies.  The metro Atlanta is the 9th most populated in the USA, with around 5.4 million people.  Over 5 million people - that's more than than half the population of ČR and more than the entire population of Slovakia.  Atlanta is also the unofficial capital of the South.

The Peach State

Before European settlers arrived in north Georgia, the area was inhabited by Creek and Cherokee Indians.  Atlanta was founded in 1847.  It was originally called Terminus because it was at the intersection of two railroad lines.  It was later renamed Marthasville in honor of the daughter of a former governor.

During the Civil War, Georgia fought for the Confederacy.  In 1864, the Union Army, under the command of General Sherman, laid a 4-month siege of the city known as the Battle of Atlanta.  After Atlanta surrendered, Sherman ordered the civilian population to evacuate and then burned the city to the ground.  Only churches and hospitals were spared.

The city rose from the ashes in a big way.  Today, the Atlanta economy is diverse and is the 6th largest in the country, as well as, the 15th largest in the world.


If you're not used to Atlanta then getting around can be interesting.  Peachtree Street is the city's main street.  People joke that half of the streets are named "Peachtree something or other".  There are 71 streets in Atlanta that have "Peachtree" in the name including: Peachtree Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Memorial Drive, North Peachtree Road, Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, and the list goes on and on. 

I love Atlanta!  I've always thought that it is a great place to live but never really thought of it as a tourist destination.  Even though it is home to the world's busiest airport. 


For people who have never been to Atlanta there really is a lot to see such as the Georgia Aquarium (the largest in the world), Stone Mountain, the Cyclorama, the Atlanta History Center, World of Coca-Cola, the Fernbank Museum, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, the High Museum of Art, the Fabulous Fox Theater, the Woodruff Arts Center, CNN, the Margaret Mitchell House, Piedmont Park, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Centennial Olympic Park, Six Flags Over Georgia, Turner Field, Oakland Cemetery, Kennesaw Mountain, and the list goes on and on.  So maybe, it's more of a tourist city then I thought.

Steven is trying to be the perfect host and tour guide like he was when Claudia and Norbert visited Atlanta earlier this year.  The difference being that I don't need to go visit the Governor's Mansion or check out Phipps Plaza.  I'm all about just relaxing and hanging out with my best friend.  So far we've took a tour of the Oakland Cemetery which I had never done before and we've got a bit of shopping planned for later.  The only thing that I absolutely have to do is visit Georgia State University to pick up a notarized copy of my transcripts and then take them to the courthouse for an apostille in order to renew my Czech work permit next year.

Here's a short video I found out on YouTube that talks about a few of the Atlanta highlights.

Biometric Residency Permit

Five visits! It took five trips to the foreign ministry but now everything is finally sorted. But damn! Five visits!?!?
The first visit was to submit my paperwork for a two-year extension on my green card.
The second visit was to request an extension on my previous visa because of the processing delay at the ministry.
The third visit was to pick up my visa but they only gave me a visa sticker until December.
The fourth visit was to have my picture and fingerprints taken.
The fifth visit was by far my favorite because now everything is finally sorted. But it was all worth it because now I can carry my new ID card and no longer have to carry my passport with me everywhere. Yeah!!
The ID cards are new so there's still a little confusion as to when it should be used. I was told to use the ID card, instead of my passport, when traveling within the Schengen zone. This means that at the airport I should stand in the EU citizen line. But use my passport when outside of Schengen. This sounds odd to me. I guess I'll find out what happens in September when I fly to Rome.
It seems that I'm not the only American to get a new residency card. According to Mladá fronta Dnes, so far this year, Americans have been issued more Czech residency permits than any other nationality. My fellow Americans must all be in Prague because they sure aren't here in Brno.
Again, I'm just glad that now I have my ID card. And it's a good thing that I really like my flat because if I ever move then I will have to go back to the ministry, at least twice, to have my address updated and a new card issued. Ugh!!

CzechPoint

Since my work permit was renewed for two years it's now time to apply for an extension to my visa (long-term residency permit).

Since I'm not an EU citizen I have to jump through all of the same hoops I did last year in order to get my Schengen visa renewed. But this year it was a bit easier to get the required documents. The chica that handles the visas at IBM told me to visit a CzechPoint office. What a great time-saver! I wish someone had told me about this last year. But then I might not have the same appreciation for just how much bureaucracy I got to skip this year.

CzechPoint is basically a one-stop shop for various government documents. They have locations all over the city, mostly in municipal buildings. I only had to go to one office to get my land registry statement and the business registry license for my apartment building. They were even able to make the notarized copies of all of my other documents.

Work Permit #2

I've received the renewal for my work permit. I can now continue working in the Czech Republic for another two years. But now the fun begins.

Now that I have received permission from the government to work here for the next two years, I need to apply for another visa ("green card") so that I can keep living here. It still sounds crazy to me that one can have permission to work here but not live here. But these matters are handled by two different government departments and getting a work permit is only the first step to getting a residency visa.

Well it's time to start gathering all of the paperwork I need to apply for my new visa. Since I've been here a while I have the option of applying for a two-year visa. At least I won't have to deal with all of the paperwork next year.

Time For a New Work Permit

It's time to start the paper work needed to extend my stay here in the ČR. The first step is to request a new work permit. Here's a copy of my original work permit which was good for two years. It will take about a month to receive my new work permit, which will allow me to legally work in the ČR for another two years. But that won't let me live here. I know...it's crazy.

As soon as I receive my new work permit, then I will apply for a new long-term visa (Schengen visa) that will allow me to live in Europe. This time, I'm going to apply for a two year visa so that I won't have to go through all of this next year. This year there has been a change where the Foreign Police no longer have responsibility for handling visas. It has been taken over by the Czech Interior Ministry. But more on that later.

Now back to the work permit. Luckily, IBM has a department that helps out with some of this stuff. In order to apply for the new work permit I had to supply a photo, a copy of my passport, a copy of my current work permit, a copy of my current visa, a copy of my highest university degree and a signed power of attorney for the Bureau of Labor. The paperwork will get submitted next week and in 30 days I should have a new work permit.

Birth Number

When I got back from vacation I had two notices in my mail box. One from the post office telling me to come sign for a letter and one from the foreign police telling me to pick it up within 10 days. I had no idea what this was all about. I wondered if I was getting deported or something. Well it turns out I’ve been issued a Czech Birth Number.

Rodné číslo is better translated as a birth registration number and all Czechs have one. This number is recorded on one’s birth certificate, is valid for life, and cannot be changed unless under certain special circumstances. They use this same system in Slovakia too.

The number is 10 digits long and it can always be divided 11. The format is YYMMDD/XXXX. The first six digits are a person’s birthday followed by a slash and four more numbers. You can tell a person’s gender because the number 50 is added to the MM for women. The first three digits after the slash indicate where the person was born and the last number makes the whole thing divisible by 11.

Kind of like a U.S. Social Security Number, Czechs use their birth number for all sorts of things. It’s used on health and social security forms, for taxes, and employment contracts. Lucky for me, work provides me with a mobile phone, but if I wanted to get one on my own I have two options. I could buy phone credits or I could get a contract for service, but the contract normally requires a birth number.

When I arrived here I asked about getting a birth number. Foreigners can apply to the Ministry of the Interior for a birth number but the application takes about 30 days and costs 1,000 Kč (~$50). Since I didn’t seem to have a need for it I didn’t bother applying for one. And I didn’t want to volunteer for more Czech bureaucracy.
I’m still not sure how I received a Czech birth number. Maybe it was part of getting my visa renewed? But that was back in April and my birth number was issued in July. Who knows? IBM HR is now updating my birth number with the health insurance and social security companies. It looks like I’ll also get a new VZP card with the updated number.

EDIT: I will only receive a new VZP, with the updated number, once I have received permanent residence in the Czech Republic. You can normally apply for permanent residency after you have been here for five years and pass a Czech language test given by the state.

Visa Renewed

Woo-Hoo!!! I'z legal for another year!

I guess all of that running around last month paid off. I went back to the foreign police office today to see if my new visa was ready and it was. And just three weeks to the the day from when I submitted my application.

I was proud of myself too because I did everything at the office in Czech. But that's also because no one spoke English, German, French or Spanish.

Regardless, I can now stay in the ČR for another year. I don't have access here to a color scanner so the black & white picture will have to do. This one doesn't look anything like my original visa. From what I understand it's because the first one was a visa issued by a Czech embassy outside of the country and this one was a residency permit issued from within the country. So from now on they will look like this.

The only small problem is that this permit takes up a whole page in my passport. Pretty soon, I'll have to visit the American embassy in either Prague, Bratislava or Vienna, and pay to have extra blank pages added to my passport. Sounds like a really boring day trip.

Visa Extension Application

Well today I went to the Foreign Police office and submitted all of my paperwork to request an extension on my long-term visa. Again, since I'm not an EU citizen I have a lot more hoops to jump through.

My original work permit is good through April 28, 2011. So I have permission to work in the country until then. However, my original long-term visa, which allows me to live in the country, expires at the end of next month. Go figure...so here's what I had to submit.

1. A copy of my original lease.
2. An notarized amendment to my lease extending it from August until April 28, 2011.
3. Since my building is a co-op (Družstvo) I needed a notarized document showing that my landlord was allowed to rent the apartment to me.
4. Land registry statement
5. Business registry statement for the družstvo - 140 Kč (~$7.40)
6. Copy of my original work permit
7. Copy of my passport
8. Copy of my original visa
9. A new passport photo
10. Copy of my health insurance card
11. 4-page application form with a 1000 Kč (~$53) stamp that IBM provided

There are two foreign police offices in town. Fortunately, citizens of the EU, Americans, Canadians and Croatians get to use the smaller office at Cejl. Everyone else has to use the main office. I've been there before and it is crazy busy. I was told to come back in a couple of weeks to check on my application. I'm not expecting any problems so I should have my new visa by mid-April.

Driving Basics

I've been on a couple of road trips lately to Germany and Austria so I figured that I'd share a little bit about driving here. First of all, I don't drive because my U.S. driver's license is not valid here. Since I'm in the ČR on a long-term visa, and not an EU citizen, I'm required to obtain a Czech license. Maybe one day but not right now. I mean the public transportation system is great. Plus, I don't want to go through the required bureaucracy of completing driving school, taking both written and practical tests, paying fees, and so on. Besides...I'll have to learn the different European road signs and I don't have time for that right now.

So here are the things that stand out...
Czech drivers are extremely aggressive. The rules of the road tend to be rather fluid at times which probably explains why the insurance rates are so high.

Like the rest of Europe, you have to be at least 18 years old to get a driver's license. There are no 16 year old drivers like in the U.S.

Traffic lights are placed before the intersection and not after.

Passing is only permitted on the left side and it is illegal to make a right turn on a red light.

It is illegal to talk on a mobile phone while driving. You have to use a "hands-free" device. Czech law requires that headlights must always be on, even during the day.

For everyone back home, gas here is around $7 per gallon, so no complaining about how how high it is there.

Czechs are required to have two sets of tires - summer tires and winter tires. I was told if you have the wrong tires on and get into an accident, even if it wasn't your fault, you are still held at fault.

The speed limit in residental areas is 50 km/hour (~30 mph) and 130 km/hr (~80 mph) on the highway.

In most countries you have to purchase a vignette (windshield sticker) in order to drive on the highways. These can be purchased at gas stations, border crossings, post offices, etc., and can be purchased for 7-10 days, a month or a year. A one-year permit for the ČR is 1200 Kč (~$66). The one-year sticker for Austria was €76,40 (~$105). Germany is the best because they don't have this so you can drive on the highways there for free.

The police are allowed to collect traffic fines on the spot, up to 5000 Kč (~$275).

There is a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to drinking and driving here. The maximum blood alchohol level is ZERO. And now the country is cracking down even more. As of January 1, 2010, the law requires that every driver stopped by the police will be breath-tested.

Update:  Link to Czech driving rules in English.

Booked for Brno

Everything has happened so quickly. I received my work permit a week ago. Two days later I had my passport back from the Czech embassy with my employment visa (green card). Now I'm trying to get everything packed up and done before I leave. I've made all of my travel plans and it's hard to believe that I leave Atlanta in 20 days.

On June 23, I have a 7:30 AM flight to Los Angeles so I can visit with my family for a week. Then it is off to the Czech Republic. My goal was to use my frequent flyer miles on Delta to cover my ticket to Europe. Fortunately, if you are a Medallion member then you have so much more flexibility when using reward miles. 

Now it will take me 3 days to make it over but it sounds worse than it really is. I leave LAX at 9 PM and fly directly to JFK, arriving a 6 AM. My flight on ČSA (Czech Airways) isn't until 4 PM so I have 10 hours to kill at the airport. Not an ideal situation but I cashed in enough miles so that I'm flying in business class the whole trip which gives me access to the Crown Room in NY. Free Internet and cocktails for the day...could be worse. =)

Then ČSA from JFK to Prague. Get in to Prague at 6:15 AM, clear customs and leave at 9 AM for Brno. 45 Minutes later and I'll be in my new city on July 1. It seems so much more real now that I have plane tickets. The best part is that by using Delta SkyMiles, the entire trip from LAX to Brno in business class is only $250. Sweet!!!

Work Permit Was Approved

OK....now I'm one step closer to Brno. IBS e-mailed to let me know they received my approved work permit and that it was delivered to the Czech foreign police today. Now I just have to wait on the foreign police to approve my 1-year long-term residency permit (green card) so I can get my passport back from the embassy in DC. Hopefully, I'll get my green card within the next 8 weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Waiting on Bureaucracy

In order for an American citizen to live and work in the ČR, one has to have both a work permit and a long-term residency permit (green card). IBM has hired a relocation company in Prague, International Business Support (IBS), to help facilitate my paperwork.

It takes 60 days for the Employment Administration Office (EAO) to issue a work permit (Povolení k zaměstnání). IBS e-mailed me today that I should have my work permit next week. Yeah! One step closer to moving.

To get a green card you have to provide a work permit or provide confirmation from the EAO that your employer has applied for a work permit. It takes 90 day (up to 120 days) to get a work permit. So apply for a green card as soon as you've applied for a work permit so you don't lose two months.

This Blog

So I've decided to take a new project management position with IBM and relocate from Atlanta to Brno, Czech Republic. I'm joining an organization representing about 70 different nationalities, and about two dozen languages, at the Integrated Delivery Center (IDC). IDC Brno is one of IBM's biggest and most diverse delivery centers providing strategic outsourcing services to more than 600 clients worldwide.

However, I can't actually start this adventure until bureaucracy has run its course. Since the Česká republika (ČR) is a member of the EU there seems to be a lot of hurdles to jump through and all I can do is be patient. I should have my work permit in a few more weeks which, obviously, will allow me to work in the ČR. The kicker is that an American isn't allowed to stay there for more than 90 days in a six month period. So I'm also waiting on my green card which will let me live in the country where I'll be working. Go figure!

The Czech Embassy in Washington has my passport until the authorities in Prague authorize my long-term residency permit. So I'm in limbo. I can't even make flight arrangements because I don't have a date when I can leave the U.S. and enter the ČR. I can't even go there as a tourist to sort things out before I start working because I don't have my passport. Right now it looks like I will be able to leave late July. So until then all I can do is keep sorting things out here. Not to mention trying to pick up as much Czech as I can before I leave. And of course Czech is one of the few languages not offered by Rosetta Stone.