Canada increases visa fees from 45 to 50 euros for Czechs

Prague - Canada has increased visa fees by 5 euros to the current 50 euros as of August 12 one month after it re-imposed visa requirements for Czechs, the Canadian embassy has told CTK.

According to an embassy employee, the increase was caused by the changed exchange rate.

Canada re-introduced visas for Czech citizens on July 14 due to a high number of asylum seekers from the Czech Republic.

Many Czech travel agencies which submit visa applications on behalf of their clients are complaining about the course adopted by the Canadian authorities.

According to Jan Papez, spokesman for the Association of Czech Travel Agencies, the Canadian embassy increased visa fees on August 12 without a prior announcement.

"The agency will have to pay an additional five euros for each application from its own means," Papez said.

However, individual visa applicants who have deposited the originally required fee in a CSOB bank account and who are to travel to Vienna where Canadian visas are issued for Czechs will also have problems.

The Canadian embassy in Vienna is requiring the increased fee.

Czech travel agencies say there is a chaos around the issuing of Canadian visas. Representatives of the authorised travel agencies have to take a training course at the Canadian embassy in Vienna and they will receive group visas within three days.

Jan Kuzel, CK America Tours director, said Canada had introduced the three-day deadline for travel agencies suddenly, without a warning although so far visas for CK clients were issued without any wait until recently.

Canada reimposed visa requirements on Czech citizens in reaction to a rising number of Czech immigrants, mainly Romanies, who have been seeking asylum in this country since 2007 when visas were lifted.

The Czech Romanies say they seek asylum overseas because they are discriminated against in the Czech Republic. However, some experts say they seek a better economic life in Canada.

In protest against Canadian visa requirements for Czechs, the Czech Republic has introduced visas for holders of Canadian diplomatic and official passports.

Prague also seeks the possibility of invoking the solidarity clause under which the European Union may impose visas on Canada.

The situation of Czech tourists who plan trips to Canada is complicated by the fact that the visas are issued at the embassy in Vienna and not in Prague.

However, Canadian diplomacy does not plan to provide this service at the embassy in Prague.

During the first week after the visas reintroduction, the Canadian embassy received 461 applications from Czechs and issued 533 visas, in the second week it was 754 applications and 827 visas issued.

The number of the issued visas is higher than the number of applications since several family members can be included in one application, the embassy explained.

According to diplomats, a crushing majority of the applicants receive the visas on the same day when they file the application.

Czechs can also send their visa applications via the embassy in Prague to save money for a journey to Vienna, but in such a case they have to wait for the visas for 12 days. Then they can pick them up, along with their documents at the embassy in Prague again.