Number of Czech visa applicants is record high this year

CTK

The interest in Czech visas was record high in the first six months of the year, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release today, adding that Czech diplomatic offices received 408,000 visa applications from January until June. This is 13 percent more than in the same period last year.

In 2018, Czech diplomatic offices received 722,000 visa applications, which has been the highest number in the country's modern history that started in 1993 when Czechoslovakia split into Czechia and Slovakia. 

The Foreign Ministry expects the number of applications for Czech visas to reach more than 800,000 by the end of the year.

The Czech state gained roughly half a billion crowns in visa application fees in the first half of the year.

During the first six months of the year, the Czech diplomatic missions that received the highest number of tourist visa applications were the embassy in Moscow (104,000), the embassy in Beijing (38,000) and the consular office in Shanghai (20,000). Most short-term work visa applications were at the consular office in Lviv (51,000) and the embassy in Shanghai (50,000).

Foreign Ministry visa department head David Novy said the increase in the number of visa applications is connected with more available travel all around the world and with short-term work migration.

As for the visas issued, the Czech Republic had the 7th highest number among the 26 countries of the Schengen Area, Novy said.

In 2018, most visa applicants were from Russia, Ukraine and China, but there were also many applicants from India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Saudi Arabia.

The number of foreign visitors from China, India and Saudi Arabia has recently increased the most, the ministry said.

($1=23.068 crowns)

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