On 21 June 2021, the Integration Center Prague (ICP), a non-profit organization, launches Adaptation and Integration Courses for foreign nationals.
As of the 1st of January 2021, the courses are compulsory for selected groups of immigrants from countries outside the EU who have acquired a long-term residence or a permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic since the above date (or will acquire it from now on) pursuant to Sections 66 and 67 of the Residence Act.
Adaptation and Integration Courses are the results of the successful project Welcome to the Czech Republic, which has been implemented since 2012 by the non-governmental non-profit organization Slovo 21 in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.
What are the first steps to take after arriving in the Czech Republic? Where to find the right information about residence and employment? How do Czech education and healthcare work?
Participants in the Adaptation and Integration Courses will learn this and other information regarding functioning of the Czech society and the obligations and rights of immigrants. The courses aim to help foreigners to orient themselves in the new environment and administrative matters, so that they can, among other things, more easily deal with their affairs with the Czech authorities.
The course participants will also receive information about important institutions, especially about the services of the Centers for Support of Integration of Foreign Nationals and other non-profit organizations, which can help them with various tasks free of charge.
In addition to the main informative portal, vitejtevcr.cz, the website aik.icpraha.com presents basic information about the courses and instructions on how to register for them.
The courses are intended for the majority of third-country nationals whose long-term or permanent residence permits came into force after 1 January 2021. This new obligation does not apply, for example, to European Union citizens and their family members holding a temporary residence permit or to foreigners residing in the Czech Republic on the basis of a visa.
Another exception are foreigners who reside in the Czech Republic on the basis of a long-term stay for the purpose of study or investment or internally transferred employees.
Adaptation and Integration Courses last 4 hours. They are led by certified lecturers in Czech and interpreters translate the content into English, Arabic, French, Mongolian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. The course fee, which is paid by individual participants, is 1,500 CZK.
After completion of the course, each participant will be issued a certificate confirming the fulfillment of his or her obligation.
The deadline for completing the course is 1 year from handover of the residence permit certificate. If a foreigner does not attend the course within this period, he or she faces a fine in the amount of up to 10,000 CZK.
