New options for obtaining the Czech citizenship through ancestors?

The old-new Act on Czech citizenship effective since 1st January 2014 significantly extended the number of people who are entitled to obtain the Czech citizenship through ancestors. The ones who left Czechoslovakia or the Czech Republic and lost their citizenship in the past can now declare (i.e. claim) the Czech citizenship and keep it at least for the future.

But what about their children?

If a child was born to a former Czech citizen, who lost his or her Czech citizenship by being released from the citizenship or even automatically by naturalization in another country (most commonly the USA, where the US citizenship had been acquired between 1929 – 1997), the child did not become a Czech citizen. Even if its parent re-acquired the Czech citizenship after 2014, the citizenship status could not be transferred to children, because (a) the Czech citizenship is not being granted retroactively to the parents, (b) the children and ancestors were specifically excluded from the acquisition of the Czech citizenship.

This rule led to situations when some siblings of the same parents had the chance to become Czech citizens, because they were born before their parents’ naturalization, whereas the other brothers or sisters born later were not so lucky. This state of matters was unfair and created unequal citizenship status within the same family. Therefore, the Standing Senate Commission on Compatriots Living Abroad came up with a new bill that should correct this inequality. The bill foresees that not only persons, who lost their Czech or Czechoslovakian citizenship in the past may acquire it back, but also their children or grandchildren can achieve a family unity through a simple declaration.

It is important to emphasize that this bill needs to be approved by the Senate of the Czech Republic and only then it can be presented to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic as an adequate bill. The bill seems to be greatly supported by the senators, which is a good sign. However, the legislative process could be long and there are still many stages during which the bill can be refused. On the other hand, if the proposed bill passes, the number of potential Czech citizens living abroad will increase significantly.

We will be following the updates in the legislative process carefully and inform you about the final state of our citizenship laws when the bill is passed and effective.

For more information please contact:

Monika Rutland, partner

rutland & partners, advokátní kancelář s.r.o.

Tel: +420 226 226 026

Email: monika.rutland@rutlands.cz