Print LAW No. 194/1999
of 29 July 1999
amending the Law No.4011993 Coil.,
on the acquisition and loss of nationality of the Czech Republic, as amended by subsequent regulations
The Parliament has passed the following Law of the Czech Republic: Art.1
The Law No. 40/1993 Coil., on the acquisition and loss of nationality of the Czech
Republic, as amended by the Law No. 272/1993 Coil., the Law No. 140/1995 Coil. and the Law No. 139/1996 CoIl. is amended as follows:
1. In article 2, sub-paragraph e), in brackets after the words ,,§ 6" shall be inserted words "or § 18a".
2. In article 3, sub-paragraph b) shall be as follows:
"b) if the parents are natural persons without nationality ("stateless person" hereinafter) at least one of them shall have permanent residence on the territory of the Czech Republic and the child shall be born in its territory".
3. In article 6 after the indented paragraph 1 shall be inserted the following new indented paragraphs 2 to 6 which shall be as follows:
"(2) A natural person may make the statement separately at the earliest on the day when he or she is 15 years of age.
(3) The parents (or as the case may be one of them) may include a child who is under 15 years of age in their statement.
(4) The parents (or as the case may be one of them) may make a separate statement for a child who is under 15 years of age.
(5) If a statement under the indented paragraph 3 or the indented paragraph 4 is made by only one of the child's parents such parent shall provide a statement made by the other parent proving that the other parent agrees that nationality of the Czech Republic is opted for the child unless the performance of the other parent's custody has been limited or suspended and/or the other parent has been withdrawn his or her custody of the child or his/her own legal capacity.
(6) The descendants of direct lineage of a natural person who was a national of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic on 31 December 1992 but did not possess nationality of the Czech Republic or that of the Slovak Republic who are over 15 years of age may only opt for nationality of the Czech Republic by statement provided that they do not possess any other nationality."
The indented paragraphs that have been until now referred to as 2 and 3 shall be referred to as 7 and 8.
4. In article 7, indented paragraph 1, sub-paragraphs a) and b) shall be as follows:
"a) has had on the day of lodging the application permitted permanent residence on the territory of the Czech Republic for at least five years and has been LawuaJly staying in that country for most of the time.
b) shall prove that by acquiring nationality of the Czech Republic he or she will lose their previous nationality or shall prove that he or she has lost their previous nationality unless the person is a stateless person or a person with recognised status of a refugee living on the territory of the Czech Republic"
5. In article 8, sub-paragraph b) shall be as follows:
"b) document proving that by acquiring nationality of the Czech Republic he or she shall lose their previous nationality or document proving that he or she has lost their previous nationality unless the person is a stateless person or a person with recognised status of a refugee living on the territory of the Czech Republic"
6. In article 8, at the end of the text for the sub-paragraph c) shall be added the following text: "in case of applicant older than 15 years of age; this document must not be older than six months"
7. In article 9, indented paragraph 1, sub-paragraph c) shall be as follows:
"c) document proving that by acquiring nationality of the Czech Republic the child will lose his or her present nationality or document proving that the child has lost his or her previous nationality unless the child is a stateless person or a person with recognised status of a refugee living on the territory of the Czech Republic.".
9. In article 10 after the indented paragraph 2 shall be added indented paragraphs 3 to 5 (including the footnote referred to as 3a) which shall be as follows:
"(3) When reviewing a nationality application, the Ministry of Interior shall be obliged to consider the national security aspect; to do so it may ask for the opinion of the Police of the Czech Republic and for that of the intelligence services of the Czech Republic; if such opinions include any information subject to classifying under special legislation 3a) , such information shall not be included in the dossier.
(4) The administrative procedure related to the process of naturalization is opened on the day when the application has been delivered to the Ministry of Interior.
(5) The Ministry of Interior shall give a ruling on nationality application within 90 days from the opening of the administrative procedure.
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Footnote
3a) Law No. 148/1998 CoIl., article 3 on the protection of secret information and amendment of some Laws".
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10. In article 11 indented paragraph 1 in the first sentence shall be added the word "permitted" after the words "Czech Republic".
11. In article 11 indented paragraph 1, sub-paragraphs a) to d) shall substitute the word "and/or" the word "or".
12. In article 11, indented paragraph 1, sub-paragraphs e) and f) shall be added comma after the words "Czech Republic".
13. In article 11, at the end of the indented paragraph 1 shall substitute the word "or" the full stop and shall be added the sub-paragraph h) which shall be as follows:
"h) is a stateless person or has been recognised the status of a refugee living on the territory of the Czech Republic."
14. In article 11, indented paragraph 2 shall be as follows:
,,(2) The Ministry of Interior may also waive the condition set by article 7, indented
paragraph 1, sub-paragraph b) provided that the applicant has been legitimately staying on the territory of the Czech Republic
a) for at least five years and if the legal regulations of the country the national of which the applicant is do not permit release from nationality and/or if that country refuses to issue document proving release of the applicant from nationality or lodging of an application for the release from nationality by applicant could expose himself/herself or his/her next of kin to persecution due to race, religion, belonging to a national or a social group or due to political beliefs and/or
b) for at least 20 years if it is not a case referred to under articles 18 and 18a."
15. In article 11 the indented paragraph 3 shall be avoided.
The former indented paragraph 4 shall be referred to as 3.
16. In article 16, indented paragraph 1 shall be added the following text after the word "may": "at the earliest on the day when he or she is 15 years of age".
17. Article 18 shall be as follows:
,,§ 18
(1) Any natural person who was a national of the Czech and Slovak Federal
Republic on 31 December 1992 and acquired nationality of the Slovak Republic by option during the period from 1 January 1993 to 31 December 1993 is regarded as a national of the Czech Republic unless it is proved that such person lost nationality hereunder after option for nationality of the Slovak Republic.
(2) A national of the Czech Republic who was a national of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic on 31 December 1992 shall not lose his or her nationality of the Czech Republic by acquiring nationality of the Slovak Republic.
18. Article 18a including the footnotes no. 3b) and 3c) shall be as follows:
,,§18a(1) Any natural person who was a national of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic on 31 December 1992 and was not a national of the Czech Republic and hadpermanent residence on the territory of the Czech Republic under special legislation 3b) on 31 December 1992 and this residence still lasts and/or who has been continuously living on the territory of the Czech Republic since that date until now is entitled to make his or her statement on the acquisition of nationality of the Czech Republic.
(2) The statement under the indented paragraph 1 is to be lodged with the competent district office according to the permanent residence of the person making the statement or as the case may be according to the place where such person has been continuously living.
The following documents shall be attached to the statement:
a) birth certificate and (if applicable) also marriage certificate or as the case may be document proving dissolution of marriage or certificate of death of spouse.
b) document by which the person making the statement may prove his or her permanent residence on the territory of the Czech Republic or as the case may be the flaw that he or she has been continuously living on the territory of the Czech Republic at least since 31 December 1992. 3c)
(3) The parents or as the case may be one of them may include a child under 15 years of age in their statement; such child does not need to meet the condition referred to under the indented paragraph 1. The following documents shall be attached to such statement:
a) birth certificate of the child,
b) consent given by the other parent (for the child) to acquire nationality of the Czech Republic unless the performance of the other parents custody has been limited or suspended and/or the other parent has been withdrawn his or her custody of the child or his or her own legal capacity .
(4) The parents or as the case may be one of them may make a separate statement for a child who is under 15 years of age; such child does not need to meet the condition referred to under the indented paragraph 1 provided that at least one of the parents is a national of the Czech Republic. The documents referred to under the indented paragraph 3 shall be attached to such statement.
(5) If both parents of a child under 15 years of age living on the territory of the Czech Republic have been withdrawn their custody or the performance of such custody have been suspended or limited and /or if they do not have legal capacity the statement may be made by a guardian or a custodian appointed by court for the child; no consent needs to be given by the parents in such cases. Such guardian or custodian shall attach the following documents to the application:
a) birth certificate of the child
b) effective court judgement proving that he or she has been appointed guardian or custodian.
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Footnote
3b)
law No. 135/1982 CoIl. on reporting and records of residence of nationals.
law No. 123/1992 CoIl. on residence of aliens on the territory of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, as amended by subsequent regulations. 3c)
law. 71/1967 CoIl., on administrative procedures, articles 34 to 39."
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(6) Under this provision nationality of the Czech Republic shall be acquired on the day of issuing the certificate of acquisition of nationality of the Czech Republic by statement. If the conditions required for the issuance of such certificate are not met, the district office shall rule that it rejects the statement.
(7) Any acquisition of nationality of the Czech Republic shall be notified by the competent district office to the following authorities:
a) the office keeping records of permanent residents corresponding to the permanent residence of natural person or to the place of above where such person has been
continuously living,
b) the Police of the Czech Republic,
c) the District (or equivalent) Military Registration and Enlistment Office if the applicant is a person subject to enlistment obligation,
d) the Ministry of the Interior.
19. Article 19 shall be as follows:
"§ 19
Any application for naturalization in the Czech Republic lodged before this Law takes effect and for which no ruling was given before this Law takes effect is treated as an application lodged under article 18a."
20. In article 20 at the end of the indented paragraph 2 following text shall be added: "If the applicant has never had such residence, the certificate of nationality of the Czech Republic shall be issued by the District Office of Prague 1."
21. In article 20 paragraph 3 shall be added which shall be as follows:
"(3) The application for issuing a certificate of nationality of the Czech Republic may be lodged by a person at the earliest on the day when he or she is 15 years of age; for a person who is under 15 years of age such application shall be lodged by his or her legal representative ."
22. In article 21 after the words "on option" shall be inserted words "(§ 6)" and after the words "on loss of nationality of the Czech Republic" shall be inserted words ,,(§ 16)".
23. In article 24 shall be added the indented paragraph 3 which shall be as follows:
,,(3) The application for ascertaining nationality of the Czech Republic may be lodged by a person at the earliest on the day when he or she is 15 years of age; for a person who is under 15 years of age such application shall be lodged by his or her legal representative."
24. After article 27b shall be added new article 27c which shall be as follows:
"§ 27c
The child whose adopters were nationals of the Czech Republic on the day of his/her adoption or would have become such nationals on 1 January 1969 acquired nationality of the Czech Republic by adoption unless such child acquired such nationality in another way ."
Art. II
The Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies has been empowered to promulgate updated version of the Law No.4011993 CoIl., on the acquisition and loss of nationality of the Czech Republic, as amended by subsequent legislation, in the Collection of Laws.
Art.III
This Law shall take effect on the day of its promulgation.
Klaus p.m
Havel p.m.
Zeman p.m.