Czech Republic

The Czech Republic remains an important country of immigration, although the immigration flows fell sharply in the context of the economic crisis. The main purposes of immigration are family reunification, employment and education. According to official statistics, the total number of immigrants holding a residence permit slightly increased in 2011 to about 434 000, which represented around 4 % of the total population. The major immigrant communities are Ukrainian, Slovak, Vietnamese and Russian. In 2011, the government adopted the Updated Policy for Integration of Immigrants and in 2012 the Procedure of Implementation of the Updated Policy for Integration of Immigrants (Czech only). In terms of legislation, in 2012 the government approved much debated legislative intent of the new legal regulation (Czech only) of entry and residence of foreign citizens in the Czech Republic.