Canadian visa restrictions look likely for Czech vistors

The Canadian Government is likely to re-introduce Canadian visitor visa requirements for Czech citizens to deal with the recent flood of refugees from the Czech Republic.

"Yes, I can confirm that Canada has informed us about the considered measures in response to the rising number of Czech refugee applicants," acting Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout told journalists on Wednesday.

Acting Czech Foreign Minister Kohout and Interior Minister Martin Pecina held negotiations with Canada's Immigration Minister Jason Kenney on Monday.

A Czech newspaper, Lidové noviny, reported Canada would reimpose visitor visa requirements as early as July 7. However, the acting Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said that he has not received any official announcement yet.

Kohout warned visitor visa requirements would harm Canada's relations with the European Union, and he also said that Czech would consider reimposing visa restrictions for Canadian diplomats.
Because of EU conventions, the Czech Government cannot reintroduce visa requirements to common Canadian citizens but can do so for diplomats.

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in providing visa and immigration services to Canada.