New Appointment Booking Lottery At New Delhi Consulate Allows Only 33 Applications In First Quarter Of 2020
The Czech embassy in New Delhi, India, has implemented a new
appointment booking system for nationals of India, Bangladesh,
Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives applying for employee
cards. Under this system, only 33 employee card applications will
be accepted between January and March 2020.
Employers are advised to apply for one of the government
programs with a larger quota of employee card applications and no
appointment booking.
New Delhi Appointments Lottery
Prospective applicants must register in person at the VFS Global
visa application center on the mezzanine floor of the Shivaji
Stadium metro station. A representative carrying a standard
authorization signed by the applicant may appear on the
applicant’s behalf (a power of attorney is not required).
Registrations take place on December 11, 13 and 16 2019 between
9am and 12pm (noon) local time. An applicant can only register
once, on one of these dates, and authorized persons can only
register one applicant.
The applicant must submit their identity document and a copy of
the data page of their passport, and pay a non-refundable
administrative fee of INR 3100, confirmed by a registration coupon
bearing a unique registration number which will be entered into a
lottery. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will then draw 33
registration numbers and the lucky applicants will receive an
appointment date for the personal submission of the employee card
application between January and March 2020.
However, the successful registered applicants will not be
informed directly – the 33 chosen registration numbers will
be published on the website of the Czech embassy before December
31, 2019.
Government Programs
Applicants whose occupation and future Czech employer qualify
for one of three government programs can apply for an employee card
at the Czech embassy in New Delhi without registering in advance
for an appointment. The programs were introduced on September 1,
2019 and include quotas for visa and employee card issuance from
selected countries – 600 applications per year can be
accepted in India under the programs and only 100 outside the
programs.
The “Qualified Employee” program is intended for
newly-hired employees from Ukraine, Mongolia, Serbia, Philippines,
India, Belarus, Moldova, Montenegro and Kazakhstan occupying
positions in classes 4-8 of the CZ-ISCO Classification of
Occupations in manufacturing, services or the public sector and
employed by companies which have operated in Czechia for at least
two years, without any tax, health or social insurance arrears or
penalties and which employ at least six people.
The “Highly Qualified Employee” program is intended
for newly-hired employees from any non-EU country occupying
positions in classes 1-3 of the CZ-ISCO Classification of
Occupations in manufacturing, services or the public sector and
employed by companies which have operated in Czechia for at least
two years, without any tax, health or social insurance arrears or
penalties and which employ at least three people.
The “Key and Research Staff” program is intended for
newly-hired employees or intra-company transferees from any non-EU
country occupying positions in classes 1-3 of the CZ-ISCO
Classification of Occupations in manufacturing, services or the
public sector (except medical professions) and employed by
investors, research organizations, tech companies and
start-ups.
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