Czechs rejected less than 2% visa applicants in 2012

Prague, Feb 22 (CTK) - Czech authorities rejected under 2 percent of visa applications in 2012, which is less than the 6 percent average in the Schengen areas' countries, representatives of the Foreign Ministry have told reporters.

According to the ministry's and EU statistics, the Czech consular offices are not among those with the strictest approach to visa applications in Europe though some NGOs, for instance, in Ukraine, claim it.

The highest number of applications for Czech visas came from Russia (384,000) last year. Compared to 2010, their number increased by over 114,000.

On the contrary, the number of Ukrainians' applications dropped from 100,000 in 2010 to 75,000 in 2012. The reason is a worsening economic situation in Ukraine rather than any restriction of the number of accepted applications.

These two countries are followed by Kazakhstan and China.

The total number of visa applications that Czech authorities proceeded last year amounted to 593,000.

The number of appeals against the rejection of a visa application increased from 417 to 449 year-on-year, along with the number of accepted appeals (from 86 to 112).

In spite of the rise in the number of visa applications and the agency connected with them, the number of consular and diplomatic clerks has slightly decreased, from 205 in 2010 to 187 last year.

The Foreign Ministry wants to seek possibilities to raise it to the original figure.

It says a consular clerk proceeds some 30 applications a day and collects some 30,000 crowns in fees, which is more than his/her monthly pay.

Last year, the Czech state gained 583 million crowns from visa fees, which was some 40 million more than in previous years.

($=19.334 crowns)