Czech government passes bill to protect UK expat rights

The Czech Republic is the latest EU member state to guarantee British expats’ rights in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

It’s good news both for British expatriates living and working in the Czech Republic and for Czech citizens in the UK. Rather than sitting on the fence until a Brexit deal may or not be worked out, Czech lawmakers have come to an agreement with their British counterparts which covers UK citizens’ rights in the country. After approval by the Czech lower house, the bill is now heading for the Senate on an accelerated timeline.

In the case of a no-deal Brexit, the draft bill will give British expatriates the same rights as EU citizens for the following two years, after which it will regulate permanent and long-term residency, employment of Britons, the acquisition of citizenship, marriage between Czechs and Britons and other rights including pension plans and tax agreements. The bill will only be raised if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement.

As with other EU member states’ recently-announced bills protecting British expats’ rights in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Czech bill will depend on a reciprocal agreement covering the rights of Czech citizens at present living and working in the UK. According to Czech minister of the interior Jan Hamacek, it’s good that lawmakers were persuaded to act quickly to protect the rights of British expats. By giving a guarantee to Britons in the Republic, he added, all Czech citizens in the UK will also be protected.

At the present time, some 5.000 British citizens are working in the Czech Republic, with an estimated 8.000 living in the country but not employed, and 40,000 Czech citizens are living and working in the UK.