11/08/2019 16:49

Czech Republic got insured

[IMG=18506-4097] As BANKO discovered, when processing a Czech visa, tourists now must submit medical insurance. This follows from new amendments to the rule ‘About the stay of foreigners in Czech republic’ which came into force on the 24th of November. Earlier insurance was not formally needed for entering Czech Republic, but Russian travel companies would insure tourists anyway as it is required by the law of the Russian Federation. According to new rules, to process a Czech visa you have to submit an original copy of the medical insurance policy as well as a photocopy. The insurance should cover the whole period of staying in Czech Republic and cover all illness, accidents as well as transportation of un-well tourist’s home. Introduced amendments also established the minimum amount of insurance at 30,000 Euro. This way, before a trip to Czech Republic it is important to check the sum indicated in the insurance. This rule is explained by the fact that Czech legislation is being amended to bring it in line with the norms of the EU. There is also another reason: many foreigners owe considerable sums to Czech hospitals from using the services and not paying. Anna Kandalina, chief accountant of ‘Amigo’ tour operator believes that the new requirements were introduced at the wrong time: ‘Now we have entered the high season, we already have a large amount of documents to deal with’. She also told to a BANKO correspondent about one more condition: the consulate asks to include in the list of passports a column with insurance numbers. ‘Each number has 20 digits so filling the document takes a lot of time, which we are short of already’, said Kandalina. Lyudmila Kurbatova, director of the Moscow representative office of the Czech travel company ‘Destination’, on the contrary, believes the procedure of insuring will become more organized. She comments the situation as follows: ‘It was unclear before as to whether the companies really insured their clients or just ‘wrote’ insurance. Often there were medical policies which raised doubts’. According to her, ‘Destination’ now took up the responsibility to insure tourists. ‘Agencies will indeed lose a bit of money but there will be more warranties that the Consulate will have no problem with documents’ says Ms Kurbatova.