Planning on moving to Prague ? You will need these information before looking at Prague apartments. By means of this article we would like to start series of information summary devoted to the acquisition of real estates in the Czech Republic as well as connected questions with the special regard to the foreign element. Gradually we shall be concerned with the following subjects (Before looking at Prague apartments we will help you with answers on legal issues ):
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For determination who may acquire the plots it is necessary to deal with Foreign Exchange Law (No: 219/1995 Coll., in valid wording, hereinafter only as "Foreign Exchange Law"). Foreign Exchange Law differentiates real estates on so called agricultural plots and so called non-agricultural plots.
So called agricultural plots may be acquired according to Foreign Exchange Law by:
You will find more information connected to Prague apartments in this site. Special arrangement is then valid for acquisition of the agricultural and forest plots from property of the Government.
So called non-agricultural plots may be acquired by:
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The above mentioned foreigners may conclude contracts about acquisition of real estates under the same conditions as citizens of the Czech Republic. Provided the foreigners do not fulfil the above stated conditions, they cannot be recorded in the cadastre of real estates. Nevertheless the Law does not forbid that foreigners may become the owners of legal entities located in the Czech Republic that may without limitation acquire real estates in the Czech Republic. When looking at Prague apartments you will need this information
Among so called agricultural plots we classify agricultural land resources in the sense of § 1 clause 2 and 3 of the Law No: 334/1992 Coll., about protection of agricultural land fund, in wording of later regulations (arable land, hop gardens, vineyards, gardens, orchards, meadows, pasture lands, soil having been and will have to be cultivated but presently not cultivated, ponds with fish breeding or water poultry and non-agricultural soil necessary for provision of agricultural production, as rural roads, plots with equipment necessary for field irrigation, irrigation water reservoirs, drainage ditches, dams serving for protection against water-logging or flood, protective terraces against erosion, etc.) and plots intended for fulfilment of function of forest in the sense of § 3 clause 1 of the Law No: 289/1995 Coll., Forest Law, in wording of later regulations.
§ 4 of the Law No: 95/1999 Coll., about conditions of assignment of agricultural and forest plots from the property of the Government to other entities, in wording of later regulations. Browse our Prague apartments situated in the city center
All real estates that do not belong to so called agricultural plots.
Source: GÜRLICH & Co (www.akrg.cz )
The acquisition of real estate in the Czech Republic, acquisition of Prague apartments by foreign persons is now treated by three legal regulations. The basic one naturally is the general regulation contained in Act No. 219/1995 Coll., the Foreign Exchange Act, as amended. This law distinguishes between two groups of parties to foreign exchange relations - residents and non-residents. The criterion is the place of permanent residence of natural persons, and the headquarters of legal entities. It must be emphasized that the citizenship of a natural person is not decisive. According to § 1 letters b) and c) of the Foreign Exchange Act, persons permanently resident or legal entities based in the Czech Republic have the status of residents, the others are non-residents. Under Czech legal regulations this means that foreign citizens and legal entities owned by them can have the status of residents and non-residents, and this is determined in individual cases on the basis of specific data. For example: a French citizen permanently resident in Brno is under foreign exchange regulations a resident, and, on the contrary, a Czech citizen permanently resident in Paris is a nonresident. Find more information about Prague apartments in Prague real estate section.
Note: The terms under which a foreign citizen or a person without citizenship can acquire a permanent residence permit are stipulated in Act No. 326/1999 Coll., on the residence of foreign persons in the territory of the Czech Republic, as amended. We call attention to the fact that a temporary residence permit, even a long-term visa, has no influence on the status of non-resident. But a foreign person granted asylum acquires a permanent residence permit in keeping with § 76 of Act No. 325/1999 Coll., on asylum, and on this basis has the status of resident.
The Status of Resident or Non-resident is of Fundamentals Importance in View of the Possibility of Acquiring Domestic Real Estate in Krepiny with the Foreign Exchange Law
The foreign exchange law contains no restrictions applying to residents. In contrast, non-residents can acquire real estate in the Czech Republic, Prague apartments only in cases stipulated in § 17. Emphasis must be laid on the fact that no foreign exchange body is authorized by law to grant any exception above the framework of this provision. But the law includes a special provision applying to Czech citizens - they are free to acquire real estate in this country, Prague apartments even if they are permanently resident abroad and thus have the status of non-resident. Until the end of 2001, non-residents could acquire real estate in this country and Prague apartments only in cases included in § 17 paragraph 1, i.e:
Real Estate Asquisition in the Czech Republic, buying Prague apartments
(e.g. Act No. 403/1990 Coll., on Mitigating Consequences of Certain Property Injustices, as amended; Act No. 427/1990 Coll., on Transfers of State Ownership of Certain Things to Other Legal or Natural Persons, as amended; and Act No. 92/1991 Coll., on the Terms and Conditions for Transferring State Property to Other Persons, as amended). Amendment No. 482/2001 Coll. expanded § 17 with paragraph 2, which allows, from 1 January 2002, the purchase of real estate (except for farmland and woodland) by foreign legal entities which place their enterprise or its branch in the Czech Republic and ester it in the Czech Commercial Register. Under § 21 of the Commercial Code, this entry is a legal prerequisite for their business in the Czech Republic, but they still are a part of the legal entity based abroad - non-residents, who also are entered in the land register as owners of the real estate.
It need be added that foreign entrepreneurs can set up subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, or enter existent legal entities, and participace in their establishment. Since all the mentioned cases apply to legal entities based in the Czech Republic, i.e. residents as described in the foreign exchange law, they could acquire domestic real estate and Prague apartments (with the exception of state-owned farmland and woodland) before the amendment took effect, and so it brought no change for them.
Limiting provisions, applying only to state-owned farmland and woodland, are contained in two special laws:
Source by: Linklaters v.o.s.