Some members of the parliament (MPs) of the Czech Republic have proposed changes to the current citizenship law in order to include more groups of people as eligible candidates for citizenship.

The MPs support granting citizenship through a declaration procedure to the fourth generation of Czechoslovak great-grandchildren.

The administration gave the idea, which includes descendants of citizens who did not lose their citizenship, a positive review during a meeting earlier this month.

The time limits and restrictions of the existing law, which limits applications to only two generations of descendants, are the main points of criticism directed towards it. As a result, the MPs seek to address these deficiencies by expanding eligibility to include “descendants in direct descent” in the fourth generation.

Additionally, the one-year preclusion period—which, according to MPs, has presented practical challenges for certain applicants—is being eliminated by the proposed amendments.

MPs argue that even in cases when forebears did not lose their citizenship, the necessity for citizenship applicants to demonstrate their lineage from a former Czechoslovak citizen creates a difficult evidentiary scenario.

The application process is made more difficult by the fact that some people are not aware of the law because of its one-year effective duration.

The condition of people born abroad whose forebears never lost their Czech citizenship but who are currently exempt from the country’s laws is also covered by the proposed revisions. MPs propose granting citizenship by declaration to minors, subject to certain restrictions, and excluding those who have lost their citizenship as a result of treaties and decrees.

Provisions allowing great-great-grandchildren to submit their great-grandparents’ documents for the declaration process are part of the proposed modifications.

According to a survey by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tens of thousands of people may profit from the increased eligibility, which is expected to have a major influence on former Czech and Czechoslovak residents living in the US and Latin American nations. In Europe, where the impact is anticipated to be less severe, applicants from particular nations—most notably Great Britain and Switzerland—are anticipated to show more interest.

If enacted, the MPs claim that in addition to improving the current law’s inadequacies, these reforms will help Czechoslovak nationals’ descendants get citizenship in a more equitable and inclusive manner, strengthening their ties to the Czech and Czechoslovak diaspora around the world.