Mightier law

A told me a few weeks ago that the law on getting a permanent resident permit here in Czech Rep will change soon. No longer will spouses of Czech citizens be instantly eligible for permanent residency. He also said something about eight years of continuous residency in the country before one can have a maroon card. (EU passports are maroon in color.)

Yesterday while browsing for Italian restaurants in Prague, I stumbled on an article about this law. Here's an excerpt:

Presently — as the law stands — spouses of Czech citizens are eligible for immediate permanent residency (trvaly pobyt) and within five years are eligible for full Czech citizenship (without voting rights, naturally). Newcomers to Czech society in this way merely have to demonstrate a passive knowledge of the Czech language in order to qualify for that same citizenship.

Under cover of the slower holiday season, Parliament is attempting to hustle through ammendments to the existing law. No longer will spouses of Czech citizens be eligible for instant permanent residency. And under the current proposal presently kicking around the Czech Senate for final approval and signing into law (following President Klaus’ rubber stamp), it will now take prospective Czech permanent residents eight years of continuous residency in the Czech Republic to qualify for citizenship with Czech language fluency.

Eight years is a long time. Then again their country, their law. Besides maybe eight years is the minimum time you need to learn their language. I've been here for almost three years and without a proper course in it I'm still struggling past hi and goodbye. Two more to go and I will be eligible for citizenship. The ultimate question now is-- to be or not to be?