In order to apply you will need:

• Application form
• Travel document

• Proof of accommodation.
• Photograph.
• Proof of work relation (work contract, agreement on performing work or a preliminary contract/agreement in which the parties commit to close a work contract or an agreement on performing work within an established time limit).
• Document stating identification number of the job vacancy (this document will not be required only in case of stating identification number of the job vacancy in the application formyou do not need to show this document if you are eligible to free access to the labour market)

Upon request provide also:

• Medical Report
• Document similar to an Extract from the Penal Register Record, issued by other states where you have resided for a total of six months during the three years preceding your application.

If your work position is registered in the Central Database of Job Vacancies:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a document certifying a professional qualification to perform the job (e.g. a diploma or a certificate) – if required so by the employer, nature of the job or the law.

If you have free access to the labour market:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a proof that you have free access to the labour market (e.g. a Czech university diploma).

If your job requires a work permit:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a work permit issued by the Czech Labour Office.

If your employer is an employment agency:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide other documents stipulated by law.

If you or your employer participate in a government-approved programme: 

• Some documents, subject to conditions, can be replaced with a confirmation from the employer. 
• For issuing a confirmation you can use this form.
• You can replace a proof of accommodation, work contract, agreement on performing work or documents certifying a professional qualification to perform the job. For more information please ask your employer. 

Upon application you must pay an administrative fee of CZK 2,500.

If you want your application to be processed as soon as possible, you have to provide all the necessary documents already when submitting the application. If your application is incomplete, the Ministry of the Interior can suspend the administrative proceedings, which may lead to prolonging the application processing time (for more information please see the section additions to the application).

However, if there is a time limit for submitting the application stipulated by law and you do not have all the necessary documents yet, submit the application anyway, even though it may be incomplete. As if the time limit expires, your right to reside in the Czech Republic may cease to exist along with it.

You can fill in the application form online. Then print out the filled-in form and sign it.

You can also download a blank application form, print it out and fill it in by hand – it must be filled in legibly, in block capitals,  in Latin characters, and in Czech. You can also collect the form free of charge at one of the offices of the Ministry of the Interior.

In the form, please state the number of the vacancy registered in the Central Database of Job Vacancies for which employee card holders can be hired. Your employer will give you this number. If a work permit has been issued for this work position, or if you have free access to the labour market in the Czech Republic, you do not need to know the number of the vacancy.

Make an appointment online or by phone beforehand in order to submit your application. Although a timely appointment reservation saves your time, it is not a necessary condition for submitting the application – with no appointment reservation you have to wait for your turn.

The lack of accessible slots in the schedule of appointments does not justify your failure to submit the application in due time. If the closest accessible date of appointment is after your time limit for submitting the application expires (for example your visa-free stay would already have expired), submit the application without prior reservation. For more details see your office’s opening hours (choose the appropriate office according to the location of your reported address) to find out, which is the earliest permissible date that you can appear in person, without having made a prior reservation.

You must submit the application for an employee card in person at a Ministry of the Interior office. If you or your employer participate in a government-approved programme and if the conditions of the programme allow it, based on a power of attorney, your employer can apply for you.

If you submit the application in person, you will receive a slip confirming the submission and a reference number assigned to your application. You need to know the reference number, for example, to be able to track the state of your proceedings.

If you have submitted your application within the given time limit, during the time when your application is being processed you are staying in the Czech Republic legally, even if your current residence permit or visa expires (for more information please see the section Fiction of Residence). This is the case, with some exceptions, until a final decision on your application is taken. At the Ministry of the Interior offices you can also apply for a certificate confirming permission for your residence (Bridging Visa). A Bridging Visa allows you, for example, to leave the Czech Republic and return again during the time when your application is being processed.

The Ministry of the Interior will assess your application in administrative proceedings. If any errors are detected in the attached documents, you will be prompted in writing to remedy such errors. In the notice, the Ministry will explain in detail what the errors are and what you have to do to remedy them. It will also set a time limit for you to do so. When justified and if you apply for it in writing, this time limit can be extended.

The Ministry of the Interior also checks if you meet the requirements to obtain the residence permit you are applying for. In such case you may be invited for an interview.

In the course of the administrative proceedings you can:

• Add additional documents to your application.
• Be represented in the proceedings (a Power of Attorney).
• Ask for access to your file.
• Ask for a stay in the proceedings.
• Withdraw the application (Withdrawal of the Application).

You can track the state of your proceedings online on the website under Status of my Application or in your personal account. If you were prompted to provide documents or to remedy errors, the time limit for processing your application is not running until the errors are remedied or for as long as it is established in the notice.

For more information on the state of your application you can submit a written Application for a Notification on the State of the Proceedings. You can find the most common reasons for why processing may take longer in the Database of Frequently Asked Questions.

On the website under Status of my application you can see the following states:

• Being processed: No decision has been taken yet. For more information on what you can do in the course of the administrative proceedings please see the previous section.
• Granted: The Ministry’s decision is affirmative. Please see the following section.
• Rejected: The Ministry rejected your application or closed the proceedings. In such a case you will receive the decision in writing. You can appeal against the decision within 15 days of the date you were notified of the decision.

• The decision to reject the application consists of three basic parts:
  1. The Statement: It contains specific legal provisions based on which the application was rejected. It may also advise you that you must leave the country, including the time limit in which you must do so.
  2. The Statement of Grounds: It explains why the application was rejected and what documents and proofs served as grounds for the decision on your application.
  3. Your rights: It informs you on how to proceed if you wish to appeal against the decision.

• The decision to close the proceedings consists of three basic parts:
  1. The Statement: It contains specific legal provisions based on which the proceedings were closed.
  2. The Statement of Grounds: It describes the procedure and grounds that led to the proceedings being closed.
  3. Your rights: It informs you on how to proceed if you wish to appeal against the decision.

You may have only received a record of the decision to close the proceedings because in your case the proceedings were closed for reasons stipulated by law in which case the applicant does not receive a written decision (Section 169r (2) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll). 

If the application is granted, make an appointment by phone to have your biometric data taken. Please note that the appointment date is binding and you must follow the Administrative Procedure Code if you request a reschedule or cancellation.

Come to the scheduled biometric data scanning appointment. Take your travel document with you. At the biometric data scanning you will agree on a date to collect your completed biometric card.

The Ministry of the Interior will also issue you a Confirmation of Compliance. Having received this confirmation, you can start your employment. This does not apply if you have been issued a work permit to perform the job, or if you have free access to the labour market.

The final step is to collect your residence permit (biometric card). The time limit for collection is 60 days from the date you had your biometric data scanned.

When collecting your first employee card, you must present to the Ministry of the Interior a confirmation issued by your employer that you have started working on a work position for which the employee card has been issued. For issuing this confirmation, you may use this form.

In order to apply you will need:

• Application form
• Travel document

• Proof of accommodation.
• Photograph.
• Proof of work relation (work contract, agreement on performing work or a preliminary contract/agreement in which the parties commit to close a work contract or an agreement on performing work within an established time limit). 
• Document stating identification number of the job vacancy (this document will not be required only in case of stating identification number of the job vacancy in the application form; you do not need to show this document if you are eligible to free access to the labour market).

• Document similar to an extract from the Penal Register record, issued by the state of which you are a citizen.

Upon request provide also:

• Medical Report
• Document similar to an Extract from the Penal Register Record, issued by other states where you have resided for a total of six months during the three years preceding your application.

If your work position is registered in the Central Database of Job Vacancies:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a document certifying a professional qualification to perform the job (e.g. a diploma or a certificate) – if required so by the employer, nature of the job or the law.

If you have free access to the labour market:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a proof that you have free access to the labour market (e.g. a Czech university diploma).

If your job requires a work permit:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a work permit issued by the Czech Labour Office.

If your employer is an employment agency:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide other documents stipulated by law.

If you or your employer participate in a government-approved programme:

• Some documents, subject to conditions, can be replaced with a confirmation from the employer. 
• For issuing a confirmation you can use this form.
• You can replace a proof of accommodation, work contract, agreement on performing work or documents certifying a professional qualification to perform the job. For more information please ask your employer. 

Upon application, you must pay a consular fee 5,000 CZK.

Please review the formal requirements that the documents must meet.

You can fill in the application form online. Then print out the filled-in form and sign it.

You can also download a blank application form, print it out and fill it in by hand – it must be filled in legibly, in block capitals and in Latin characters. You can also collect the form free of charge at a Czech Republic’s diplomatic mission

In the form, please state the number of the vacancy registered in the Central Database of Job Vacancies for which employee card holders can be hired. Your employer will give you this number. If a work permit has been issued for this work position, or if you have free access to the labour market in the Czech Republic, you do not need to know the number of the vacancy.

Before submitting the application, contact the diplomatic mission and make an appointment. For a list of all the Czech Republic’s diplomatic missions and their contact details please see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

You must submit the application in person. In justified cases a diplomatic mission may waive the obligation to submit the application in person.

If you or your employer participate in a government-approved programme and if the conditions of the programme allow it, based on a power of attorney, your employer can apply for you.

The diplomatic mission will turn your application over to the Ministry of the Interior.

 The Ministry of the Interior will assess your application in administrative proceedings. If any errors are detected in the attached documents, you will be prompted in writing to remedy such errors. In the notice, the Ministry will explain in detail what the errors are and what you have to do to remedy them. It will also set a time limit for you to do so. When justified and if you apply for it in writing, this time limit can be extended.

The Ministry of the Interior also checks if you meet the requirements to obtain the residence permit you are applying for. In such case you may be invited for an interview.

In the course of the administrative proceedings you can:

• Add additional documents to your application.
• Be represented in the proceedings (a Power of Attorney).
• Ask for access to your file.
• Ask for a stay in the proceedings.
• Withdraw the application (Withdrawal of the Application).

You can track the state of your proceedings online on the website under Status of my Application or in your personal account. If you were prompted to provide documents or to remedy errors, the time limit for processing your application is not running until the errors are remedied or for as long as it is established in the notice.

For more information on the state of your application you can submit a written Application for a Notification on the State of the Proceedings. You can find the most common reasons for why processing may take longer in the Database of Frequently Asked Questions.

On the website under Status of my application you can see the following states:

• Being processed: No decision has been taken yet. For more information on what you can do in the course of the administrative proceedings please see the previous section.
• Granted: The Ministry’s decision is affirmative. Please see the following section.
• Rejected: The Ministry rejected your application or closed the proceedings. In such a case you will receive the decision in writing. You can appeal against the decision within 15 days of the date you were notified of the decision.

• The decision to reject the application consists of three basic parts:
  1. The Statement: It contains specific legal provisions based on which the application was rejected. It may also advise you that you must leave the country, including the time limit in which you must do so.
  2. The Statement of Grounds: It explains why the application was rejected and what documents and proofs served as grounds for the decision on your application.
  3. Your rights: It informs you on how to proceed if you wish to appeal against the decision.

• The decision to close the proceedings consists of three basic parts:
  1. The Statement: It contains specific legal provisions based on which the proceedings were closed.
  2. The Statement of Grounds: It describes the procedure and grounds that led to the proceedings being closed.
  3. Your rights: It informs you on how to proceed if you wish to appeal against the decision.

If the application is granted, come to the diplomatic mission in order to collect your entry visa – visa for a stay longer than 90 days for the purpose of collecting a residence permit (D/VR). A diplomatic mission’s employee will contact you beforehand in order to schedule an appointment with you. You do not need a D/VR visa if you can enter the Czech Republic in another way, e.g. without a visa with a biometric passport.

Before receiving the entry visa in your passport, you must provide a proof of travel medical insurance for the period of time from the day of your entrance in the Czech Republic to the day you start your employment, when you begin to be covered by the public medical insurance. The diplomatic mission can also ask you to provide a proof of payment for the insurance.

In case you have been granted a D/VR visa, you have to register at an office of the Ministry of the Interior within 30 calendar days of your arrival to the Czech Republic. If you are able to legally enter the Czech Republic in a different way, for example without a visa while having a biometric passport, you have to register within 3 days of your arrival.

During the registration, the office’s employees will schedule an appointment with you so that you get your biometric data taken.

The Ministry of the Interior will also issue you a Confirmation of Compliance. Having received this confirmation, you can start your employment. This does not apply if you have been issued a work permit to perform the job, or if you have free access to the labour market.

Come to the scheduled biometric data scanning appointment. Take your travel document with you. At the biometric data scanning you will agree on a date to collect your completed biometric card.

The final step is to collect your residence permit (biometric card). The time limit for collection is 60 days from the date you had your biometric data scanned.

 When collecting your first employee card, you must present to the Ministry of the Interior a confirmation issued by your employer that you have started working on a work position for which the employee card has been issued. For issuing this confirmation, you may use this form.

In order to apply you will need:

• Application form
• Travel document

• Proof of accommodation.
• Photograph if your appearance has changed.
• Proof of work relation (work contract or agreement on performing work).

If your work position is registered in the Central Database of Job Vacancies:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a document certifying a professional qualification to perform the job (e.g. a diploma or a certificate) – if the validity of the document you have provided for your previous application has expired.
  • o If you have previously provided the document and it is still valid, instead of producing it, you can require from the Ministry to obtain it from their records, as part of the proceedings. This request will be made in a free form.

If your job requires a work permit:

• Besides the above-mentioned requirements, you must provide a decision extending your work permit.

If your employer is an employment agency:

• You must provide other documents stipulated by law.

If you or your employer participate in a government-approved programme:

• Some documents, subject to conditions, can be replaced with a confirmation from the employer. 
• For issuing a confirmation you can use this form.
• You can replace a proof of accommodation, work contract, agreement on performing work or documents certifying a professional qualification to perform the job. For more information please ask your employer.

Upon application you must pay an administrative fee of CZK 2,500.

If you want your application to be processed as soon as possible, you have to provide all the necessary documents already when submitting the application. If your application is incomplete, the Ministry of the Interior can suspend the administrative proceedings, which may lead to prolonging the application processing time (for more information please see the section additions to the application).

However, if there is a time limit for submitting the application stipulated by law and you do not have all the necessary documents yet, submit the application anyway, even though it may be incomplete. As if the time limit expires, your right to reside in the Czech Republic may cease to exist along with it.

You can fill in the application form online. Then print out the filled-in form and sign it.

You can also download a blank application form, print it out and fill it in by hand – it must be filled in legibly, in block capitals,  in Latin characters, and in Czech. You can also collect the form free of charge at one of the offices of the Ministry of the Interior.

You can submit the application at a Ministry of the Interior office, send it by post, Data Box or by e-mail with an recognised electronic signature, or you can submit it through an authorised representative.

If you wish to submit the application in person, please make an appointment online or by phone beforehand. Attention: a lack of free appointment slots will not be considered as a reason for a late application submission. If the offered appointment slot is after your time limit for submitting the application expires, send the application by post, Data Box or by e-mail with an advanced electronic signature, or visit a Ministry of the Interior office without an appointment – with no appointment reservation you have to wait for your turn.

If you are not going to submit your application in person, the date of its posting or the date of its sending by Data Box or email is important for complying with the given time limit. If you post the application at a post licence holder (most commonly a post office) the last day of your current resident permit’s validity, the time limit for submitting the application will be complied with. This applies even in the case that the application is delivered to the Ministry of the Interior after your residence’s validity has expired. We recommend, however, not to leave the submission for the last moment.

If you submit the application in person, you will receive a slip confirming the submission and a reference number assigned to your application. You need to know the reference number, for example, to be able to track the state of your proceedings. If you do not submit the application in person, you can learn the reference number by calling our information hotline. In this case, it is recommended to call the hotline no sooner than a week after the application was sent as it takes a few days to assign a reference number to an application.

If you have submitted your application within the given time limit, during the time when your application is being processed you are staying in the Czech Republic legally, even if your current residence permit or visa expires (for more information please see the section Fiction of Residence). This is the case, with some exceptions, until a final decision on your application is taken. At the Ministry of the Interior offices you can also apply for a certificate confirming permission for your residence (Bridging Visa). A Bridging Visa allows you, for example, to leave the Czech Republic and return again during the time when your application is being processed.

The Ministry of the Interior will assess your application in administrative proceedings. If any errors are detected in the attached documents, you will be prompted in writing to remedy such errors. In the notice, the Ministry will explain in detail what the errors are and what you have to do to remedy them. It will also set a time limit for you to do so. When justified and if you apply for it in writing, this time limit can be extended.

The Ministry of the Interior also checks if you meet the requirements to obtain the residence permit you are applying for. In such case you may be invited for an interview.

In the course of the administrative proceedings you can:

• Add additional documents to your application.
• Be represented in the proceedings (a Power of Attorney).
• Ask for access to your file.
• Ask for a stay in the proceedings.
• Withdraw the application (Withdrawal of the Application).

You can track the state of your proceedings online on the website under Status of my Application or in your personal account. If you were prompted to provide documents or to remedy errors, the time limit for processing your application is not running until the errors are remedied or for as long as it is established in the notice.

For more information on the state of your application you can submit a written Application for a Notification on the State of the Proceedings. You can find the most common reasons for why processing may take longer in the Database of Frequently Asked Questions.

On the website under Status of my application you can see the following states:

• Being processed: No decision has been taken yet. For more information on what you can do in the course of the administrative proceedings please see the previous section.
• Granted: The Ministry’s decision is affirmative. Please see the following section.
• Rejected: The Ministry rejected your application or closed the proceedings. In such a case you will receive the decision in writing. You can appeal against the decision within 15 days of the date you were notified of the decision.

• The decision to reject the application consists of three basic parts:
  1. The Statement: It contains specific legal provisions based on which the application was rejected. It may also advise you that you must leave the country, including the time limit in which you must do so.
  2. The Statement of Grounds: It explains why the application was rejected and what documents and proofs served as grounds for the decision on your application.
  3. Your rights: It informs you on how to proceed if you wish to appeal against the decision.

• The decision to close the proceedings consists of three basic parts:
  1. The Statement: It contains specific legal provisions based on which the proceedings were closed.
  2. The Statement of Grounds: It describes the procedure and grounds that led to the proceedings being closed.
  3. Your rights: It informs you on how to proceed if you wish to appeal against the decision.

You may have only received a record of the decision to close the proceedings because in your case the proceedings were closed for reasons stipulated by law in which case the applicant does not receive a written decision (Section 169r (2) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll). 

If the application is granted, make an appointment by phone to have your biometric data taken. Please note that the appointment date is binding and you must follow the Administrative Procedure Code if you request a reschedule or cancellation.

Come to the scheduled biometric data scanning appointment. Take your travel document with you. At the biometric data scanning you will agree on a date to collect your completed biometric card.

The final step is to collect your residence permit (biometric card). The time limit for collection is 60 days from the date you had your biometric data scanned.