General information: Immigration issues for foreigners who intend to work in the Czech Republic
1. Work permit and long-term visa
All foreign nationals who intend to work in the Czech Republic must obtain a work permit and a visa. The presence of a business visitor without a work permit and visa in the Czech Republic is restricted to seven consecutive calendar days and a maximum of 30 total days per year.
Obtaining a work permit and visa is a time consuming process. The work permit must be obtained before applying for the visa and must be attached to the application for the visa. Both documents should be obtained prior to working or residing in the Czech Republic. The application for the visa must be submitted in person at a Czech diplomatic or consular mission.
If a foreign national's non-working spouse or children accompany him/her to the Czech Republic to live in the country but not to work, such family members are not eligible to receive work permits. They must, however, obtain visas to reside in the Czech Republic legally.
2. Work permit
There is a list of documents that are necessary for obtaining a work permit. Once you have all these documents, it is possible to begin the application process. It takes approximately six weeks from the submission of the application to receive a work permit. A work permit is valid for one year.
Work permits can be extended for repeated 365-day periods, provided that all conditions of the work permit remain fulfilled. The application for the extension must be submitted at least six weeks before the date of expiration of the current work permit.
3. Long-term visa
Long-term visa is the visa that most commonly applies to foreign nationals working in the Czech Republic. The long-term visa is valid for a stay in the Czech Republic for 90-365 days and is issued for the purposes of employment, entrepreneurial activity, family reasons, study, etc. A long-term visa issued for employment is valid for the length of employment as stated in the work permit (a minimum of 91 days, maximum of 365 days). Long-term visas issued to non-working foreign nationals are generally valid for 365 days.
A long-term visa can be extended repeatedly for a 365-day period, as long as the extension is based on the same purpose for which the visa was initially granted.
The Czech Foreigners' Police will decide on the granting of a long-term visa within 120 days after the day of filing the application. Once issued, the long-term visa is to be affixed to the foreign national's travel document (passport) by the issuing diplomatic mission or consulate. The diplomatic mission or consulate must also state the purpose of stay in the visa.
4. Czech immigration issues after EU enlargement
There will be no long-term visa for EU citizens from May 2004. From this date EU citizens who intend to stay in the Czech Republic for a period, which exceeds three months, will need to apply for a certificate of residence permission from the Czech Foreign Police.
The permission will be issued based upon an application filed at a Czech embassy abroad or at a Foreign Police. For the purpose of work-activities must be the application filed together with a passport, document confirming the purpose of the stay in the Czech Republic and passport photographs. Also family members need to apply for the certificate of residence permission.
The certificate of residence permission is issued:
- For the period of five years in the case of a transitory residence for the purpose of work or other dependant activities. The five-years period can be repeatedly extended by another five years.
- For the period of five years in the case of a transitory residence for the purpose of entrepreneurial activities or for carrying out the function of a statutory body of a company (e.g. an executive). The five-years period can be repeatedly extended by another five years.