FREE ACCESS to the labour market for nationals of selected countries and conidtions or residence.

On 1 July 2024, a government regulation comes into force, which introduces free access to the Czech labour market for citizens of the following nine countries:

Australia, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Singapore, Israel. For more information please attached flyer.

Employee card is a new type of permit for long-time residence in the territory of the Czech Republic where the purpose of the foreign nationals’ stay (longer than 3 months) is employment. A foreign national who has an employee card is entitled:
- to reside in the territory of the Czech Republic and, at the same time
- to work in the job for which the employee card was issued, or
- to work in the job for which the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior granted consent (in connection with changing employer, changing job, taking up employment with an additional employer or in an additional job)

Employee card replaces the visa for a stay of over 90 days for the purpose of employment, a long-term residence permit for the purpose of employment and a Green Card, which will no longer be issued. Blue Cards will continue to be issued. Employee card is most often issued for the duration of the employer-employee relationship but not for more than 2 years, with an option to repeatedly extend its validity.

The job vacancy for which an application for an employee card can be filed must come from the central register of job vacancies that can be filled by holders of employee cards. Subject to the consent of the employer, these vacant jobs can be published on the Internet Integrated Portal of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs where you can find them. Therefore, an employee card always relates to the specific job (there can also be more job positions at the same time) for which it was issued or, if applicable, to a job for which the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior granted its consent in connection with changing employer or job.

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Processing time

Application for the employee card shall be processed within 60-90 days in case the applicant provides all the requested documents.

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Required documents

IMPORTANT

(!) all documents must be presented in Czech language
(!) all documents must be presented in the original or as a notarized copy AND one (simple) copy of each document (i.e. two complete sets of documents must be provided)
(!) all documents (except travel document) may not be older than 180 days

PLEASE, SUBMIT THE DOCUMENTS IN ORDER FROM no. 1 TO no. 19 EXACTLY AS FOLLOWS:

1. this printed list with all the items to be submitted checked/marked
    
2. application form (form employee card (PDF, 482 KB))
   - form must be filled in completely with a blue ball point pen or on a typewriter
   - do not forget to sign at the bottom of the 5th page
   - otherwise, same rules apply as for the form under no. 1
    
3. one copy of the filled application form
    
4. two (2) passport size photographs
   - photos must be identical, recent, in color, size 3,5 x 4,5 cm or 2 x 2 inch, entire face must be clearly visible, with white background and in a good print quality on high quality photo paper, made at professional photo studio; do not print photos yourself or the application will be returned to you as unacceptable (!)
   - photos must be submitted enclosed loosely inside the passport
    
5. passport
   - original (!)
   - must be issued within the previous 10 years
   - must contain at least two blank pages
    
6. two copies of the data page of the passport
    
7. document confirming the purpose of stay
   - a contract of employment, an agreement on work activity (or at least an agreement for a future contract where the parties agree to enter into a contract of employment or an agreement on work activity by an agreed deadline)
   - the aforementioned documents must contain a stipulation which provides that regardless of the scope of work, the agreed monthly salary will not be lower than the basic monthly minimum wage and that weekly working hours will be at least 15 hours
    
8. one copy of the document/s confirming the purpose of stay
    
9. documents proving the professional qualifications for performance of the desired job, if this condition follows from the nature of the employment or an international agreement sets such a condition, particularly:
   - a document proving the required education (such as a diploma); in justified cases, particularly if reasonable doubt exists as to whether you have the required education or whether your education is appropriate for the nature of employment, you will be obliged, at the request of an administrative authority, to prove and submit a document certifying that your foreign education has been recognised by the relevant authority of the CR
   - a document proving the required professional qualifications, if such qualifications are required according to other legal regulations (for example, a fork-lift truck operator licence or the appropriate driving license for a tram/bus driver, etc.)
   - a document proving that you meet the requirements for performing an occupation referred to as “regulated occupation”, if your application concerns this kind of occupation; if you do not already hold such a document, you must apply to the relevant recognition authority of the CR for recognition of your professional qualifications, after filing the application for an employee card. Issuance of the employee card is contingent on your submission of an affirmative decision of the recognition authority
   - document/s must be translated into Czech language
    
10. one copy of all the documents proving the professional qualifications
     
11. proof of accommodation
    - written confirmation of the owner of the apartment/house with a notarized signature (by a Notary Public in the Czech Republic) OR rental/lease contract, sub-letting contract, accommodation agreement or an agreement with similar content
    - original or notarized copy in Czech language of any of the mentioned documents must be submitted
     
12. one copy of all the documents submitted as proof of accommodation
     
13. affidavit / criminal history record
    - affidavit (affidavit (DOC, 32 KB)) confirming that you have never been indicted and sentenced for a felony of any kind in USA (affidavit replaces U.S. criminal history record issued by FBI only in case of U.S. citizens!)
    - if the application is submitted by mail, the signature must be notarized; if the application is submitted in person, affidavit can be signed in front of the Consular Officer
    - if the applicant lived in any other country besides USA for 6 months or longer in the previous three years, an Excerpt from Criminal History Record issued by that country must be submitted with the required legalization/apostille and verified translation into Czech language
    - non US citizens must submit an Excerpt from Criminal History Record issued by their country of origin with the required legalization/apostille and verified translation into Czech language AND also the U.S. criminal history record issued by FBI with apostille and verified translation into Czech language
     
14. one copy of the affidavit / criminal history record
     
15. travel medical insurance
    - insurance must be valid for the period from the date of entry into the territory of the Czech Republic until the time when public health insurance coverage will apply to the applicant, pursuant to the Public Health Insurance Act - i.e., principally from the date on which the visa was issued, until commencement of employment (as stated in the submitted documents); it is recommended to have the insurance coverage for 40 days after entering Czech Republic
    - insurance benefit limit for one insurance event must be at least EUR 60,000 without participation of the person insured = zero deductibles/copay
    - insurance must cover all the costs associated with necessary and urgent health care, including costs associated with transportation, including transportation of mortal remains in the event of death, and insurance must not exclude providing insurance payment in the case of accident caused by a wilful act, negligence or contributory negligence of the insured, even as a result of drinking alcohol, taking narcotics or psychotropic drugs by the insured
    - submit the Czech verbiage of the insurance policy/policies; in case the insurance company is not a Czech insurance company, a complete verified translation into Czech language of all the insurance policy, general terms and conditions must be submitted
    - upon request, proof of payment of insurance premium must be submitted
    NOTE: travel medical insurance is the only required document that may be submitted only after the Consulate receives instruction from the Ministry of Interior to issue the visa and not at the time of visa application submission 
     
16. visa application fee
    -For the period until December 10, 2024 and after January 1, 2025, citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan are exempted from the obligation to apply for a long-term residence permit in person. They are allowed to send us their application form and all required documents by mail under the conditions set out below for each type of application. We will return a visa application that shows submission defects or, in the case of minor defects, we will ask the applicant to remove the defects before we accept the application. If the application is submitted without defects, we will send the applicant a link to the payment gateway to the email address provided in the application, where he/she/they can pay the visa fee by credit card. Our office will verify that the visa fee has been paid. Then we enter the application into the visa system. At that point, the application will be deemed accepted. In 2024, this exemption applies to applications delivered to our office by mail by December 10, 2024.
    - Citizens of countries not listed above or those applicants who wish to submit their application either between December 11, 2024 and December 31, 2024 or in person pay the visa fee by card when submitting the application in person. We accept Visa and MasterCard.
    - for information about current visa fees, please, visit the corresponding article (under item 162 b - employee card application)
17. trackable prepaid self-addressed USPS Priority Mail Express envelope or prepaid self-addressed UPS envelope
    - only in case the applicant needs the passport to be mailed back and cannot pick up the passport personally at the Consulate
    - for future tracking, the applicants are encouraged to make a record of the tracking number
    - please, fill in your own address or the address of the Consulate as "sender/from" on the self-addressed envelope
    - the Consulate is not responsible for any loss in which case the applicant must deal directly with the mailing company
    - we cannot accept FedEx or any other mailing company not stated above
     
18. copy of the envelope if provided under no. 17