Youth Mobility Agreement - Czech Republic welcomes young Canadians
04.02.2015 / 17:15 | Aktualizováno: 17.01.2024 / 20:14
On October 1, 2007, a bilateral Agreement between the Czech Republic and Canada concerning the facilitation of temporary work stays of youth entered into force. As of this date, Canadian nationals may apply for a special kind of visa to facilitate their foreign experience.
- a Canadian national with permanent residence in Canada, and be
- between 18 and 35 years old (inclusively) on the date of the submission of the application.
Applications for the Youth Mobility visa (YMV) are to be submitted only to the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa by mail or in person (appointment via mail: Ottawa.Consulate@mzv.gov.cz).
Should applicants who filed their application by mail require that their passport is mailed back to them while their visa application is pending approval, they must provide for this purpose a self-addressed (addresses in Canada only) prepaid XpressPost envelope.
The withdrawal of your passport will not affect the visa process, but please take into consideration the following:
1. You will have to resubmit your passport for the visa affixation once the visa decision is issued.
2. The visa must be issued by the same Consulate, which has originally accepted your visa
application.
3. If you plan to travel to the Czech Republic without your long term visa, please remember that you are not meeting the conditions for a long term stay and consequently may be refused the entry into the Schengen Area/Czech Republic.
4. We can only mail passports back within the Canada.
Please take in mind that incomplete applications cannot be accepted and will be sent back to you.
The list of required documents submitted with the completed visa application form:
- (1) A passport with a validity exceeding the expected duration of stay by at least 3 months;
- (2) a visa application form, downloadable here, completely filled and signed (note: In box 28 requesting the purpose of stay, indicate "other" and fill in "YMV - Pracovni pobyt mladeze"; do not fill in the question 21);
- (3) two (2) identical recent photographs (35 x 45 mm, one glued to the application form, the other one containing your legibly printed/typed last name);
- (4) a declaration of your intention to stay in the territory of the Czech Republic for vacation with the possibility of obtaining remunerated employment to supplement your financial resources (a template available here in Czech (PDF, 194 KB)/ English) - applicants must submit the Czech version of the declaration (with an original signature, copies are not accepted), its English translation is provided for convenience only; in addition to the above, applicants can provide a proof of pre-arranged contract of remunerated employment (on a signed letter-head paper of the company or institution that will employ you, with detailed information on the date of the beginning and termination of the employment, the amount of remuneration and the description of work) or a document proving registration at a post-secondary institution in Canada (letter of acceptance) and obtaining of pre-arranged internship or work placement in the Czech Republic.
- in case of study in the Czech Republic the applicant provides documentation proving registration at a post-secondary institution in Canada and that he has obtained a pre-arranged internship, this documentation, i.e. letter of school, needs to be translated into Czech, this translation can be verified at the Embassy, for fee please see:
- (5) a return ticket, ticket reservation (flight itinerary) or sufficient financial resources to purchase such a ticket;
- (6) a proof of financial resources necessary to cover the expenses involved at the beginning of your stay in the territory of the Czech Republic; the minimum amount of CAD 2500 is regarded as sufficient resources to cover the expenses involved at the beginning of your stay and additional 1500 CAD to cover the expenses related to the departure from the Czech Republic (together 4000 CAD);
- proof of funds can be:
- - A letter from the applicant's bank, on a letterhead, signed and stamped by the bank's representative, stating that "Mr./Ms. X has been the client of our bank since .... and his/her accounts are in good standing. The balance on his checking/savings account .......... as of today's date is ........ CAD. Applicants must provide a Czech translation of the above letter (please note that automated translators such as Google Translator are unacceptable), and the fee for its verification, or
- - A recent bank statement (with no stamp or signature from the bank). This document (unlike a confirmation letter from the bank) does not need to be translated.
- - You also need to submit a copy of your debit/credit card. Please cover the security code on your copy.
- proof of funds can be:
- (7) a signed declaration to arrange for health insurance (PDF, 131 KB) prior to your entry, for the duration of your authorized stay in the territory of the Czech Republic, to cover medical treatment expenses in case of an injury or sudden sickness, including repatriation to Canada, with the minimum insurance coverage of EUR 400 000; Applicants must submit the Czech version of the declaration (with an original signature, not an e-mail scan or a copy), its English translation (PDF, 144 KB) is provided for convenience only;
- (8) a self-addressed prepaid trackable envelope (preferably XpressPost) for the return shipment of your passport within Canada (in case you wish to pick up your passport in person, the envelop is not necessary);
- (9) the consular fee; often there may be various fees related to the application, most typically a fee per page for the authentication of translation of a bank confirmation into Czech (note that this fee is not for the actual translation of the document, which is your responsibility, but rather for its official verification by a Czech Republic accredited official; in case of doubt, include this fee and it will be returned to you if not required). Please note that each month, owing to the fluctuating exchange rate, the fees in CAD vary. If you send your application to us by mail at the end of one month, and it will reach us in the following month, the fees might go up or down by a few dollars. For this reason, it is a good idea to include up to 10 dollars more. Any amount paid in excess will of course be returned to you along with all the receipts.
Processing time:
60 days - legal deadline for decision;
Embassy officials have no means of expediting the processing of your application, and there is no emergency service for the processing.
Additional notes:
All documents submitted with visa applications that are not in Czech language must be translated into Czech, with passports being the only exception. Automatic online translators such as Google Translator usually yield very poor results and are seldom accepted. While our embassy authenticates (officially verifies the correctness of) translations, it is the applicants' responsibility to have their documents translated. Although the translations need not be prepared by a professional translator, you may find the list of some translators on our website (search for "List of Translators").
The YMV cannot not be extended. Individuals eligible for work stays of youth who have already benefited from the application of the Agreement in the Czech Republic may apply for visas for a second time provided that the purpose of stay is different from that referred to in Article 2 of the Agreement and that there is an interruption between each stay.
In the event a visa application is received by the Embassy after the quota for the visas (1.200 for 2022) has been exhausted, the Embassy will inform the applicant and will offer him/her the opportunity to have the visa issued in the following calendar year. Please note that the quota for the current year has not been reached if this is not clearly indicated at the front of this text.
Canadian citizens who were granted the YMV will receive a written confirmation from the Embassy in Czech language that for the duration of validity of the visas they do not need work permits to be employed in the Czech Republic. The information is intended to be presented to potential employers in the Czech Republic.
Canadian nationals remaining in the territory of the Czech Republic under the YMV Program are required to obey the laws and regulations in force in the territory of the Czech Republic, such as the registration of residence with the Foreign Police competent for the place of their residence within three working days following the entry into the territory of the Czech Republic, unless they have done so in their accommodation facility, e.g. hotel, hostel, boarding house, campsite, etc., under the Act No. 326/1999 on the residence of foreigners in the territory of the Czech Republic.
Questions we frequently receive
I do not wish to work in the Czech Republic, does that mean that I cannot apply for the YMV?
No. You have an option to apply for the YMV to study in the Czech Republic, to work there, travel, or simply rest and enjoy a different culture.
I do not know how to fill the application form. Will someone at the embassy assist me?
No. It is your responsibility to fill out the form and prepare your documents. Furthermore, for the comfort of all our clients in the waiting room, we ask our YMV applicants to bring in to the embassy a finalized application with all the required items (passport, photo, fees) and submit it in one envelope; we specifically ask YMV applicants not to complete their forms or otherwise finalize their submission in the waiting room. Applicants for the YMV need not fill in question no. 21 of the form. The country code for the Czech Republic is "CZE" and the country code for Canada is "CAN". Other country codes can be found online. Please do not forget to sign the form.
Is an online printout of my bank statement acceptable?
Yes. Please see below, how you can prove that you have sufficient financial funds:
- - A letter from the applicant's bank, on a letterhead, signed and stamped by the bank's representative, stating that "Mr./Ms. X has been the client of our bank since .... and his/her accounts are in good standing. The balance on his checking/savings account .......... as of today's date is ........ CAD. Applicants must provide a Czech translation of the above letter (please note that automated translators such as Google Translator are unacceptable), and the fee for its verification, or
- - A recent bank statement (with no stamp or signature from the bank). This document (unlike a confirmation letter from the bank) does not need to be translated.
- - You also need to submit a copy of your debit/credit card. Please cover the security code on your copy.
Where can I find the Agreement?
You can read it here:
Follow us on