Czechia Immigration Services

Newland Chase offers full support with all aspects of corporate immigration to Czechia. Please find an overview of the typical corporate immigration processes below. Every situation is unique, so please do get in touch, either through your usual Newland Chase contact or using the details on the right hand side of the page. Our immigration experts will be glad to discuss your needs in greater detail.

Immigration Summary

For the Work and Residence Permit (Local Hire), the applicant must have an employment contract directly with the Czech entity. Employee cards for local hires may be renewed without restriction and permanent residence may be applied for after five years of continuous stay in Czechia. Salary should be commensurate with what a local resident worker filling the same position would expect to receive and should be paid in Czechia.

The Work and Residence Permit (Assignment from Outside the EEA) is for applicants hired outside the EEA and sent on assignment to Czechia for up to two years (renewable).

Companies do not need to be linked by common ownership and there is no requirement for the employee to have been employed by the sending company for any minimum time. However, if an applicant meets qualifying criteria for the EU ICT permit (2014/66), they may not apply under this route. There is a limited fast-track category for qualifying companies and assignments.

The Temporary Work Permit (Local Hire Under 90 Days) is for foreign nationals who are hired temporarily by a company in Czechia, and the Temporary Work Permit from Outside the EEA (Assignment Under 90 Days) is for foreign nationals who need to perform temporary work activities for a company in Czechia.

The immigration process for the temporary work permit is slightly expedited because there is no requirement for an employee card. Applicants may change status to an employee card (long-term work and residence permit) holder in Czechia without leaving as long as their immigration status remains compliant, allowing applicants to enter on this temporary status while their long-term work and residence process is ongoing.

Some work-related Temporary Assignments from Outside the EEA (Under 7 Consecutive Days), up to a total of 30 days within a calendar year, are permitted on a Schengen C Visa for non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals assigned from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland to Czechia to fulfil foreign contractual obligations (post-sales or warranty) or provide services to a Czech company. All assignees must remain on foreign payroll and contract.

The Intra-Company Transfer Permit (EU Directive 2014/66) is only applicable to assignees in management/specialist or trainee categories, sent to Czechia for over 90 days from outside the EU, within the same group of companies for a maximum total duration of stay of three years. If an applicant meets qualifying criteria for this process, they may not apply under an alternative route.

ICT permits under Directive 2014/66 allow mobility within EU member states - i.e. work permission is not required for EU ICT permit holders to work in other member states for less than 90 days and a streamlined Mobile ICT permit application may be applicable if working in other member states for longer than 90 days.

The Blue Card is an EU-wide (with some exceptions) immigration process for highly skilled employees with a local job offer in the destination country and a salary at least 1.5 times the average gross annual salary for the specific job to be done. The Blue Card offers some concrete benefits to the applicant. The applicant must have completed university education, or higher specialised education where the studies lasted for at least three years. The degree certificate must be subjected to nostrification - i.e. compared to Czech qualifications by an accredited Czech university and recognised as equivalent to a Czech qualification. This process can take 30-60 days. The Blue Card is issued in line with the employment contract duration plus two months, with a maximum validity of two years (renewable).

The Van der Elst (Assignment from Within the EEA) process is for non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals hired within the EEA and sent on assignment to Czechia.

EU/EEA/Swiss Nationals on assignment to or employed in Czechia do not need a work permit. However, registrations must be carried out if the stay is for longer than 30 days. For assignees seconded from an EU country, the posting company must submit a notice to the labour office by the first day of contractual work at the latest. All applicants locally hired must be registered with the labour office prior to or on the first day of work.