Employee card (dual - work permit and residency permit) in the Czech Republic
Working in the Czech Republic (European Union) with the Czech Employee Card
The employee card is designated for foreign employees in the Czech Republic. A foreigner who is self-employed in the Czech Republic or is a statutory body or a member of a statutory body of a company or cooperative has to apply for Czech business visa foreigner who want to be employed in the Czech Republic shall apply for Czech business visa.
Validity period of Czech employee card
The employee card in the Czech Republic can be valid for maximum of 2 years.
Extension of the Czech employee card is possible, but application has to be filed within 120 – 30 days prior to its expiration, not later.
Where to apply for the Czech employee card
At the Embassy of the Czech Republic within the appropriate territorial jurisdiction: in the state of which the foreigner is citizen or, if applicable, the state that issued the travel document or in the state where the foreigner has long-term or permanent residence.
Our lawyers will arrange an appointment at the Embassy in advance. Or on the territory of the Czech Republic (Ministry of Interior, Department for Asylum and Migration Policy), in case you already stay in the Czech Republic with a long-term visa or a long-term residence permit.
Obligations before the client submits a Czech employee card application:
The employer is obliged to announce a vacant job position at the Labour Office as soon as possible. The position has to remain published for thirty (30) days without assignment to a Czech/EU citizen. The foreigner is able to submit his/her application for the employee card after this duration of (30) days. The vacant positions offered by Czech employers and jobs for foreigners can be found at Vacancy search of the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
A detailed specification of the job vacancy and the applicant’s CV is required from the employer as soon as possible (this is so that the announcement to the Labour office can be prepared by Czech lawyers of the ECOVIS ježek team).
The Czech employer has to provide information as Full name and Czech address of the employer and Identification Code (“IČ”), Person of contact (e.g. HR department – name, telephone, email), Full name of the foreigner’s position, CZ-ISCO code and KKOV (if available), specification of employment (in/definite duration, full-time/part-time job and number of weekly hours), description of the contents and requirements of the job (as detailed as possible) and specification of gross salary, which must correspond with the salary agreed upon the employment agreement. The employer has to specify required language skills too.
Submission of application for a Czech employee card
This is to be done by the employee in person after the 30 day period of vacancy announcement is over (we will let you know the exact date in order to book the appointment at the Czech Embassy).
Requirements to obtain the Czech employee card:
1) A valid travel document
2) A document confirming availability of accommodation (lease agreement covering the whole period of employment OR confirmation of accommodation – a form will be provided)
3) Current photographs (2x)
4) A contract of employment (monthly salary must not be lower than the basic monthly minimum wage and also corresponding to what has been announced at the LO by the employer, weekly working hours of at least 15 hours)
5) Documents proving the professional qualifications for performance of the desired job (university diploma, CV – this must be provided in the Czech language – we can also assist with the translation).
6) *Travel medical insurance* insurance contract incl. proof of payment
7) A document similar to an extract from the Penal Register/Affidavit stating clean criminal history record
8) Upon request, a medical report stating that the foreign national does not suffer from any serious disease (usually not required)
All documents have to be submitted to the Ministry of Interior in originals or notarized copies (the latter is preferred) and in the Czech language or with official translation in to the Czech language, finally the Apostille has to be attached to the official documents!
An interview may be conducted with the employee at the Czech Embassy. The applicant may be questioned about the employment conditions (working hours, address, salary), employment contract, accommodation and also family relations.
Deadline for decision to be made by the Czech authorities
The deadline for decision is standardly sixty (60) days, ninety (90) days may be required in complex cases. The date is counted from the day of submission of the employee card application at the Czech Embassy.
Granting a long-term visa (D-type, one entry) for the purpose of collecting the employee card
The applicant must visit the embassy again and provide the travel health insurance document and proof of payment of the insurance.
The employee should let us know as soon as possible (preferably 3 weeks in advance) about his/her planned arrival date, so that we can book the biometric appointment. The appointment has to be booked and there may be a lack of vacant dates if we are informed too late.
Administrative fee
An applicant will be charged CZK 1,000 (to be paid in cash in the local currency at the embassy) and
CZK 2,500 in revenue stamps (‘’kolek’’) for the plastic biometric card, which is issued on the territory.
Health Insurance in the Czech Republic
Travel medical insurance should cover the employee only for a couple of days before the employment starts (i.e. arriving to Czech Rep. with D type visa after the EC is approved – the employee shall show up at the Ministry of Interior for a biometric appointment within 3 business days after arrival), because after this he/she will be covered by public health insurance like all employees in the Czech Republic. The insurance can be purchased online, we recommend VZP or Slavia.
The employee has two options with regards to the Czech health insurance:
a) Wait for the employee card to be approved and submit the insurance contract including confirmation of payment after he/she gets a notification of approval i.e. when collecting the D-type visa (see below) this option is more logical and cheaper (because we do not know when the EC will approved) therefore it is recommended by us and the insurance can be easily bought online with a credit card. The employee will also receive all documents from the insurance company in multiple languages via email; the insurance should be bought for 40 days (at the embassy’s recommendation)
b) Purchase the health insurance (also online) in advance and submit the insurance contract and proof of payment together with the application for an employee card as one of its attachments. The insurance should start approximately thirty (30) days after the EC application is submitted (we expect this to be the soonest date of the EC approval) and this should be purchased for at least three (3) months; this option is preferred by the embassy because the application is complete from the beginning however as the employee does not know when the EC will be approved (between 30-60 days but may take longer in some cases) he/she has to pay insurance even for the period when they are not in the Czech Republic. This second option is however preferred by the Czech Embassies and Consulates in the USA, in case US citizen is applying for the employee card remotely, providing the consulate with original passport.
Arriving in the Czech Republic
The Department of Asylum and Migration Policy and/or the foreign police department should be visited within three working days of arrival in the Czech Republic to accept the Czech employee card. Accompaniment recommended (our law firm can provide accompaniment).
Visit of the Ministry of Interior: to provide BIOMETRIC DATA – deadline for issuing a card: 60 days.
Separate visit of the foreign police is not required if the biometric appointment is done within 3 working day after the arrival. It usually depends on the availability of the appointment dates to be booked.
The foreigner must bring: a valid travel document, proof of health insurance and payment (again)
- Leave the OAMP with: Certificate on Compliance with Conditions for Issue of an Employee Card and invitation to collect the employee card on specific date and hour
- The foreigner has free access to the Czech labor market from (can start legally working) the day of issuing the Certificate on Compliance with Conditions for Issue of an Employee Card (i.e. the day of the biometric appointment)
The employee cannot leave the Czech Republic for the period between the first biometric appointment after arrival and before collecting the plastic biometric card. Please do not make any plan to travel out of the country. The Czech employee card (plastic card) is usually issued in 3-4 weeks (maximum is 60 days, the exact time and day will be given to the employee after the biometric data is taken). No bridging visas will be granted during this period.
Reporting to the Czech labour office that a third-country national starts working in the Czech company.
Deadline: start day of employment (usually the day of biometric appointment or the day after). This can be arranged by a lawyer on the basis of a power of attorney.
For more information, contact us at:
ECOVIS ježek, advokátní kancelář s.r.o.
Betlémské nám. 6
110 00 Praha 1
e-mail: mojmir.jezek@ecovislegal.cz
www.ecovislegal.cz
About ECOVIS ježek advokátní kancelář s.r.o.
The Czech law office in Prague ECOVIS ježek practices mainly in the area of Czech commercial law, Czech real estate law, representation at Czech courts, administrative bodies and arbitration courts, as well as Czech finance and banking law, and provides full-fledged advice in all areas, making it a suitable alternative for clients of international law offices. The international dimension of the Czech legal services provided is ensured through past experience and through co-operation with leading legal offices in most European countries, the US, and other jurisdictions. The Czech lawyers of the ECOVIS ježek team have many years of experience from leading international law offices and tax companies, in providing legal advice to multinational corporations, large Czech companies, but also to medium-sized companies and individual clients. For more information, go to www.ecovislegal.cz/en.
The information contained on this website is a legal advertisement. Do not consider anything on this website as legal advice and nothing on this website is an advocate-client relationship. Before discussing anything about what you read on these pages, arrange a legal consultation with us. Past results are not a guarantee of future results, and previous results do not indicate or predict future results. Each case is different and must be judged according to its own circumstances.
