Coronavirus in Czechia: Summary of Who Can Arrive under Which Conditions

In the last couple of weeks, we have released articles about changes regarding the coronavirus pandemic. As changes are constantly being made to the gradual lifting of the previously introduced restrictions, it is difficult to stay up to date with the most recent news, which is why we made this summary in which you’ll find all the important information plus some other news.

Who can now arrive in the Czech Republic?

From May 11, family members of Czech or EU citizens can enter the country even if they don’t have a residence permit. Instead, they must submit the following documents:

  • Their own ID card
  • A copy of identification card of the Czech citizen or a copy of temporary or permanent residence permit of the EU citizen, on which the family members reunite

OR (if the relative doesn’t have a residence permit in Czechia) one of the following documents:

  • Original lease agreement
  • A document from the foreign police proving that the relative they’re asking to be reunified with has been living in the Czech Republic (if the lease agreement can’t be submitted; however, keep in mind that this may differ depending on the particular city)

AND any of the following documents:

  • Birth certificate
  • Marriage or registered partnership certificate
  • Other documents proving family relation (in case of dependent grandparents)
  • Document proving the dependency on nutrition or necessary care (e.g. comprehensive medical report of the state of the foreign patient, bank statements of EU citizen proving the transfer of financial resources for basic needs)

Please, keep in mind that this only applies to:

  • spouses
  • children below the age of 21
  • parents of children below the age of 21
  • parents, grandparents or descendants dependent on sustenance or other necessary
    care provided by a Czech or EU citizen

 

APPLY FOR YOUR RESIDENCE PERMIT NOW

 

It is not only the family members of Czech and EU citizens who can enter the country. Non-EU citizens with a valid visa or a residence permit can also arrive in the Czech Republic. If they don’t produce the negative test for COVID-19 within the next 72 hours, they’ll have to undergo a mandatory 14-days quarantine and won’t be allowed to use the public transportation (more on that topic later in this article).

Third-country nationals who have resided in the Czech Republic before and want to return can enter the country if they have one of the following documents:

  • long-term visa
  • long-term or permanent residence permit
  • temporary residence permit (only for family members of CZ/EU citizens) valid before March 12, 2020

From May 18, family members of third-country nationals can also enter the Czech Republic. In order to be allowed into the country they need:

  • long-term visa in order to receive the residence authorization (D/VR)
  • long-term family visa valid after 12. 03. 2020

This, however, only applies to spouses and children below the age of 18!

People entering the country for the first time can arrive only if they produce a negative test for COVID-19 upon their arrival.

From May 1, family members of Czech or EU citizens can enter the country without having a residence permit.

The government’s decision on letting EU citizens return to the Czech Republic without having a residence permit still remains in place. To be allowed into the country they need an ID card, purchase contract or lease or sublease agreement, plus one additional valid document proving the reason for their arrival into the country.

This document can be:

People who can’t provide their purpose of stay can instead produce a health insurance card issued by a Czech health insurance company.

Another important news is that all foreigners will be allowed to stay in the Czech Republic until July 17 even if their visa or residence permit expires during the state of emergency. These people won’t have to contact the Czech foreign police to have their visas or residence permits extended.

This does not mean, however, that their visas and residence permits will be prolonged automatically. Those expats who intend to stay in the country even after July 17 and need assistance with the extension process can contact us here

This, however, doesn’t include the employee and blue card holders – these people need to apply for their residence permits to be extended in time.

More detailed information on this topic can be found in this article. 

Business trips of up to 72 hours are now also allowed.

Changing employer

If you finish your job in the Czech Republic during the current state of emergency or 60 days before that (before March 13) and you are changing the employer we have good news for you. Newly, you have 60 days from the end of the state of emergency (May 17 currently) to find a new job that will allow you to notify a change of employer at MOI office. Find more details here (UPDATE, May 20: The document was removed from the Ministry’s website).

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COVID-19 tests for self payers

Those who need to produce a negative test for COVID-19 to be allowed to enter the country or just want to know whether they’re healthy can get tested even if they’re not experiencing any symptoms related to the coronavirus. In this case, they will, however, need to pay for the test themselves – the cost depends on each hospital or clinic and type of the test (the cost can be1 674 CZK max. as the government recently decided). 

Those interested in returning to the country can avoid the mandatory 14-days quarantine by either producing a negative test upon their arrival or by undergoing this test in 72 hours from their arrival. If they don’t produce a negative test for COVID-19 upon their arrival, or get tested in the Czech Republic within the next 72 hours, not only they’ll be quarantined for 14 days, they also won’t be allowed to use public transportation, trains, and taxi services.

The list of hospitals and clinics where self payers can get tested is on the Ministry of Health’s website (in Czech only), an interactive map is available here.

Czech embassies and consulates accepting visa applications again

As you might know, accepting new visa applications was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic – for that reason, it was not possible to apply for a visa and new applicants were immediately rejected. On May 11 the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Czech diplomatic offices in 20 countries have resumed accepting applications for visas and temporary stays, which may be granted for work (seasonal workers or people employed here via Ministry of Industry and Trade’s program) or family reunification at 28 Czech embassies and consulates across the world. List of all countries and embassies that started accepting new applications again and other details can be found on the Ministry’s website.

After weeks of wearing face masks, from May 25 it will no longer be mandatory to use them outdoors.

Wearing face masks will be no longer mandatory

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Czech Republic became one of the main promoters of using face masks. Since the situation keeps developing favorably, wearing face masks outdoors will no longer be mandatory from May 25. It will, however, be still mandatory to wear them when using public transport, shopping, or staying in indoor areas in general. People living in the Czech Republic have had to use them since March 18.

 

APPLY FOR YOUR RESIDENCE PERMIT NOW

 

What might change in the near future?

While the pandemic situation in the Czech Republic is gradually getting better, experts warn that with the countermeasures and restrictions being lifted it is also possible that the numbers of newly infected people will start growing again. The Czech government has already announced that if the reproduction number crosses 1, it will react by slowing down easing the previously introduced restrictions, which also includes reopening borders with the neighboring countries and traveling in general. Not only that: there is also a chance that the coronavirus might return in fall, hitting possibly even harder. For this reason, we recommend you use the time you have now and apply for a residence permit as soon as possible because it could be your only chance for being able to travel to and from the Czech Republic in this case. If you would like our professional assistance, feel free to contact us here!

If you don’t want to miss out on any important news, subscribe to our daily newsletter mapping the current coronavirus situation, and don’t forget to check this blog. To stay updated, you can also follow us on Facebook where we live-stream on immigration topics on a regular basis, and Instagram.

Oh, and one last important thing: Our offices in Brno, Prague, Olomouc, Pilsen, and Hradec Králové are open again. Let us know and get your residence permit as soon as possible!

Sources of the information: Ministry of the Interior, document I and II (UPDATE, June 1: The documents were removed from the Ministry’s website)

Sources of the photos: Pexels.com and Pixabay.com

 

Updated on May 19, according to the latest news

Anna Minjaríková

Hello, readers! My job is to provide you with some interesting tips and useful information about all the things Czech. ♫ I'll be there for you! ♫

19 thoughts on “Coronavirus in Czechia: Summary of Who Can Arrive under Which Conditions

  1. Hello Anna, first thank you for keeping track with the updates, it’s very helpful.
    I have a question, as an EU citizen I plan to move to CZ in June. I will have lease contract, however I’m missing another document.
    Can I get private czech insurance before coming to country to present it upon my arrival?
    Thank you!

    1. Hello Joana,

      thank you very much for your wonderful comment, I am really happy to see that these articles have a use for someone!
      As for your question: It should be possible for you to obtain insurance online, however, I am not 100 % certain about it, so I recommend you to contact my colleagues at info@foreigners.cz with your question (and name of the city you are planning to relocate to) – they have much more information and will help you with the whole process. Hope this helps 🙂

      Kind regards,

      Anna

  2. Unfortunately, not just any family members are allowed to enter (not even parents or grandparents – there are conditions that you did not mention here).

    Parents are allowed only if their children are up to 21 years, grandparents only if there is a financial dependency that can be proved.

    So for example in my case (I’m Dutch, married to a Czech guy, living in CZ with a temporary residency), my parents with Dutch nationality cannot come (not even for the birth of our child which is due this week).

    See the below (taken from file:///C:/Users/Admin/Downloads/TABULKA-vstupu_nove_prichozich_cizincu_na_uzemi_CR_od_18_kvetna_2020_-_20200518.pdf):

    1. Rodinní příslušníci občanů ČR a EU s bydlištěm
    na území ČR
    ve smyslu § 15a odst. 1 zákona č. 326/1999 Sb., o
    pobytu cizinců na území ČR
    – manželé
    – děti do věku 21 let
    – rodiče dětí do věku 21 let
    – rodiče, prarodiče nebo potomci závislí na výživě
    nebo jiné nutné péči na občanovi ČR nebo EU

    1. Hi Franciene,

      thank you for your comment. The Czech government is constantly updating this information along with making more changes. We’ll either write another article with the current information on this issue or update this one.

      Kind regards,

      Anna

  3. Hello I have one question. ON MINISTARSTVO OF INFERIOR says this:
    “Applications for temporary residence of a family member of a citizen of the European Union sent
    by post or to data container will be accepted by the Ministry of the Interior as if they have were
    submitted in person. The foreign national will not be required to report in person to the Ministry
    of the Interior office within 5 days. Foreign national will be informed to submit original of travel
    document, to prove his/her identity and eventually to submit original of registry document.”
    I dont understand what means original of registry document?
    Could you explain me please?

    1. Hi Nermina,

      unfortunately, I don’t know myself what it means as it is obviously some poorly translated technical term they weren’t able to translate properly. But perhaps some of my colleagues might actually “decipher” the term since they have more experience with such things. Try to get in touch with them at info@foreigners.cz – maybe they’ll know 🙂

      Kind regards,

      Anna

    1. Hello Teddy,

      I am afraid that your parents could only come if they were in some way dependent on you (it is the condition that has to be met for them to be allowed to come).

      Kind regards,

      Anna

    2. Hi Teddy,

      I have the same problem (although I’m Dutch). I’m giving birth soon and my parents from the Netherlands were supposed to come and help us during the first weeks. However, since I’m older than 21 and we are not financially dependent on each other, they cannot enter. It’s not enough just to be family members, there is this requirement of age of the children (max 21 yrs) or dependency.

      In my case, the Ministry told me that my only chance would be if I could prove I cannot take care of my baby alone (and neither can my husband), so my parents would have a legitimate reason to enter. This would mean some declaration from a doctor (and we don’t qualify, both me and my husband are – luckily – in good health). I don’t know your situation, but maybe this is worth checking (since you wrote you need them to help you out with the kids)? For more information, you can write here (I now see that they deleted the phonenumbers): cestovani.covid19@mvcr.cz.

      All the best!!

      Franciene

  4. Can our country rock band play Thursday 21st May in a pub garden please? Whatrestictionswill be in place please?

    1. Hi Barry,

      your band can perform but keep in mind that only concerts up to 100 people are allowed. You might, however, consider postponing it since from May 25 events with up to 300 participants will be allowed to take place. More info here.

      Kind regards,

      Anna

  5. Hi, Anna,

    — How should I read this, when someone arrives (with permit to stay) without the test (negative) on arrival ?

    QUOTE: Those interested in returning to the country can avoid the mandatory 14-days quarantine by undergoing this test in 72 hours from arrival.

    — They have 72 hours after the arrival to get the test done. OR:

    QUOTE: If they don’t produce a negative test for COVID-19 upon their arrival, not only they’ll be quarantined for 14 days, they also won’t be allowed to use public transportation, trains, and taxi services.

    — They arrive, don’t have the test with them, so they go into mandatory 14-days quarantine, etc.

    Thanks,

    Ron.

    1. Hi Ron,

      thanks for the comment, now I see that this part needs some editing so I’ll fix that right away. Anyway: Ideally, people should arrive with a negative test, but if they don’t then they can get tested here. If they don’t get tested within the next 72 hours, they’ll be quarantined.

      Kind regards,

      Anna

      1. Hi Anna,
        Does this mean that in the 72 hour gap we can use public transport? Meaning, getting from the airport etc…..

        Thank you.
        Veronica

        1. Hi Veronica,

          it should be possible but only if you have a temporary or permanent residence in the Czech Republic. More information here. Hope this helps 🙂

          Kind regards,

          Anna

  6. Hello, one question please, we are Czech citizens/residents living outside of CR for work but just want to go home for the weekend. Does the 72 hour rule mean that we can enter and leave within 72 hours without quarantine and without getting a test?

    1. Hi Richard,

      if you spend abroad only up to 72 hours then yes. If you spend all working days abroad then different conditions likely apply to you. I am, however, afraid that this is a question only employees of the Ministry of the Interior can answer with 100 % certainty.

      Kind regards,

      Anna

  7. good afternoon i have my partner who is ukrainian at the moment is still working in the czech republic but her visa has expired on april 5th but due to the company being quarantined they extended the visa until 17th of july and i know that the company is currently open to new operators, both Czechs and foreigners, and I would like to know if it was possible for her to ask for her visa extension or if she could ask for a permanent stay since the company is in need of new operators. or if you can inform me what is the best possibility at this moment

    1. Hello Luis,

      this question is very difficult to answer as neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Ministry of the Interior provide any information regarding these situation to the public. However, my colleagues are in touch with both ministries so you can try to ask them via info@foreigners.cz (include the city your partner lives in in the mail, please) or schedule a consultation with them. Hope this helps 🙂

      Kind regards,

      Anna

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