Czechia in a State of Emergency: From April 6, 2020 EU Citizens Will Need a Residence Permit to Return to the Country

The Czech Republic continues fighting the coronavirus pandemic by staying in a state of emergency. It was declared by the Czech government on March 12, 2020, and this brought adjustments to the immigration policy of the country as well. Now, there are new measures coming into effect concerning foreign employees and students from the European Union.

Borders of the Czech Republic stay closed.
Czech borders stay closed.

To summarize the situation:

until March 27, 2020

Only expats and students with temporary, long-term or permanent residence in the Czech Republic could return.

from March, 28 to April 5, 2020

During this one week period, EU citizens without a residence permit can re-enter the country if they can demonstrate the following:

  • Czech health insurance card (EU nationals employed in the Czech Republic are granted health insurance from their employer)
  • purchase, lease or sublease agreement proving that they own or rent a property/apartment in the Czech Republic
  • work contract confirming their employer is based in Czech territory
  • trade licence certificate issued in the Czech Republic
  • a document confirming study in the Czech territory
  • a record from the trade register where the EU national is listed as a statutory representative or statutory authority

=> EU-nationals now have just a few days left to come back to the Czech Republic without the necessity of having the residence permit certificate

from April 6, 2020

Again, only foreign nationals who can prove their temporary, long-term or permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic will be allowed to come back to the country.

=> also EU employees and students without residence permit won’t be allowed to re-enter the country

Important: it is crucial to have the real document in hands, not only the approved application

Recommended: to have more documents to prove your right to come back to the Czech Republic (health insurance card, lease agreement, etc.)

Highly recommended: When applying for temporary residency or permanent residency we advise you to give limited power of attorney to someone in the Czech territory, a person who can act for you, for example, bring some documents to the ministry of interior office when you are not present in the country or receive your post. This comes in handy because the ministry of the interior may consider sending the temporary residence certificates by post. Our consultant can do that for you remotely in case this option will get confirmed. Just fill in the form here and we will get back to you.

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Model situations in English available on the Ministry of Interior’s website.

Photo source: Everypixel

Lucie Patkova

Hello, our dear blog readers! Since I am passionate about sharing interesting and important information, it's my pleasure to keep you updated what's going on in the Czech Republic so you feel at home here ;-)

One thought on “Czechia in a State of Emergency: From April 6, 2020 EU Citizens Will Need a Residence Permit to Return to the Country

  1. Thank you for update. I have temporary residency and my wife is Czech citizen. I’m returning to Prague on 1 June.

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