Conquering the Immigration Office (non-EU)

We all know what government agencies are like. They’re slow, confusing, and impossible to navigate. Now, combine that with not being able to read the signs in the building, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. In this article, you will find everything you need to help you navigate the immigration office, and do what you need to do.

Exterior, Immigration Office
Outside of the Immigration Office

The Immigration office is in Prague 11. To get there, go to the Chodov stop on the Metro C line, and take the 197 bus to Na Jelenách. Make sure that when you get to the stop, you RING THE BELL. This is not a very popular stop, so if you don’t ring the bell to open the doors, the bus may just keep going. When you get there you will see a large, grey building across the street. It’s the only government-looking building near the stop, so it should be pretty obvious where to go. EU members will go in the front door and up the stairs to get to the office, but non-EU members will go to the right through the yellow side door to enter.

When you get inside, the first place you will walk into is the main waiting room. As you walk through, turn left at the WC and you will see the information desk (below). Here, you can pick up pamphlets, applications, and their instruction guides. there is a window with an official who will give you your queue number, and answer any questions you have about the office, application, or any other general residence information.

Information Desk
Go here first.

If you have an appointment, go the window 5 minutes before the appointment. Make sure you cut the line of people waiting at the window to get your number. People may give you dirty looks, but if you wait in line and miss your appointment, then you have to wait in the queue, which could take up to a couple of hours. If you do not have an appointment, you need to wait in the queue to get a number. Once you see your number on the LED Screen, you can go through the opaque glass doors to the service desks.

Be Careful though! The LED Screens show appointments for both the Biometric room, and the Service desks, so make sure you know which room you are going to when you have your appointment.

Past the information desk, you will find the Biometric information room. Don’t know what that is? Well, it refers to data taken from the physical characteristics of a person like fingerprints and a photo. If you have an appointment, all you have to do is wait in the room for them to call your name. Simple is that. If you don’t have one, though, you need to go back to the window, wait in the queue and get a number. After you get your information taken, you will need to schedule a time to come back to the office to pick up your biometric card. This time, you will enter through the blue front door, go up the stairs to the information window, and pick up the card.

If you need to pay for your application, you’re going to need to find a post office. You can only pay for your application in stamps, which you can only pick up at the post office (kind of a pain, right?). The closest one is in Prague 4, about 2.7 kilometers away. Here is the map to the location:

In case you forgot to get a photo taken for your official document, there are a number of places around Prague where this can be done, but the closest is Fotolab.cz, about 1.9 Kilometers away.

We hope this helps you conquer the Immigration office! Some of the officials at the office do not speak english, or they speak very little. If you need any personal help navigating the office, please visit our website and we can walk you through it, or give you more in depth instructions.

Also, if you want to have your documents professionally reviewed and edited by our office staff, look into the Immigration Package! No need to make a trip to this place twice; get it right the first time!

Please leave any questions or comments in the comment section below, or just share your experience! For the EU immigration guide, Click Here!

Foreigners.cz

2 thoughts on “Conquering the Immigration Office (non-EU)

  1. Hello Team,

    I’m a non-EU Citizen, I just moved from Brno to Prague and I need to change my address on my Temporary Resident Card.
    I think I need to buy a stamp for this purpose. Can you give me more details ?

    Thanks in advance for your Help.

    Best regards,
    Houssem.

    1. Sorry…I just have to read carefully your post to find the answer to my question 🙂

      If you need to pay for your application, you’re going to need to find a post office. You can only pay for your application in stamps, which you can only pick up at the post office (kind of a pain, right?). The closest one is in Prague 4, about 2.7 kilometers away. Here is the map to the location:

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