Blue Cards are intended for foreigners who will work in the Czech Republic for a period longer than three months at a position requiring high qualification.

Blue Card is a form of a long-term residence permit.

Applications for Blue Cards are submitted at the diplomatic missions of the Czech Republic according to the consular territorial competence. The diplomatic mission forwards the application to the Ministry of the Interior for evaluation and decision. If the application is evaluated positively, the diplomatic mission where the application was filled issues a long-term visa for the purpose of collecting the Blue Card. The foreigner collects the Blue Card after the arrival to the Czech Republic at the Ministry of the Interior.

 

Blue Card application requirements:

·       application form

·       travel document

·       2 photos

·       biometric features – fingerprints

·       fee (5,000 CZK)

·       supporting documents

o   employment contract for work requiring high qualification (the employment contract must be concluded for a time period of at least one year with the minimum working hours per week corresponding to the law and must reference the monthly or yearly salary amounting to at least 1.5 times the average gross yearly salary set by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs)

o   document proving high qualification (university or higher vocational school education is required)

o   on accommodation (for example rent agreement etc.)

o   if the employment falls into the category of regulated professions, a document proving fulfillment of requirements to carry out regulated profession

o   if the foreigner resided as a Blue Card holder in another EU Member State before filing the application, a document proving the height of the monthly salary

·       criminal record extract issued by the state of the applicant´s citizenship and by the state where the applicant resided in the last three years for more than six months

·       upon request a document proving fulfillment of measures against spread of infectious disease

·       travel health insurance – in case of visa issuance

 

Detailed information about Blue Card applications is available at the web site of the Ministry of the Interior, under which competence the portfolio of Blue Cards falls. 

 

Legal sources:

·       Act No 326/1999 Coll., on the Residence of Foreign Nationals in the Czech Republic

·       Act No 435/2014 Coll., on Employment   

·       Council Directive 2099/50/EC of 25 May 2009 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly qualified employment

 

 Useful links:

·       Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

·       Ministry of the Interior

·       Employment Office of the Czech Republic 

·       Blue Cards in the Czech Republic 

·       Employment of Foreigners