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Employee Card - Long Term Residence Permit

Employee Cards are intended for foreigners who will work in the Czech Republic for a period longer than three month. Employee card is a form of a long-term residence permit.

An employee card is most often issued for the duration of the employer-employee relationship but not for more than 2 years, with an option to repeatedly extend its validity. With regard to professional qualifications, an employee card is intended for all types of employment regardless of the level of required professional qualifications. However, the job vacancy for which an application for an employee card can be filed must come from the central register of job vacancies that can be filled by holders of employee cards. Subject to the consent of the employer, these vacant jobs can be published on the Internet Integrated Portal of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs where you can find them. Therefore, an employee card always relates to the specific job (there can also be more job positions at the same time) for which it was issued or, if applicable, to a job for which the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior granted its consent in connection with changing employer or job.

Dual and Non-Dual Nature of an Employee Card

An employee card is of a dual nature in the sense that it entitles the foreign national to both reside in the territory of the CR and be employed, without the foreign national having to make applications in two places, i.e. to apply additionally to the Employment Agency of the CR – a regional branch office or the branch office for the Capital City of Prague – for an employment permit.

An employee card also exists in the form of a non-dual document, in which case it is basically only a residence permit, and this applies to a foreign national who is still required by the Employment Act No. 435/2004 Coll. to have an employment permit or who has a free access to the labour market pursuant to the Employment Act (i.e. he or she comes under the definition in Section 98 of the Employment Act). You can find more about these cases in the section titled Special Cases / Non-Dual Form of an Employee Card).

If you submit only the number of your employment (work) permit application, please note that you have to submit the approved work permit directly to the Ministry of Interior (Asylum and Immigration Department) as soon as possible.

When applying for an employee card, kindly follow these steps:

1. Schedule an appointment: The processing of employee card takes up to 60 days. Make an appointment on time. Instructions on how to make an appointment are on our website.

Before coming to the Embassy please prepare your application with the following rules in mind:

  • Applications are submitted in person only.
  • Fingerprints are collected during the appointment and interview can be held with the applicant.
  • All supporting documents submitted must be originals or verified copies. 
  • All documents must not be older than 180 days with the exception of a passport, registry documents (birth certificate or marriage certificate), diplomas and similar documents and photo (if reflecting current appearance).
  • Foreign public documents must be legalized, i.e. equipped by an apostille or superlegalized.
  • All documents must be submitted in Czech language (with the exception of bank statement).
  • We kindly request that applicants also prepare a set of copies of all the requirements.
  • Incomplete applications are unacceptable - they will not be accepted for processing and will be returned to the applicant pursuant (§ 169h of Act on Residence of Foreign Nationals)
  • Processing time for employee card is 60 days or 90 days in especially complicated cases or if the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior has requested the Employment Agency of the CR – a regional branch office or the branch office for the Capital City of Prague – to issue a binding statement of opinion.

2.  Visit the Embassy on a given date and lodge the application presenting the following requirements:

  •   application form completely filled out before coming to the Embassy with a ballpoint pen or on a typewriter.
     
  • passport (you will submit the passport at the time of your appointment and it will be returned to you. You will resubmit your passport at the end of the application process for the issuance of the visa after the visa has been approved by the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic). 
     
  • two recent photographs
     
  • biometric features
     
  • document confirming purpose of stay (a contract of employment, an agreement on work activity or at least an agreement for a future contract where the parties agree to enter into a contract of employment or an agreement on work activity by an agreed deadline). The aforementioned documents must contain a stipulation which provides that regardless of the scope of work, the agreed monthly salary will not be lower than the basic monthly minimum wage and that weekly working hours will be at least 15 hours.
     
  • document confirming accommodation: You can prove accommodation by for example accommodation agreement, rent agreement, property ownership proof (purchase agreement, land register extract), dormitory document or confirmation on providing accommodation by the owner of the apartment (signature must be verified by a notary); how to prove accommodation is referred to in detail on the website of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic; you are required to arrange accommodation before arriving in the Czech Republic. 
     
  • criminal record extract: The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv, in accordance with par. 31(3)a of the Act No. 326/1999 Coll., on the Residence of Foreign nationals in the territory of the Czech Republic hereby requests that all applicants for a long term visa or residence permit, who will submit their applications at the Embassy in Tel Aviv submit Criminal History Background check issued by the State of Israel as well as Criminal History Background check from a country where they lived for 6 months or longer in the previous 3 years or an affidavit in case that country does not issue any such document.

    You have to submit an application to the Israel Police first. Under the Israeli law, the certificate is not given to the applicant but rather transferred to the official entity (in this case to the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv). You must collect the certificate from our Embassy and get an Apostille on it issued by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel in Jerusalem

    In addition: Non-Israeli citizens: You need to submit a Criminal History Background from the country of your nationality. If you have lived in any other country besides Israel for 6 moons or longer in the previous 3 years, you are required to submit the Criminal History Background issued by that respective country as well.

     
  • visa application fee: Visa fee is 5000 CZK for an employee card. The fee must be paid in cash in NIS when applying for visa. The visa fee may change on a monthly basis due to the current exchange rate. The updated list of visa fees is on the website.
     
  • travel health insurance – in case of visa issuance (information will be sent to you by Embassy in case of approval)

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