About the Central Bohemian Region

Immigration

Immigration is in the competence of Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic (MoI). The requirements for entering, staying and working in the Czech Republic depend on your nationality, and the purpose and duration of your stay in the Czech Republic.

EU citizens, as well as citizens of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, may stay and work in the Czech Republic without a special permit. A valid travel document (passport or national identity card) is sufficient. For all information for EU citizens and their family members click here.

Third-country nationals need to contact a Czech Embassy in their home country and apply for one of the following visa or residence types there:

• Short-term visa – for a stay of up to 90 days, the procedure usually takes from 10 to 60 days, for all information click here
• Long-term residence for the purpose of “scientific research“ – for a stay of over 3 months if you have signed a hosting agreement with a research organisation, the procedure usually takes around 60 days, for all information click here.
• Employee Card – an Employee Card combines both the residence and work permits, it is a long-term residence permit (over 3 months) for the purpose of employment in the Czech Republic, however it is issued for a specific job vacancy listed in the “central record of vacancies available for employee cards“, for all information click here.

The application for a long-term residence permit for the purpose of scientific research can also be submitted to the MoI office in the Czech Republic, if you are already a holder of long-term visa or long-term residence permit issued for a different purpose.

Work permit

If you are a researcher planning to move to live and work in the Czech Republic, we recommend getting in touch with EURAXESS, a network of professionals ready to help researchers with all aspects of their life in the Czech Republic. Their advice and services are free of charge and include advice in all areas of living and working in the Czech Republic (e.g., Visas / residence permits, Accommodation, Banking, Health insurance, Medical care, Children / family, Czech culture and language, Studying in the Czech Republic, Employment conditions and work permits, Tax, Social security, etc.).

Contact EURAXESS Prague: Mgr. Zuzana Maršálková: +420 739 329 857. e-mail: marsalkova@ssc.cas.cz, Wiehlův dům; Vodičkova 40/792, 110 00 Prague 1, www.euraxess.cz.

EU citizens can work in the Czech Republic without a special permit.

Third-country nationals who have long-term residence for the purpose of scientific research may work without a separate work permit. In other cases, third-country nationals need to get one of the following documents to be entitled to work in the Czech Republic:

• Work permit – issued by the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, cooperation of the individual and the employer is necessary, for all information click here
• Employee Card – an Employee Card is issued for a specific job vacancy listed in the “central record of vacancies available for employee cards“

Travel health insurance

When you first arrive in the Czech Republic and are not yet employed you must have travel health insurance from a commercial insurance company or the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, only for EU citizens).

After your arrival

EU citizens are obliged to fulfil a “reporting requirement“ in the event that the length of their intended stay in the Czech Republic is longer than 30 days. In this case, within 30 days of entering the Czech Republic, the individual is required to report his/her presence to the appropriate Foreign Police Department in the location of his/her stay in the Czech Republic. For all information click here. All changes, such as a change of address, marital status, etc., need to be reported in time, always check the deadlines (click here for EU citizens or third-country nationals).

EU citizens can request a certificate of temporary residence (or a permanent residence permit) to be issued if they intend to stay in the Czech Republic for longer than 3 months and if they fulfil all application requirements. It is recommended to do so, because it will enable the individual to obtain an identity number (called a “rodne cislo” in Czech) which is useful for many other administrative procedures during their stay in the Czech Republic. For more information click here.

Third-country nationals are obliged to register their accommodation address in the Czech Republic with the nearest Foreign Police Department within 3 working days of entering the Czech Republic. For all information click here.

Salary conditions

Once your employment starts, personal income tax and social and health insurance contributions will be deducted from your gross income before the net income will be transferred to your bank account. The rates are as follows:

• Personal income tax is 15%, calculated from Gross income
• Social insurance is 6.5%, calculated from Gross income
• Health insurance is 4.5%, calculated from Gross income

Besides the deductions mentioned above, the net income calculation needs to reflect the individual situation of each employee within the respective month of employment (e.g., there are several types of personal income tax discount that might be applicable, the number of days of holiday taken in the respective month influences net income, etc.). Details should be provided by the payroll department of your employer.

Working conditions

Usually these working conditions apply in the Czech Republic, if not agreed otherwise in your employment contract:

• Working hours: 8 hours per day
• Holidays 20 days per year (however most employers provide their employees with 25 days of holiday per year)
• Employers can also provide their employees with additional “benefits”, e.g., home office arrangements, sick days, lunch coupons, contributions to sports, culture and holiday, etc.

Social security

Anyone working in the Czech Republic must be part of the public Social Security system, which comprises sickness insurance, pensions and contributions to the state employment policy. Contributions to the social security system are automatically deducted from employees‘ salaries.

Health insurance

Foreign nationals in the Czech Republic are required to have valid health insurance. There are two types of health insurance, public and commercial. Employees of an employer based in the Czech Republic as well as other specific groups of individuals have a legal right to public insurance. Anyone who does not have the right to public health insurance in the Czech Republic must have commercial health insurance while staying in the country. For full information, click here.

Accommodation

Renting is the most common way of living in the Czech Republic for foreigners. You can choose from family houses or flats, and you can also decide whether you prefer fully equipped or non-equipped housing. The easiest way to find a housing is through a real estate agency. There are many of these operating on the Czech real estate market. A common practice is to pay an extra one month’s rent as an agency fee, the advantage is that the real estate agency provides legal services like the rental contract, etc. It is also possible to find housing without a real estate agency and contact the owner of the property directly. In either case, it is a common practice to pay an extra one month’s rent as a deposit to the owner of the property for the case of any damage caused by you during the rental period.

A foreigner can only buy a flat or a house in the Czech Republic if he or she is a citizen of the EU or of the USA, has a permanent residence permit or was granted asylum. For the first couple of days or weeks, especially while looking for a flat or a house, you may need to book a hotel or apartment. You can do so easily at, for example via www.booking.com.

Moving

If you are planning to move more things than just your personal belongings to the Czech Republic, it is a good idea to contact a moving company in your home country and discuss the possibilities of getting your belongings, furniture, etc. there as smoothly as possible. It is highly recommended to find all relevant information and what needs to be done in advance if you are planning to bring pets along with you.

Family

For more information about the following topics, that might be of your interest if you intend to move together with your family to the Czech Republic, click here.

Healthcare

Czech medical care is of good quality. Healthcare is provided both by state-run and private medical facilities. Everyone living in the Czech Republic is required to be covered by health insurance.

Once you are living in the Czech Republic, you will need to register with a general practitioner (these specialise in either adults or children) and a dentist (also a gynaecologist in the case of women). These doctors provide basic care in their field and if necessary, they will refer you on to the relevant specialists or clinics / hospitals. If you have commercial health insurance, you should ask your health insurance company for a list of doctors they work with.

Driving license

It is optional to exchange an EU driving licence for a Czech one in the case of a long-term stay in the Czech Republic. It is, however, obligatory to exchange third-country nationals’ driving licence for a Czech one in the case of permanent residency or temporary residency for more than 1 year in the Czech Republic. For full information, click here.

Bank account

Most employers transfer wages to Czech bank accounts, so you will need to open an account once you are in the Czech Republic. You can choose from more than 10 different banks operating in the Czech Republic. Credit and debit cards are accepted in most supermarkets, shops and restaurants, however cash transactions are also used a lot for everyday purchases. The Czech Republic does not use cheques.

The Central Bohemian Innovation Center (SIC) offers the following existing regional programs and services to the research organisations or the individual researchers in order to support academia-industry collaboration, and the transfer and commercialisation of research results.

• Transfer vouchers for research organisations: Financial support to move ideas or technology coming from academia on the TRL (technology readiness level) and CRL (customer readiness level) scale.
• Validation of commercial potential: Consultation provided to the researchers/technology transfer officers to help them validate the market potencial of researchers ideas. The method is based on the Innovation Due Diligence (good practice adopted by SIC from the Luleå University of Technology in Sweden)
• Counselling programme for research organisations: Through the support of its network of experts, SIC provides mentoring to the managers of research organisations in strategic areas, commercialisation being one of them.
• SIC Connect: A personalised service to help researchers find suitable business partners for technology transfers and the commercialisation of their research results.

At the national level, grant opportunities to support industry oriented research projects are provided e.g by the  Technology Agency of the Czech Republic.