Czech Republic visa guide: every visa and residence permit type

Holiday trips with Czechia as the main destination need a uniform Schengen visa if your nationality is visa-required, lodged at the Czech embassy or consulate responsible for your place of legal residence or its external service provider.

To visit relatives or friends living in Czechia you apply for a Schengen visa with an invitation.

Czechia requires citizens of 30 countries, among them Afghanistan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Türkiye, to hold an airport transit visa even when they only change planes in the international zone of a Czech airport.

Medical treatment, surgery or spa care of up to 90 days is covered by a Schengen visa supported by letters from your doctor and the Czech clinic and proof that you can pay.

Artists, athletes, conference speakers and delegates travelling to an event in Czechia apply for a Schengen visa supported by an invitation from the organiser or sports federation.

Meetings, negotiations, contract signings and trade fairs in Czechia are covered by a Schengen visa for business.

Foreigners who run a trade in Czechia, work as self-employed persons or act as statutory body members of a Czech company apply for a long-term visa for business.

Czechia’s investor card is a long-term residence permit for third-country entrepreneurs, or executives of companies, who make a significant investment: at least CZK 75 million that creates at least 20 new jobs.

Students admitted to an accredited Czech university programme apply for a long-term residence permit for study at the Czech mission responsible for their place of residence.

Language schools and other courses in Czechia that last longer than 90 days but do not count as study under the residence permit rules are covered by a long-term visa for study.

Scientists, academic staff and visiting professors hosted by a research organisation registered to accept researchers from non-EU countries receive a long-term residence permit for scientific research.

Workers sent by a foreign investor to a Czech company to improve their skills can receive a long-term visa for training for up to six months, based on a letter from the Confederation of Industry; training is not treated as employment.

Czechia's job-search permit is a follow-up permit for people already in the country who have completed an accredited university programme or a research project there.

The employee card is Czechia’s combined work and residence permit for jobs longer than three months.

Czechia has no separate skilled worker visa; instead, government programmes run by the Ministry of Industry and Trade let employers register qualified foreign staff, who then apply for an employee card, Blue Card or intra-company transfer card with a guaranteed appointment.

The EU Blue Card is the Czech permit for highly qualified employment.

Managers, specialists and employed trainees moved from a company outside the EU to a Czech branch or subsidiary of the same group receive the intra-company employee transfer card.

Season-dependent work in agriculture, forestry, accommodation, catering or sport and recreation is done on a Schengen seasonal visa for up to three months or a long-term seasonal visa for longer periods, up to nine months in total.

Czechia’s digital nomad route is a government programme, not a separate visa type: highly qualified IT and marketing professionals from 13 listed countries get a guaranteed embassy submission and processing within 45 days for a long-term visa.

Spouses, minor children and certain other relatives of a non-EU national living in Czechia apply for a long-term residence permit for family reunification.

A non-EU spouse, child or dependent relative of an EU citizen living in Czechia enters on a free Schengen visa if their nationality needs one, and then applies in Czechia for a temporary residence permit of an EU citizen’s family member.

Non-EU nationals who have lived in Czechia continuously for at least five years on long-term visas or permits can apply for permanent residence.