Entering the Czech Republic, duties, length of stay

 Česky

Citizens of the EU, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway or Switzerland

Crossing state borders

• The state borders of the Czech Republic, which are internal borders within the Schengen area, can be crossed at any point without a border check on persons, irrespective of their nationality.

• Border checks are performed only at external Schengen borders, i.e. at international airports in the Czech Republic on flights originating in or ending in countries outside of the Schengen area.

• If a citizen of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland does not have a travel document and cannot obtain one, at the time of the border check the police will allow him/her to prove identity and the fact that he/she is a citizen of the EU or one of the aforementioned countries by means of another document.

• The obligation to submit a travel document does not apply to persons younger than 15 years of age if their data is recorded in the travel document of an accompanying person. The possibility of a child to be entered into his/her parent’s travel document will end on 26 June 2012. After this date, children will be required to have their own travel document. This rule also applies to children entered into their parent’s IDs used for travelling in the Schengen. The fact that it will no longer be possible for a child to travel without his/her own travel document will not affect the validity of a parent’s travel document with his/her child’s data in it.
   

The rules for crossing external borders are specified in detail by the Schengen Borders Code.
 

Duties after arrival

• One of the obligations ensuing from the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals (pdf, 1 MB) for citizens of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland is the "reporting requirement" in the event that the length of the intended stay in the Czech Republic is longer than 30 days. In this situation, within 30 days of entering the Czech Republic, an individual is required to report his/her presence to the appropriate Foreign Police Department that holds jurisdiction in the location of his/her stay in the Czech Republic.

• This obligation does not apply if the person providing accommodation submits the registration forms on behalf of the citizen of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland. The reporting requirement also does not apply to persons younger than 15 years of age, consular staff of a foreign state or the personnel of an international governmental organisation accredited in the Czech Republic and their family members who are registered with the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or to foreign nationals whose accommodations are secured through the Ministry of the Interior.
   

Citizens of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland are also bound to report the change of surname, marital status, changes in data contained in the residence card (i.e. certificate of temporary residence or permanent residence permit). In case of a stay without any residence card, these changes are to be reported to the Foreign Police. In case any residence permit/certificate was issued, changes are reported to the MOI. Citizens of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland can temporarily stay in the Czech Republic without any special permit, solely on the basis of a travel document or an identity card.

If they intend to stay in the Czech Republic for longer than 3 months, they can request a registration certificate to be issued.

Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, August 4th, 2021