Permit.cz

Just arrived in Czechia: what must happen in the first weeks?

Three clocks start around your arrival. Registration with the police: 3 working days for third-country nationals, 30 days for EU citizens staying past a month, unless your hotel or landlord registers you. Then, for permit holders, the biometrics appointment, and 60 days from the scan to collect the card itself.

Who this is for: People who have just moved to Czechia, with a visa, a permit approval in hand, or as EU citizens, and want the first weeks done right.

Not for: Short tourist stays in a hotel: the hotel’s own guest registration covers the duty for you.

Step one: the arrival registration

Registering your address with the police after you arrive — third-country nationals

Within 3 working days of entering the country

Third-country nationals entering the Czech Republic. You do NOT have to do this yourself if your accommodation provider registers you — a hotel, or a landlord who files the přihlašovací tiskopis, does it for you. The duty also does not apply to anyone under 15, to accredited diplomatic or international-organisation staff and their registered family members, or to anyone whose accommodation the Ministry arranges. EU citizens have a completely different deadline and a different trigger.

Show the Czech text

The wording the rule above was read from. It is the authoritative text, and it is in Czech.

“§ 93(1): "(1) Cizinec je povinen do 3 pracovních dnů ode dne vstupu na území ohlásit na policii místo pobytu na území ( § 97 ); to neplatí, pokud jde o cizince mladšího 15 let, člena zastupitelského úřadu cizího státu nebo zastoupení mezinárodní vládní organizace, veřejné instituce nebo entity 70) akreditovaných v České republice, jeho rodinného příslušníka registrovaného Ministerstvem zahraničních věcí nebo cizince, kterému ministerstvo zajišťuje ubytování. Povinnost ohlásit místo pobytu na policii se dále nevztahuje na cizince, který tuto povinnost splnil u ubytovatele [ § 103 písm. b) ]."”

Read from e-sbirka.gov.cz on 13 September 2026Check it yourself

Registering your address with the police after you arrive — EU citizens and their family members

Within 30 days of entering, and only if you will stay longer than 30 days

EU citizens, and family members of an EU citizen who is living in the Czech Republic. It only applies if your stay is expected to exceed 30 days, and not at all if your accommodation provider has already registered you. Third-country nationals are under a different deadline with a different trigger — do not read across from one to the other.

Show the Czech text

The wording the rule above was read from. It is the authoritative text, and it is in Czech.

“§ 93(2): "(2) Občan Evropské unie 1b) je povinen ohlásit na policii místo pobytu na území ve lhůtě do 30 dnů ode dne vstupu na území, pokud jeho předpokládaný pobyt bude delší než 30 dnů; tato povinnost se rovněž vztahuje na rodinného příslušníka občana Evropské unie, pokud tento občan pobývá na území. Povinnost ohlásit místo pobytu na policii se nevztahuje na cizince, který tuto povinnost splnil u ubytovatele [ § 103 písm. b) ]."”

Read from e-sbirka.gov.cz on 13 September 2026Check it yourself

The accommodation provider exception does real work here: hotels and hostels file guest registrations as routine, and a landlord who files the registration form (přihlašovací tiskopis) discharges the duty for you. Ask where you are staying before you queue anywhere. If nobody registers you, the duty is yours, at the foreign police office for your address.

Step two: biometrics and collecting the card

Arriving on a long-term approval, you will be invited to give fingerprints and a photo for the biometric card. The appointment itself is short; the deadline that matters comes after it.

Collecting your biometric residence card after the data is taken — how long you have

60 days from the date your biometric data was scanned

Anyone issued a biometric residence permit card, across permit types: the same 60-day limit appears on the long-term resident status, intra-company transfer and family-purpose pages, and on the Czech obligations page. You agree the collection appointment when the biometric data is taken.

“The time limit for collection is 60 days from the date you had your biometric data scanned.”

Read from ipc.gov.cz on 13 September 2026Check it yourself

Cannot make the scheduled biometrics date? Rescheduling has its own form. Treat the 60-day collection window as hard: the card is the document everything else leans on.

The rest of the first month

  • Health insurance in order from day one, see the insurance guide.
  • Know the reporting clocks you now live under: a future move or new passport has deadlines of its own, see reporting changes.
  • Employee Card holders: your employer-change and job-loss rules started with the card, worth ten minutes now, see changing employer.

Fine for missing a reporting deadline — arrival registration, change of address, change of name or passport details

Up to 3,000 CZK

Third-country nationals and EU citizens who fail a duty under § 93(1) or (2) of the Aliens Act (registering after arrival) or § 98(1), (3), (4) or (5) of the Aliens Act (reporting a change of address), and those who fail § 103(b), (d), (e) or (r). A DIFFERENT and much higher ceiling of 10,000 Kc exists in the same section, but it applies to other offences — § 156(1)(i), (l), (m) and (o) to (q) — not to these.

Show the Czech text

The wording the rule above was read from. It is the authoritative text, and it is in Czech.

“§ 156 odst. 5: "(5) Za přestupek lze uložit pokutu do ... d) 3 000 Kč, jde-li o přestupek podle odstavce 1 písm. a), b), d), e), g) nebo k)." The offence itself is § 156 odst. 1 písm. d): "d) nesplní povinnost podle § 93 odst. 1 nebo 2 anebo podle § 98 odst. 1 , 3 , 4 nebo 5 ,"”

Read from e-sbirka.gov.cz on 18 September 2026Check it yourself

Quick questions

My hotel registered me. Do I still go to the foreign police?
No, not for the arrival registration: a provider’s registration discharges that duty. Duties that come later, like address changes once you rent, are yours.
I missed the 3 working days. What now?
Register immediately anyway. The failure is finable up to the ceiling on this page, but an old unregistered stay compounds with every week; late beats never, by a wide margin.
When does my card actually exist?
After biometrics are taken the card is produced, and you collect it within 60 days of the scan. Until then your visa, bridging sticker or approval documents are what prove your status.

Official sources, and when we read them

A summary to help you act in time, not legal advice. Rules change; the dates above say when each source was actually read, and the fact boxes carry their own.

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