Our baby was born in Czechia. What must we do, and how fast?
Congratulations, and one firm deadline: your baby’s stay is automatically covered for the parent’s stay, at most 60 days from birth. Within that window you must file the child’s own application, matching your status: parents with long-term or permanent residence file for the child’s residence with the Ministry, parents on visas for the same kind of visa. File incomplete rather than late.
Who this is for: Third-country parents whose child was born on Czech territory, whatever permit the parents hold.
Not for: Children with a Czech-citizen parent, who are Czech citizens by birth and need civil registry, not immigration. And EU-citizen parents, whose children fall under the EU rules, see EU registration.
The 60 days, from the Act
A baby born in Czechia to foreign parents — the 60-day window
60 days from the day of birth to file the child’s application
A child born on Czech territory to third-country parents. The child’s stay counts as temporary for the duration of the guardian’s stay, at most 60 days from birth; within that window the parent must file the child’s own application matching the parent’s status (a parent with long-term or permanent residence files for the child’s long-term or permanent residence with the Ministry; a parent on a visa files for the same kind of visa). The window extends while reasons beyond your control prevent filing, but you must report those reasons immediately.
Show the Czech textHide the Czech text
The wording the rule above was read from. It is the authoritative text, and it is in Czech.
“§ 88 odst. 1: "Narodí-li se cizinec na území, považuje se jeho pobyt na tomto území po dobu pobytu jeho zákonného zástupce, nejdéle však po dobu 60 dnů ode dne narození, za přechodný, není-li dále stanoveno jinak."”
Read from e-sbirka.gov.cz on 14 October 2026Check it yourself
The window can extend when reasons beyond your control prevent filing, a complicated birth among them, but you must report those reasons immediately, not explain them afterwards. The practical reading: book nothing on day 59.
The order of the first weeks
- 1Birth certificate from the registry office (matrika) where the child was born. Everything else waits on it.
- 2Child’s travel document or entry in yours, per your own country’s rules, its consulate is the counter for this one.
- 3The residence application for the child, within the 60 days, with the Ministry (or the police for short-term visa parents). Attach what you have; the birth certificate and travel document can follow if they are the slow part. Filing something in time beats filing everything late.
- 4Health insurance for the child from day one; how the child is covered depends on your permit type, see the insurance guide.
The insurance consequence is the expensive trap: a newborn’s coverage can hinge on the residence application being filed inside the window. A premature filing with missing papers costs nothing; a late complete filing can cost a NICU bill.
Which application, by your status
| Parent holds | Child’s application | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent residence | Permanent residence for the child | Ministry of the Interior |
| Long-term residence (Employee Card included) | Long-term residence for the child | Ministry of the Interior |
| Long-stay visa | The same kind of visa | Ministry of the Interior |
| Short-term visa | The same kind of visa | Police |
The birth number (rodné číslo) and the registry steps run alongside; the immigration clock is the one that does not wait.
Quick questions
- Is our baby Czech because of the Czech birthplace?
- No. Czech citizenship follows parentage, not birthplace; a child of two third-country parents is a third-country national needing the application on this page. One Czech parent changes everything: the child is Czech by birth.
- We cannot get the passport from our consulate in 60 days. Now what?
- File the child’s application anyway, inside the window, and supply the travel document later. The Act extends the window for reasons beyond your control only if you report them immediately.
- Does the baby count toward our household income test later?
- Family applications count household members, and the living-minimum amounts include children’s bands; the figures with sources are in the fees and figures pages and the relevant form pages.
Official sources, and when we read them
- Act 326/1999 Sb., § 88, consolidated text in force (2026-06-12) read 14 October 2026
- gov.cz: residence permit for a child born in the Czech Republic read 14 October 2026
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.
What to do next
Related answers
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