Proof Of Accommodation Letter – Information and Sample For Download

Proof of accommodation is one of the basic documents required for almost every type of Czech Republic visa or residence permit. Therefore, you should be very careful when getting this document. Find detailed information about the proof of accommodation below, along with description of VIRTUAL proof of accommodation service and downloadable proof of accommodation letter sample.

What can be used as proof of accommodation?

Document proving ownership of a flat or house

This applies in case YOU or your spouse own a proprerty in the Czech Republic.

Document to prove that will mainly be an extract from the land register/Cadaster. You can get the extract at any post office or Czech Point office. You can also get it online – please find a step by step guide in our blog about housing in Prague.

If your flat is in joint ownership (with your spouse and/or other family members and/or business partners), you do NOT need to get a consent of all the other co-owners.

If your spouse owns a property in the Czech Republic but you are not a co-owner of the proprety, you do not need any special consent or proof of accommodation from your spouse as long as you really live together in the flat and have your household there. The same applies for your kids.

Rental contract

This is the most common but aslo the most tricky way of proving your accommodation. There are many different situations that you can face and that require different approach. Let´s start from the easiest one.

Rental contract between you and private landlord
This is the easiest situation you can face. We admit that is is also pretty common. On the other hand, you still must follow some rules to stay on the safe side. First of all, the rental contract must be signed between you and the owner (including your full names, ID numbers, dates of birth and residential addresses). It must also include concrete address of the house “your” flat is in and number of the flat. If this is not in the contract, the MInistry of the Interior will not be able to verify the ownership and the rental contract will not be accepted as a proof of accommodation.

Rental contract between you and “Družstvo” (housing co-operative)
Unfortunatelly for you (as a foreigner needing a proof of accommodation for your visa/residence), housing co-operative is also very common to own properties in Prague. And how does this work? Basically, the whole building is owned by the housing co-operative. “Owners” of every single apartment in the house are in fact no owner, just members of the housing co-operative who rent their own apartments. Your rental contract is than just a sublet contract. The housing co-operative is written in the land register/Cadaster as the owner of the property. If you want to use your sublet contract as the proof of accommodation, you must also provide the original (or notarized copy) of the rental contract between your landlord and the Družstvo. Or you must get a consent from chairman of the Družstvo.

Sublet contract
The same rules as for the housing co-operative apply for classical sublet contracts (betwen you and current tenant). The current tenant must provide you with the original (or notarized copy) of his rental contract or you can ask the original owner for a proof of accommodation (read more below) directly.

Rental contract between you and company
Well, this is very similar to the contract between you and a private landlord described above. There are just a few additional steps. First of all, the contract must be signed between you and the company which is written as the owner of the property in the land register/Cadaster. Secondly, the contract must be signed by the director of the company (as stated in a Business Register).

IMPORTANT! Bad thing about all rental contracts is that signatures do not need to be notarized. That means that you can easily sign the rental contract on your own without even meeting the official owner. For this reasons, Ministry of the Interior (the authority responsible for approving visas/residence permits) often do not accept rental contracts as a proof of accommodation. It is always safer to get the proof of accommodation letter from the landlord as described below.

Proof of accommodation letter

This is the best proof of accommodation you can have. Itis basically just a sheet of paper including information about the owner of the flat (full name, date of birth, ID number, residence address), information about the flat itself (exact address and number of the flat), about the period for which the proof of accommodation is given (either definite period – usually the same as your rental contract – or undefinite period which is best for you) and about yourself (full name, nationality, passport number and date of birth).

IMPORTANT – signature of the landlord on the proof of accommodation letter must be NOTARIZED. That is the main difference between the rental contract and the proof of accommodation letter. This is the SAFEST option for all visa application.

Please feel free to download proof of accommodation letter samples for either a private landlord or for company for free below.

Proof of accommodation letter sample for download – Owner is a private person
Proof of accommodation letter sample for download – Proof of accommodation – Landlord is Company

Virtual proof of accommodation letter

Well, the Czech Republic visa is not logical in many way. One of the strangest things is that you have to have a proof of accommodation before you even apply for the visa which means before you can even come to the Czech Republic. That basically leaves you with two options:

1. Find and rent a flat online. That means that you will have to pay a security deposit (usually equal to one month rent) and you will have to pay for all the months from the moment you rent the place till your visa is approved (usually minimum of 3-4 months). That is a lot of money wasted.

2. Buy a virtual proof of accommodation letter. That basically means that you pay someone to give you the documents you need for your visa but you will not be really living in this apartment after your arrival. Even though this used to be a common practice and some companies might still offer such services, we strongly recommend not going this way since using the virtual proof can be considered a fraud (you say you will be living in place where you will not be living) and if the MOI finds out about that, they can deny your application and both you and the person who provided you with the proof can get into trouble.

Do you need help with obtaining and/or checking validity of the proof of accommodation? Fill in the form on the right or use other form of contacting us. If you use our Rent a flat in Prague service, we will make sure that you get a proper proof of accommodation.

Jan & Daria
on behalf of the whole Move To Prague team