In this article, we bring you a list of the major changes related to Czech Immigration that became effective from Jan 1, 2025. We also add the most major changes from 2024 and a few predictions for more changes in 2025. Read on!
What has changed since Jan 1, 2025
1. Bulgaria and Romania have fully joined the Schengen Area
Bulgaria and Romania have been partially in the Schengen Area since April 2024. The Schengen agreement only applied to travels by air and by water. Since Jan 1, 2025 Bulgaria and Romania have been full members of the Schengen Area meaning also by land.
This means there will be no regular border controls when traveling to or from these two countries anymore.
2. Minimum salary has increased
The minimum salary has been increased by more than 10% or 1 900 CZK from 18 900 CZK in 2024 to 20 800 CZK in 2025. Along with this change, them minimum guaranteed salary (“minimální zaručená mzda”) has been nulled and will no longer be used in private sector.
3. Monthly fees for freelancers have increased
One of the highest increases has happened in the field of self-employed in Czech Republic. The minimum monthly contributions have been increased by 19% to 4 759 CZK a month for Social Security (increase from 3 852 CZK in 2024) and by almost 6% to 3 143 CZK for public health care (increase from 2 968 CZK in 2024).
4. Higher income requirements for residence permits
For some residence permit applications in the Czech Republic, proving that you have been making enough money on monthly basis is one of the main requirements. The minimum income requirements is generally counted as something called a “substantial minimum” (“životní minimum”) plus living costs.
The final calculation depends on the number of people in your household, the city you live in etc. but the point is the minimum requirements have been increased there as well.
5. Revenue stamps (“kolky”) are no longer accepted
Revenue stamps (“kolky”) have been used as means of paying many governmental fees for decades. In Czech immigration primarily for submitting most of your residence permit applications and their extensions, for getting proves of no debts etc.
Kolky are no longer accepted by any of the official authorities (including the MOI) so you should always bring your card or have your banking app ready when dealing with authorities now. Payment in cash might be limited.
What else might change in 2025
On top of the changes above, there will be certainly more to come in 2025. The two main changes basically known to happen at this stage are as follows.
A. EU citizens will be required to apply for a Registration Certificate
As of now, EU citizens can live freely in the Czech Republic. Their only obligation is to get registered with the Foreign Police within 30 days after arrival.
This will most likely change in 2025 and apply for a Registration Certificate within 90 days after arrival will become mandatory.
B. Russian citizens might not realistically be able to get Czech citizenship
One of the most controversial laws might be introduced in 2025 in regards to Russian citizens who have been living in the Czech Republic for years or even decades.
The draft of the new law says that Russian citizens who qualify for the Czech citizenship will only be able to get it if they revoke their Russian citizenship first. Not only this is discriminative towards Russian citizens (no other group of foreigners have similar rules), not only it shows ineffectiveness of the Czech security services (basically the government says “We do not do our due diligence well and we’ll penalize the good ones for that”), it is also not realistically achievable for most Russian citizens.
Revoking Russian citizenship is a pretty complex process which in most cases can not be done distantly. And going physically back to Russia as someone who has been living in CZE (one of the biggest “enemy countries of the Russian Federation”) in many cases means going to Russian prison or even worse.
What changed in 2024
Besides the changes becoming effective from Jan 1, 2025, there were some major changes you should know about introduced already in 2024.
1. Free access to Czech Labour market have been granted to 9 nationalities
This is for the biggest part not a game changer in Czech immigration but it can help significantly in some situations. We’ve covered this topic in details in our article here: https://movetoprague.com/foreigners-from-nine-countries-will-not-need-work-permits-in-the-czech-republic-misleading-and-incorrect/.
2. Test of the Labor market has been nulled
At the same time as the free access to Czech Labor market was introduced, cancelation/shortening of the “test of the Labor market” was introduced as well.
So, if a Czech company wants to employer a non-EU citizen, they still have to advertise the position through the Czech Labour Office. The difference is that instead of waiting for 30/10 days to get the vacancy number assigned, companies get the number immediately.
Read more about the employment process in general in our articles about an Employee Card or a Blue Card.
3. Temporary protection have been extended
Temporary protection visa for Ukrainian refugees has been extended for another year, until March 2026. On top of that, an option to apply for an employee card has been introduced to Ukrainian, although it is not really feasible for most applicants at this point.
Let us know in the comments if you are aware of some more changes that you think should be mentioned in this article and/or what you think of these changes.
Move To Prague team!
