Differences Between an Employee Card and a Blue Card in Czech Republic

In this article, we look into the major differences between an Employee Card and a Blue Card in the Czech Republic. We dig into details but we also provide you with a simple table summing up the main differences.

Similarities between an Employee Card and a Blue Card

Both employee card and blue card are types of a long-term residence permit with the purpose of employment in the Czech Republic. Both are issued by the Czech Ministry of Interior in a form of a biometric card (plastic card with your biometric data such as fingerprints or digital photo of you).

Both the employee card and the blue card allow you to be employed in the Czech Republic with one specific employer for one specific job.

That is where the similarities end. Lets not look at the differences between an employee card and a blue card.

Qualification differences between an Employee Card and a Blue Card

The main difference between the employee card and the blue card is what kind of jobs they can be used for.

The employee card can be used for any type of job (cleaning lady, welder, software developer or a CEO of a multinational company), for any type of education requirements (from no education to three Ph.D.s) and for any salary level.

The blue card can only be used for highly qualified positions, applicants with at least Bachelor’s Degree and for job with salary that is higher than 1.5 of the Czech national average.

Differences between employee card and blue card benefits

Generally speaking a blue card is a stronger and more beneficial type or residence permit than the employee card. There are some situations where the employee card might be a better option as well though. Let’s look into the benefits of each now.

Benefits of the blue card compared to an employee card

The main benefits of a blue card compared to an employee card are as follows:

• no quotas at Czech Embassies – Czech quotas for economic migration can make obtaining an employee card close to impossible in some countries, blue card does not have these limitations,
• 3 years of validity – the maximum validity of the employee card is two years, the maximum validity of the blue card are three years which makes it also easier to get the Czech Permanent Residence Permit after five years of living in the Czech Republic,
• easier change of employer – there are many rules for changing employers under the employee card, those rules do not really apply in case of a blue card where you just have to report the change to the MOI within three days,
• longer unemployment allowed – if you have had the blue card for less than two years, you can be potentially unemployed for up to 3 months and still keep the blue card, if you have been here for more than two years, you can be unemployed for up to 6 months and still keep the blue card,
• better conditions for family members – you can bring family member to the Czech Republic both with the employee card and the blue card, the main difference is how soon can the family members apply for a Family Reunification Residence Permit that allows them to work – in case of an employee card, they can only apply after 6 months, in case of the blue card, they can apply right away,
• easier moving within the EU – there are more favorable rules for moving within the EU under the blue card than under the employee card, which is why the blue card is also sometimes referred to as an EU blue card.

Benefits of the employee card compared to a blue card

Although the blue card holds a lot of benefits, there are also some advantages of the employee card:

• part time jobs – the minimum employment requirement for the employee card is 15 hours of work a week (as long as you get at least the minimum Czech salary), employee card can also be obtained with a DPČ contract (a part-time job contract), blue card requires a full time employment,
• non-dual version – employee card exists in two forms – dual (standard, combining permission to live in the Czech Republic and permission to work in the Czech Republic) and non-dual which is meant for applicants with free access to Czech labor market (i.e. holding a Czech diploma), applying for a on-dual employee card is simpler and faster than applying for a standard employee card + has some other favorable benefits, blue card only exists in the dual form which means that even applicants with free access to Czech labor market must go through the standard process,
• more jobs available – since the employee card is available for any type of job, the job offer is way bigger than for the blu card, for example in October 2025, the official database of jobs of the Czech Labor Office listed 56 768 vacancies from 16 493 employers available for employee card holder while only 987 vacancies from 570 employers were offered for blue card holders.
• fine instead of cancelation – if you report the change of employer late (not in 3 days) as a blue card holder, the MOI can cancel your blue card and have you deported, the same rule does not exist for a non-dual employee card (where you also have to report within 3 days), the most that can happen there is that you get fined.

Blue Card vs Employee Card – differences in a clear simple table

For those of you, who do not want to read through the whole article full of details and only need to know the basics, here you go a simple table explaining the main differences between an employee card and a blue card.

If you want to read more about the employee card, head to our Czech Employee Card 2025: Complete Guide.

If you are more interested in the blue card, visit our EU Blue Card in Czechia: Full 2025 Guide.

If you have any questions and/or need help with preparing and submitting your employee card or a blue card application, contact us and we’ll be happy to make the process as smooth as humanly possible 🙂

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