Visa

Employee Card – everything you need to know


What is “Employee Card”, how to obtain it, what documents are needed for the employee card application, what are the timelines, and much more. Everything about the employee card at one place. Read further.

Employee Card is a type of a long-term residence permit for foreigners coming to the Czech Republic from outside of the EU. It allows it’s holder to work at one position for one employer.

The employee card is issued in a form of a plastic biometric card (including your digitalized finger prints and photo), usually valid for two years, with the possibility of extension.

Employee Card is meant for all types of positions, all levels of salary and all levels of education. Employee card can be for example issued for a cleaning lady with the minimum salary, for and IT professional with salary of 50 thousand CZK a month or for a director of an international company getting 500 thousand CZK a month.

Where and how to apply for the Employee Card

First and one of the most important rule is that the position, the employee will be hired for, must advertised through the Labour Office for at least 30 days to prove that there is no better EU candidate.

If the position is not filled within the 30 days, it is given a special number which then can be used for the Employee Card application.

Applicants who do not hold a long-term visa or long-term residence permit in the Czech Republic must apply for the Employee Card through a Czech Embassy. In general, all candidates must apply through the Czech Embassy in the country of their origin or in the country where they hold a long-term or permanent residence permit. There is an exception for approximately 40 countries (see the list of those countries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website).

Applicants who are holding a long-term visa or long-term residence permit in the Czech Republic apply for the employee card through a branch of the Ministry of the Interior.

What documents are needed for an Employee Card application

The following documents are needed for the employee card application:

– employee card application form
– long-term visa application form (only applies in some cases, contact us for further details)
– vacancy number (see above)
– passport
– 2 passport sized photos
– proof of accommodation (read more here)
– employment contract (or a contract about future contract)
– proof of education (usually the most relevant diploma)
– criminal check (from the country of your origin + all the countries where you have lived for more that 6 months in the last three years)

All the above mentioned documents must fulfill many conditions (i.e. must be originals, not older than 180 days, must be apostiled/superlegalized and translated into Czech, etc.) so we highly recommend you to contact us to make sure all your documents are correct.

 How long does it take to get the Employee Card approved

The official timeline for the Employee Card approval is 60 – 90 days. This number is just indicative though, in real live, it depends on many things. The main is your nationality, the Embassy you applied through, the quality of your documents, etc. Real life approval process an be from 3 weeks (Americans applying in Europe during a low season) to over a half a year (Indians applying in India during a high season).

 What after approval of the employee card

Once your employee card is approved, you need to come to a branch of MOI in the Czech Republic to give your biometric data (fingerprints, photo). If you applied outside of the Czech Republic, you will first need to go to the Embassy where you applied for the Employee Card and get a 60 day visa to come to the Czech Republic and finish the process.

You can officially start working from the day when you give your biometric data to the MOI in the Czech Republic. The actual Employee Card will be issued say three weeks after you submitted the biometric data.

We have successfully done hundreds of Employee Card applications so if you have any questions about the process, please feel free to contact us through the form on the right or through one of the Contacts.

11 Comments

  • Hi,

    Can you get ticket at MOI for giving biometrics when you dont have an appointment?
    Thanks, Anton

    • Hi Anton,

      Thank you for that question.

      The MOI officially claims you can do that but from our experience it is not an option (at least not in Prague). Biometric appointments are booked for weeks in advance and any changes (change of date, cancelations, etc.) are not really well taken by the MOI.

      We have had a client though, who really needed the biometrics, went to the MOI, was waiting there the whole day and got seen. I can not really say that this will work every time though 🙁

      I hope this helps and wish you good luck!

      Jan on behalf of the whole team 🙂

  • hi i am from india i have missed an appointment for Czech Republic.what will be next? will i get it back

    • Hi Amrit,

      Unfortunately, the situation with appointments at the Czech Embassy in India is really bad. People wait for months to get one. Right now, they even stoped giving appointments at all. So I am afraid that if you have missed your appointment you might get another chance months from now 🙁

      Good luck though!

      Jan on behalf of the whole team

  • Hello,
    I found a job in CZ and they will send me contract,
    so could you please let me know how could my wife to be accompanied with me and get visa ?

    • Hi Shvin,

      Thank you very much for your comment and congratulations to the job offer! 🙂

      If you are submitting the Employee Card application, your wife can apply directly with you for a family reunification visa 🙂 We usually recommend to wait until the main applicant’s (you) visa is approved to follow with the family but she can apply at the same time as well.

      Please send us a message if you need more information about the process and required documents 🙂

      Thank you and have a lovely day!

      Move To Prague – your experts for employee cards

  • Hi, I am Gopa
    I would like to know, if an “Employee Card” holder from India stayed more than 5 years is eligible to apply Permanent Residency?

    • Hi Gopa,

      Thank you for the comment.

      Yes, if you have stayed here for longer than 5 years, you can apply for the permanent residency 🙂

      Have a lovely day!

      Jan on behalf of the whole team! 🙂

  • Hi,

    My Card has “ZAMESTNANECKA KARTA” written and Poznamky 27. What does this mean? Does this mean I am eligible to work anywhere in Europe?

    • Hi Rajdeep,

      Thank you for your comment!

      This unfortunately only means that you have an employee card. “Zaměstnanecká karta” means “Employee Card” in Czech. The 27 code means that the purpose of your stay is employment.

      The employee card unfortunately does not allow you to work outside of the Czech Republic 🙁

      Jan on behalf of the whole Move To Prague team!

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