If you are a British citizen willing to move to the Czech Republic, this article is exactly for you! We’ll go through the 3 most common scenarios we deal with in our daily practice (moving to the Czech Republic as a British citizen with Czech/EU partner, spouse and/or children, moving to the Czech Republic as a British citizen to teach English, and moving to the Czech Republic as a British citizen running a business in the UK) and we’ll touch other possibilities for you as well. Read on.
General immigration rules for British citizens
Since Brexit became effective, British citizens willing to move to the Czech Republic just now (not living here before Brexit, where the Article 50 applies) are considered a standard third country nationals (non-EU citizens). That means that they are allowed to come to the Czech Republic visa-free for up to 90 days in the last 180 days period. This only applies to tourism though.
If you, as a British citizen, want to tay in the Czech Republic longer than 90 days, and/or you want to earn money in the Czech Republic, you have to get some sort of a long-term visa or long-term residence permit.
We describe the most common scenarios from our daily practice below.
British citizens having a Czech/EU spouse, children or partner (dating)
If you are a British citizen dating a Czech citizen (or another EU citizen living in the Czech Republic), you are married to one and/or have Czech/EU children, you can apply for an amazing type of residence permit in the Czech Republic – Temporary Residence Permit for family members of EU citizens.
This type of residence permit brings you plenty of benefits, including submitting application inside of the Czech Republic (all other visa/residence permit types must be applied through a Czech Embassy), ability to stay in the Czech Republic during the whole approval process (standard visa applications do not allow you to do that – you still have to stick to the 90 days rule), ability to work from the date of submission of the application (most other visas does not allow you to work and if they do then only from approval, not from submission) and also extended validity of the residence permit (3 or 5 years compared to 1 or 2 years of other visa/residence permit types).
There are a few differences between applications for so called “close family members” (married couples or people having Czech/EU children) and so called “distant family members”, also known as “Partnership visa” (unmarried couples).
Please read more about each of these options in other our articles:
British citizens married to a Czech/EU citizens or having Czech/EU children – https://movetoprague.com/temporary-residence-permit-for-close-immediate-family-members-of-eu-citizens/.
British citizens dating a Czech/EU citizen – “Partnership Visa” – https://movetoprague.com/partnership-visa-temporary-residence-permit-for-family-members-of-eu-citizen/.
British citizens moving to the Czech Republic to teach English
Moving to the Czech Republic as an English teacher is one of the most common scenarios for British citizens. In many cases, you work as a freelance teacher and hence apply for a business visa (zivno visa, freelance visa, entrepreneur visa = people call it different names but it is all the same). We describe this process in our article here: https://movetoprague.com/zivno-visa-czech-republic/.
Since there are quite a few British schools in the Czech Republic, many British citizens also get an employment offer in which case you would be applying for so called employee card. We describe the process and required documents in details in our article here: https://movetoprague.com/employee-card-everything-you-need-to-know/.
British citizens moving to the Czech Republic while having a business in the UK
Having a company or more or less passive income in the UK and wanting to move to the Czech Republic for whatever reasons (lower taxation, lower cost of living etc.) is also a pretty common scenario for British citizens. Or, more of a common dream than a common scenario.
The thing is that the Czech Republic does not offer any option for people in similar situation (having high enough income from somewhere else than a Czech Republic and just willing to live here) – no Digital Nomad visa, no Investment (buy a property, get residence) visa, nothing like that at the moment.
So, if you are a British citizen with high enough monthly income from the UK or from somewhere else outside of the Czech Republic, you will have to find a way to relate your business to the Czech Republic to give you a reason to get a Czech visa. This usually requires a good assessment of your situation and finding a solution that might work for you.
Please fill in the form below if you’d like to discuss your case with one of our Immigration Specialists.
British citizens moving to the Czech Republic for work (employment)
If you are a British citizen wanting to move to the Czech Republic to work (be employed), it is for sure possible but it will require a bit more effort than the other options listed above.
The first step for you is to find a local (Czech) employer will to help you with the process and kind of “sponsor you” for an employee card. If you have something to bring to the market (i.e. you are willing to work for less pay than Czechs, if you have some specific knowledge/experience/skill that Czechs do not have), there are plenty off opportunities in the Czech Republic.
If you have high qualification (at least Bachelors degree) and find a well paid job in the Czech Republic (at least 1.5 of Czech national average), you can also apply for so called Blue Card. We describe this type of residence permit in details here: https://movetoprague.com/blue-card/.
British citizens moving to the Czech Republic to study
Another option which is not only suitable for “young people” right after college or obtaining their Bachelor’s degree is a student visa/residence permit.
There are two subtypes of the student visa:
1. A “proper” student visa – this means that you study an accredited program of a Czech University and hence get all the student benefits such as free access to the Czech Labour market (meaning you can work freely in the Czech Republic during your studies).
2. The “other” type of visa – this applies to people who do not meet the “proper student” requirements, generally meaning you study non-accredited course of Czech (private) Universities or you study for example Czech language courses.
We describe this visa process in more details in our article here: https://movetoprague.com/czech-republic-student-visa.
Hopefully this article provided you with enough information about the different ways to move to the Czech Republic as a British citizen. If you have some more questions or you would like to apply for some of the visa options above, please fill in one of the forms below or on the right and we’ll be happy to talk with you and find the best solution for you.
Jan on behalf of the whole Move To Prague relocation experts’ team 🙂
