Czech Permanent Residence Permit for EU citizens

EU citizens can generally get the Czech permanent residence permit after five years of continuous residence in the Czech Republic. It can be two years in some cases. How it all works, what are the requirements and process – you find out all than and more in this article.

Standard Way of Obtaining a Permanent Residence Permit in the Czech Republic as an EU Citizen

The standard way which most of our clients go through to obtain their permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic is after five years of continuous stay here. There are generally two approaches depending on whether you got your Registration Certificate or not.

Obtaining Czech Permanent Residency through Registration Certificate

Generally speaking, at this point (November 2025), EU citizens can life in the Czech Republic freely without needing any visas or residence permits. The only official obligation of EU citizens moving here is to get registered with the Foreign Police within 30 days of arrival.

If they plan on staying long-term (say at least a year), we recommend our client to obtain a Registration Certificate, formally known as a Temporary Residence Certificate.

Obtaining the Registration Certificate brings you a few benefits including easier permanent residence permit process.

The reason for that is that one of the requirements for the permanent residency is to be able to prove that you have really been residing in the Czech Republic for five continuous years. If you hold the Registration Certificate, that is usually all you need as proof. If you do not have the Registration Certificate, things get way more complicated as we explain in the following section.

Obtaining Czech Permanent Residency without Registration Certificate

As mentioned above, EU citizens do not really need to obtain the Registration Certificate to live in the Czech Republic. So many do not apply for it. Although it might not be a problem for your every day life in the Czech Republic, it can prove quite a big problem when applying for the permanent residence permit.

The reason is that when applying for the permanent residence permit as an EU citizen without previously having the Registration Certificate, you must convince the Ministry of the Interior that you have really been residing here for five continuous years.

It sounds simple, right? If it is gonna be simple or complicated primarily depends on your situation (i.e. if you have been employed here the whole time or you work online with no local employment) and on the mood of the decision making officer at the MOI.

What generally works as a good proof of actually living here without having the registration certificate:

lease agreements with no gaps in between – the simplest scenario is if you have been living in the same apartment since day one – super easy to prove, imagine you have moved a few times though (and maybe do not have all the lease agreements anymore), and maybe you even stayed with a friend for a few months one time (without having a lease agreement) – if there are gaps between your lease agreements, the MOI might see it as a proof you were actually not living here the whole five years,
employment contracts with not gaps in between them – similar system as with lease agreements, if there are gaps in between your employments, the MOI might question if you were just unemployed but still living here or if you actually moved away for that period of time (and maybe worked in some other EU country),
health care contributions – this usually works best as the main proof for self-employed EU citizens holding a Czech Trade License, or as a secondary proof for those who have gaps in between their lease agreements/employment contracts.

If you do not have any of the above or there are significant gaps in your stay, you can either try to get more creative and find other proves, such as bank statements showing you were paying for something in CZE every day, your gym membership etc., or maybe better apply for the Registration Certificate and start counting your years from now on.

Obtaining a Permanent Residence Permit in the Czech Republic as an EU Citizen after Two Years of Living Here

Although the standard requirement for EU citizens to apply for the permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic is five years of continuous stay, there is one exception.

Obtaining the Czech Permanent Residence Permit as a Close Family Member of another EU Citizen Already Holding the Permanent Residence Permit

If you are a close family members (spouse, child) of another EU citizen who already hold permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic, you can potentially apply for your own permanent residency after two years of living here. The same rule applies to close family members of Czech citizens.

For example, if you are French and your spouse is a Czech citizen, you can apply for the permanent residence permit after the years of living here.

Another example – you and your spouse are both French but your spouse moved here permanently already 6 years ago while you have been traveling between France and Czech Republic the whole time keeping a job in France. Your spouse can get their permanent residence permit already (they have been here for more than 5 years) and you can potentially get yours after two years of moving here permanently as well (meaning not traveling between FRA and CZE frequently any more).

Czech Permanent Residence Permit for EU Citizens – Required Documents

Now, when you know the basic rules, what are the documents required to get your Czech permanent residence permit as an EU citizen? Generally these:

application form,
passport or EU national ID,
2 passport sized photos,
proof of accommodation,
proof of you living here for 5 years or 2 years + proves of being a close family member of another EU citizens,
200 CZK administrative fee for the MOI,
Power of Attorney – only needed when you work with us so we can act with authorities on your behalf.

All submitted documents must be originals or notarized copies and in Czech language or officially translated into Czech language.

Can you do it yourself or should you hire assistance?

Obtaining Czech Permanent residence permit is not so complicated or so high risk that you could not do it yourself. If you want to try on your own, hopefully the above article will prove helpful. If you have better things to invest your time and energy into though and would like someone to take care of this for you, contact us and we’ll make obtaining Czech permanent residence permit as smooth and fast as humanly possible.

Czech Permanent Residence Permit for EU Citizens – Step By Step Process

Once you have all the required documents, you have to go submit them to the Ministry of the Interior responsible for the place of your residence. The permanent residence permit application must be submitted in person.

If you submit your application complete and without issues, the MOI has officially 60 days to make the decision about your case.

If the application was perfect (primarily you perfectly proved that you have really been residing here for long enough), the decision can come sooner – even after a month or so. If the application was not perfect (and the MOI maybe has the request some additional documents from you), this legal deadline can get pushed further.

Once you get approved, you have to go back to the MOI to collect the actually permanent residence permit “booklet”. Article continues below the images.

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Permanent Residence Permit EU Citizens - front page — Permanent Residence Permit EU Citizens – front page

The booklet is valid for 10 years and is renewable.

When working with us, we help you collect all the required documents, arrange all appointments at the MOI, sort out everything that might appear during the approval process and accompany you to any appointments involved.

Other Ways of Obtaining Czech Permanent Residence Permit as an EU Citizen

Other than the above mentioned ways, there are also other potential ways of obtaining Czech Permanent residence permit as an EU citizen. Since they are very unusual in real life, we only list them here to make the article comprehensive but without any excessive details:

humanitarian reasons,
children born in the Czech Republic,
if you became eligible for a disability pension (conditions apply),
if your residence is in the interest of the Czech Republic,
a few more specific cases of similar nature.

Permanent Residence Permit in Czech Republic For EU Citizens