Rodne Cislo – What it is and how to get it

The mysterious Rodne Cislo! Everyone talks about it but no one really knows what it is exactly, what it is needed for and how to get it. Luckily for you, you have got to this post and you’ll know everything about Rodne Cislo real soon – just keep reading!

What is Rodne Cislo – technically speaking?

 Rodne Cislo or “Birth number” is a special number, unique for every single person living in the Czech Republic. It consists of 10 digits (the first 6 are related to the date you were born and the other 4 are more or less random digits), and it basically works as your identification number. Similarly as the social security number in the US. For example, if you go to a bank and tell them your Rodne Cislo, they will be able to access all information about your records, your debts, loans and other personal information. 

What is not Rodne Cislo?

People, especially freelancers, often confuse rodne cislo with other numbers such as the Czech social security number. Truth to be told, the social security is very confusing. They first give you one number, so called “variable symbol” which identifies your payments to the social security office and you need to use it all the times when dealing with them. Later on they send a special letter with another number where they mention that this is something like your “rodne cislo” for the interim period until your real rodne cislo is issued. Then you also have a separate number for the tax office and another number for the health care. Many numbers, much confusion. None of those is your real rodne cislo though.

Rodne cislo is officially only issued by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

Who issues the real Rodne Cislo?

 If you are a foreigner applying for any type of long-term visa or residence permit in the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Interior should officially issue your rodne cislo along with your visa or residence permit. Sometimes it does work like that and you get it right away, sometimes you get it after a couple weeks or months, and, in some cases, you end up not getting it at all.

 This can be caused by various reasons. Firstly, the officer making the decision about your application should automatically request your rodne cislo if you qualify for it. Do they always do that though? Highly doubt that. Secondly, even if the decision making officer requests the number, the actual number is assigned to you by another officer in another office. Do they care much? We think you get the idea now.

Another reason can be that there is some information missing in your application. The MOI needs all the required info (such as your mom’s maiden name) to be able to issue your rodne cislo. Quiz question – do they actively contact you and request that information? We quess you know the answer by now 🙂

How to get your Rodne Cislo then?

First of all, check your residence card. If you have been issued your rodne cislo, it should be written on your residence card is this form YYMMDD/RRRR. If it is not in your card, look for this piece of paper:

If you do not have any of those, you have most likely not been issued your rodne cislo yet. If that is your case, you can send a special application to the MOI requesting it. If you already have some kind of residence permit, you can send this request to the branch responsible for your area. If you are for example an EU citizen and do not have any residence permit in the Czech Republic, either get it and request your rodne cislo along with that or request your rodne cislo directly from the special branch where they issue those. This is for sure not advisable though since they will need a lot more documents from you than if you go through the process of getting your residency 🙂

In any case, we will be happy to help you get your rodne cislo as smoothly as possible – just fill in the form below or on the right and get in touch. Alternatively call us to +420776495655 or send us an e-mail to info@movetoprague.com and we’ll be happy to answer your questions or take care of everything on your behalf.