Czech citizenship is not just a passport, it’s a ticket to a full life in the EU. You can get it by birth, marriage, declaration or after years of residence. Here’s a comprehensive and easy-to-understand guide on how to get through the bureaucracy without unnecessary hitches and what to look out for so you don’t end up with a rejected application.
How to obtain Czech citizenship is a question that today concerns not only long-term settled foreigners, but also their children, partners or, for example, Slovaks who decided to settle in the Czech Republic after the division of the federation. The Czech passport brings full rights of a citizen of the European Union – i.e. free movement, access to the labour market in other Member States, the right to vote at the local and European level, the possibility to run for certain public offices or receive full social benefits. From the point of view of everyday life, people who have acquired Czech citizenship will especially appreciate the fact that they no longer have to worry about obtaining a residence permit and constantly renewing it.
Czech law offers several ways to acquire Czech citizenship: birth, paternity, adoption, finding a child on the territory of the state, naturalization, declaration and other special procedures, for example for former Czechoslovak citizens. In practical life, most applicants decide to be granted citizenship after several years of legal residence. However, we must stress at the outset that permanent residence is not the same as citizenship – it is a separate legal status, which is only one of the conditions for applying for citizenship.
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Before you start filling out your application for Czech citizenship, we recommend that you check whether you are already eligible for citizenship in another, simpler way. The Czech Citizenship Act lists seven basic ways of acquiring citizenship:
Marriage or partnership does not lead to automatic citizenship, but it greatly facilitates the fulfilment of certain conditions.
Czech citizenship for Slovaks has one more historical conditional shortcut: the government extended the deadlines for Slovak citizens to choose Czech citizenship after the division of the federation. Today, most Slovaks follow the standard path to citizenship, with only one advantage – as EU citizens, they are subject to a shorter three-year period of permanent residence.
The main requirement is to have been a permanent resident in the Czech Republic for at least 5 years, or 3 years for EU citizens, or a total of 10 years of other residence. You must also prove that you have actually been in the Czech Republic for at least half of that time.
Your application must be accompanied by an extract from the Criminal Records Bureau and often by verification from your home country. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior will request the opinion of the Czech Police and intelligence services if the applicant is over 15 years old.
The standard is a B1 level Czech language exam organised by the Institute of Language and Vocational Training at Charles University. The prescribed range is set out in the Decree on Proving Knowledge of the Czech Language and Czech Realities for the Purposes of Granting Czech Citizenship. The exam is administered to children under the age of 15, seniors aged 65+ and persons with severe disabilities.
The law also requires the applicant to demonstrate family, work or social integration. Therefore, you should include with your citizenship application employment contracts, diplomas, a lease or purchase agreement for your home, proof of membership in associations or volunteer work.
The Ministry may waive these conditions in some cases. These are mainly for humanitarian reasons or because of marriage to a Czech or for children. In practice, this means that the spouse of a Czech citizen can usually apply after two to three years of living together in the Czech Republic.
Tip: Getting married to a foreigner brings not only a joyful life event, but also a number of administrative and legal tasks that you need to prepare for. We will help you with these.
Marriage alone does not “confer” citizenship, but it helps significantly in obtaining it. The spouse or registered partner of a Czech citizen can apply for citizenship after 3 years of living together, and in addition, the minimum length of uninterrupted permanent residence and the obligation to prove that the applicant has actually resided in the territory for at least half of that time can be waived. In practice, families with children often opt for this route, as children under 15 do not logically take the oath.
The question of how a Slovak acquires Czech citizenship has a long history. After the division of the federation, Slovaks had 5 years to make the so-called citizenship choice. The government subsequently extended this period. Today, however, Slovaks have to fulfil the usual three-year period of permanent residence as for other EU citizens. In addition, the applicant has to provide the usual documents like any other foreigner.
According to the law, an application for citizenship can only be submitted in person. If you are registered for permanent residence outside Prague, you will visit the relevant regional office. Prague residents go to the Prague 1-22 district office. For minors, the application is made by a legal guardian.
An official will verify your identity and the completeness of your file. If there are any discrepancies, he or she may refuse to accept the application, but this is most often resolved by a simple addition. Once the file is complete, the office sends it to the Ministry of the Interior within 30 days.
Communication with the Ministry is in writing. If an interpreter is involved in the proceedings, it is advisable to provide his contact details so that the Ministry can send notices in a foreign language. If you change your address or name after submitting your application, you must inform the authority without delay, as uncollected mail is a common obstacle to proceedings.
When completing the application for citizenship, you must also fill in the form ‘Questionnaire for the application for Czech citizenship’, which is a compulsory part of the file and is filled in by the applicant directly at the office. It contains personal data, information on residence, employment, family and reasons for the application. Fill it in legibly and truthfully, as any inconsistencies may lead to the state refusing to grant you citizenship.
The following attachments are required with the Czech citizenship application form :
During the interview, the reception officer will check whether you are enclosing originals or certified copies with your application. Do not forget your passport photographs. He or she may also ask you to make additions, typically if the details on your passport and birth certificate are different.
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There is a fee of CZK 2,000 per adult and CZK 500 per child or asylum seeker to apply for citizenship. These amounts are based on the Administrative Fees Act, which now allows the authority to reduce the fee to up to CZK 500 ( adult) and CZK 100 ( child/asylum seeker) if there are “reasons worthy of special consideration”.
The fee is payable on receipt of the application in cash, by card or stamps. There is no fee for the processing itself, but if your application is refused you are not entitled to a refund. In practice, discounts are granted, for example, to those on low incomes certified by the Labour Office, single parents or applicants affected by natural disasters.
Don’t forget that you will incur additional costs for translations, certification clauses, apostilles (a clause behind official documents and documents proving verification of signature and stamp) and the language test (currently CZK 3 700 for the language test or CZK 5 700 for the complete test including the realities). Therefore, in your family budget, allow for a minimum of CZK 5-7 thousand for one adult applicant.
Once the file has been sent to the Ministry, there is a 180-day time limit to issue a decision. If the Ministry calls for a supplement, the time limit is interrupted; it is therefore recommended to respond within 15 days.
If the Ministry of the Interior does not recognise your application for Czech citizenship, you can appeal against this, i.e. lodge an appeal. This means asking the Minister of the Interior to review the decision of his/her office again. You have 15 days from receipt of the refusal to do so. The Minister must then decide on your appeal within 120 days.
But be warned – if your application was refused because of national security concerns (for example, because of links to extremism, terrorism or other security risks), you cannot challenge the decision in court. Such a decision is final and not reviewable by a court. You may not make a new application until two years after the legal effect of the refusal.
After a positive result, you will be asked to take the oath of citizenship, and you will become a citizen on that date. You must take the oath within 12 months, otherwise the Ministry will stop the procedure.
Tip: The employment of foreigners is increasingly topical nowadays. People are not and employers are therefore happy to reach out to foreigners. However, there are rules and pitfalls.
Czech citizenship can be acquired in seven main ways, including birth, adoption, paternity, finding a child, declaration, granting (naturalisation) and a special regime for Slovaks. The most common way is to apply for citizenship after several years of legal residence, usually with 5 years of permanent residence (3 years for EU citizens). The applicant must provide evidence of integration into Czech society, a clean criminal record, knowledge of Czech and other documents. The application is submitted in person to the relevant office, the decision is issued by the Ministry of the Interior within 180 days. Unsuccessful applicants can file an appeal, but in case of rejection due to state security, the decision cannot be challenged in court. The application itself costs CZK 2 000, but the total cost can exceed CZK 7 000 due to translations and language tests.
Nejdříve po pěti letech trvalého pobytu v ČR – nebo po třech letech, pokud jste občanem EU. Výjimky existují např. pro partnery českých občanů, kteří mohou žádat už po dvou až třech letech společného života.
Ano, většina žadatelů musí prokázat znalost jazyka na úrovni B1. Výjimku mají děti do 15 let, senioři nad 65 let a osoby s těžkým zdravotním postižením. Zkoušku zajišťuje Univerzita Karlova a stojí několik tisíc korun.
Výhradně osobně. Lidé s trvalým pobytem mimo Prahu jdou na krajský úřad, Pražané na příslušný úřad městské části. U dětí podává žádost zákonný zástupce.
Můžete podat rozklad k ministru vnitra do 15 dnů. Ten musí rozhodnout do 120 dnů. Pokud vám občanství zamítnou kvůli ohrožení bezpečnosti státu, nelze se už obrátit na soud.
Správní poplatek činí 2 000 Kč pro dospělého, ale další výdaje za překlady, jazykovou zkoušku a ověření dokumentů mohou konečnou částku navýšit na 5 000 až 7 000 Kč.
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