What is the green card?

The green card is a permit for long-term residence for employment purposes in the Czech Republic under special circumstances. A foreigner who has a green card issued for a specific job is entitled to:

• reside in the Czech Republic and
• work in a job for which the green card was issued.

The green card combines the residence permit and the work permit in one document.

The green card is issued:

type A: for qualified workers with university education and key personnel

type B: for workers in jobs with a minimum educational requirement

type C: for other workers

The validity of the green card is for 2-3 years.
For green card types A and B it is possible to extend their validity under certain circumstances for up to 3 years.

Who is the green card for?

The green card simplifies entry to the job market for foreigners who have qualifications for which the Czech Republic has a job opening.

The green card is for foreigners, citizens of the countries listed, which are not members of the European Union:

Australia, Montenegro, Croatia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, United States of America, Serbia, Ukraine

If you are not a citizen of any of the countries listed and none of the exceptions given in Section 98 of Act No. 435/2004 Coll., on Employment, apply to you, for work in the Czech Republic it will be necessary to arrange a work permit.

Please note: Citizens of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Switzerland and their family members do not need a work permit or green card to work in the Czech Republic.

1.  Find an available job

The green card is issued for a specific job in the Czech Republic. Jobs available for green cards are primarily those which have not been successfully filled by workers from the Czech Republic or the EU.

Register of jobs available for green cards

Jobs for green card holders can be found in the central register of job vacancies suitable for green card holders (hereinafter referred to as the "register of suitable jobs for green cards") accessible on the internet.

Here you can check whether a green card can be issued for a job you have found out about somewhere else.

For each of the job vacancies you can find important information about this job. You can also find here the application form for the green card.

It is appropriate to contact the employer for whom you are thinking of working in advance. He/she will give you further details about the job vacancy. This way you can check whether you fulfil the employer's requirements. The procedure is described in detail in point 3.

2.  Submit an application

The application for a green card is submitted at the relevant embassy of the Czech Republic. Nationality is stipulated in the Decree of the Ministry of Interior No. 462/2008 Coll. Citizens of countries which are not given in this Decree may submit a green card application at any embassy of the CR.

The application for a green card can in certain cases be submitted at an office of the department for asylum and migration policy of the Ministry of the Interior depending on your place of residence in the Czech Republic.

• The application for the green card can be found on the internet. You can print out a blank form and complete it by hand or complete it directly on the internet, print it out and bring it to the embassy or office of the Ministry of Interior.
• You can write in the application the number and description of the job you would like to do. You can find this number in the register of jobs available for green cards.
• You must also submit:
  1. a valid travel document (the validity of the travel document must be at least 90 days beyond the expected duration of the green card)
  2. 2 current photographs
  3. documentation to demonstrate the education or professional qualification required for the select job; submit originals or official copies and also official translations of these documents into Czech.
• You may also be asked for:
  1. a medical report to show you are not suffering from a serious illness
  2. a similar document to an extract from the criminal register; if you are not asked for this document by the embassy, the Ministry of Interior is entitled to ask for the document after entering the Czech Republic.

Notice:

Physicians, dentists and pharmacists who have not acquired professional qualification in another EU member state and wish to exercise their medical profession in the Czech Republic must successfully complete an approbation exam.
The same requirement also applies to the exercise of a non-medical health care profession.
For more information, contact the employer or see the Ministry of Health website: www.mzcr.cz, section Professional, Healthcare Professional - Education and Training Recognition.

For receipt of the application at the embassy, you will pay a fee of CZK 1000 in the equivalent amount in foreign currency.

Your application will be delivered to the department of asylum and migration policy of the Ministry of Interior, which will assess it and decide whether to grant it.

3.  Contact your future employer

Even when the employer's consent is not required to issue the green card, it is in your own interest to attempt before or immediately after submitting an application for a green card to contact your future employer.

The contact details of the employer can be found with the job vacancy. Send the employer (by email is best) your detailed professional CV and number of your green card application.

You can complete a structured CV in the section Job offers and CV You can also use the link "request for job vacancy" located by the majority of offers. Ascertaining the reaction of an employer in time to your professional CV can save you considerable expense connected with the unnecessary trip to get your green card and job interview.

4.  Come to the Czech Republic

As a rule the embassy will inform you within 2 months of submitting your application whether it has been granted. If it has, you will get from the embassy a visa for residence over 90 days for the purpose of getting your green card and you can come to the Czech Republic.

Before the visa is put in your passport you will be asked to submit a valid travel health insurance policy document. This insurance should be valid for at least 40 days.

In the Czech Republic then, within 3 working days of entering the country:

• Collect your green card at the agreed office for the department of asylum and migration policy of the Ministry of Interior. You will pay a fee of CZK 1000 for the green card issued.
• At the Foreigners' Police Inspectorate relevant to your place of residence in the Czech Republic, register your stay. When declaring your residence submit the document for securing accommodation (lease, sublease, etc.). If you do not have this, you must supply it within 10 days of your arrival in the Czech Republic.

After collecting your green card go and see your future employer as soon as possible.