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What is an EU Blue card?

An EU Blue Card is a new residential status designed for a long-term stay involving the performance of a highly skilled job (§ 42i of the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals). An EU Blue Card entitles a foreign national to stay and perform a job, i.e. the foreign national does not need a separate work permit.

Duly completed university education or higher vocational education, the duration of which was at least 3 years, is deemed to be a high level of skills.

The EU Blue Card database of vacancies is available at the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

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Lodging an application

You are entitled to lodge a Blue Card application, if

1. you intend to stay in the Czech Republic for a period longer than 3 months and if you are to be employed at a position requiring a high level of skills. At the same time, this position must be, according to the Czech Employment Act, open to non-EU foreign nationals.

2. you are NOT

   1. in the process of an application for a long-term residence permit for the purpose of scientific research,

   2. an EU citizen’s family member, if the EU citizen resides in the Czech Republic,

   3. a resident of another EU member state and you currently have a Czech long-term residence permit of a resident of another EU member state, issued for the purpose of employment or business (§ 42c),

   4. a foreigner residing in the Czech Republic on the basis of a binding international agreement facilitating the entry and temporary residence of some categories of natural persons in connection with doing business and investments,

   5. a foreigner residing in the CR on the basis of a residence permit for seasonal workers, or

   6. a foreigner who is employed by an employer in another EU member state and is dispatched to work in the Czech Republic within the framework of providing international services,

   7. a seeker of international protection through asylu m or a person who has been granted the status of refugee or subsidiary protection,

   8. an applicant for a residence permit for the purpose of temporary protection in the Czech Republic, or a foreigner who has already been granted such a permit.
       

An application for an EU Blue Card is to be filed by a foreign national at a Czech embassy as well as, in selected cases, at a MOI office inside the Czech Republic, that is if you are already in the CR on a long-term visa or long-term residency permit, or are a holder of a Blue Card issued by another EU state and you apply within 1 month of entering the CR. You must file your application personally.

File your application on the relevant form with all the below listed attachments. Always provide originals or notarized copies of any documents. Any documents attached to the application must be in the Czech language or in the form of an official translation. Foreign public documents must be provided with an Apostille or superlegalization.
 

The Ministry of the Interior makes a decision on an application for an EU Blue Card within a period of 90 days.

EU Blue Card application requirements are as follows:

1. a travel document,

2. a document confirming that accommodation has been ensured for the period of stay in the Czech Republic,

3. photographs,

4. a contract of employment for the performance of a job requiring a high level of skills for a term of at least one year and for the weekly working hours defined by law; the contract must also contain the amount of the agreed gross monthly or annual salary equal to at least 1.5 times the average gross annual salary stated in an announcement of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA),
   Based on the Announcement of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the average gross salary is equal to CZK 726 354  for a period from May 1^st, 2023 to April 30^th, 2024. Thus, the gross monthly salary of a foreigner has to be at least CZK 60 529 at this period.

5. documents confirming the high level of skills (documents on attained education) - in justified cases, particularly if reasonable doubt exists as to whether you have the required education or whether your education is appropriate for the nature of employment, an administrative authority will request to prove and submit a document certifying that your foreign education has been recognised by the relevant authority of the Czech Republic,

6. if it is a case of a regulated job, then a document confirming the compliance with the conditions for performing such a job is required (Note: The Ministry will make a decision on the EU Blue Card after the relevant recognition authority issues its opinion statement.),

7. in case your employer is a job agency and you will be temporarily allocated to another employer, a document in which there is your name, surname, former surname, citizenship, birthdate, birthplace and place of your stay in the territory of the Czech Republic (address). There have to be stated a kind of work you will do, place of work, the name of the (another) employer and its registered office in this document as well. You can find a form of this document here.
    

If prior to filing for a Blue Card in the Czech Republic you were residing in the Czech Republic  as a holder of a Blue Card issued by another EU member state, you are obliged to present proof of the total monthly income of your family (in case of family unification).

Prior to receiving a long-term visa for the purpose of receiving a long-term residence permit - Blue Card, you are obliged to present proof of travel medical insurance for the period from entering the CR until the day you fall under public health insurance, and, at the same time, proof of having paid the insurance fee stated on the proof of travel medical insurance. In case you are applying inside the CR, please present this document automatically.

Upon request, you are also required to attach the following to your application for an EU Blue Card:

• a document similar to an extract from the Penal Register record,

• document proving the fulfilment of conditions set out in the measure of Ministry of Health on prevention of the spread of infectious illnesses (Medical report).

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Application proceedings

The application proceedings are subject to the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals (pdf, 1.8 MB), the Administrative Act and possibly other related laws.

In the event that the application was not submitted with the prescribed requirements or has defects, and if the application is submitted at the Ministry of Interior, the clerk receiving the application will help you remove these deficiencies or prompt you to remove them and give you a reasonable time period to do so, and will inform you about the consequences of failure to remove the deficiencies within this period, while the proceedings on your application may be interrupted.

Provide any additional documents to the application in person, through your proxy or by post. Always provide any documents that you were invited to supply within the prescribed period. Failure to provide the requested documents may be reason for a dismissal of your application. Over the course of the proceedings, you may demonstrate other documents you consider important for the assessment of your application. Remember that travel documents must be submitted in person.

The Act on Residence of Foreign Nationals (pdf, 1.8 MB) provides a period of 90 days from the date of application inside the CR, during which the Ministry of Interior is to decide on your application. If proceedings are interrupted, the period for issuing a decision does not run. This period does not run or is extended also in other cases stipulated by law.

During the proceedings, you may ask for access to the file materials and become acquainted with them. You may also be prompted by the Ministry to become acquainted with them before it rules a decision.

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Approval of your application for a long-term residence permit - Blue Card

In the case of a positive assessment of your application which was submitted to the Ministry of Interior, this office will contact you by telephone and arrange a meeting to provide you with your long-term residence permit - Blue Card. If you cannot be contacted by phone, you will be asked in writing to the address you provided in the application as contact address.

In the case of an application submitted to a Czech embassy, the embassy will invite you to present yourself and receive a visa for a stay over 90 days for the purpose of receiving a residence permit - Blue Card.

After assessing your application for a Blue Card, the Ministry of Interior shall inform your employer that you have met the conditions for a Blue Card.

An EU Blue Card is issued with a period of validity that is 3 months longer than the period of time for which the contract of employment was concluded, but the maximum period of validity is 2 years. A Blue Card can be renewed.

The residence permit - Blue Card will be issued in the form of a residence card with biometric data. The entire process of issuing such a card is described here.

Before issuing the residence permit - Blue Card, you will be provided with a confirmation of having met the conditions for a Blue Card. This serves to confirm that you are entitled to reside in the CR and to work even before the residence permit - Blue Card with biometric data is issued.

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Dismissal of your application for a long-term residence permit - Blue Card

The Ministry of Interior will dismiss an application for a long-term residence permit if:

1. foreigner submitted falsified or altered documents or if the information essential for the assessment of the application did not reflect reality, or

2. the job position in question does not require high qualification that under special legislation may be filled by a foreign national who is not a citizen of the European Union or

3. the applicant is an persona non grata, or

4. the applicant appears in the Schengen Information System, or

5. there is reasonable threat that the foreigner might endanger national security, seriously disrupt public order or endanger the international relations of the Czech Republic or

6. there is a reasonable threat that the foreigner could during his stay in the CR endanger the security of another Member State or seriously disturb public order or endanger the international relations of the Member States, or

7. there is reasonable suspicion that the foreigner suffers from a disease that is listed in the list established by a decree of the Ministry of Health, or

8. the applicant fails without serious reasons to appear for questioning, refuses to testify or gives false testimony or

9. the applicant does not meet the conditions for this permit.
    

In the event of a negative assessment of your application submitted to the Ministry of Interior, you will receive a decision on the dismissal of your application by post to the address specified in the application as contact address. You have the right to appeal against this decision in a period of 15 days from the receipt of the decision. Appeals can be submitted in person or sent by post to the Ministry of Interior office.

If the Ministry of Interior does not find your objections against the decision as reason to change its decision, it will submit all materials related to the processing of your application to the Commission for decision-making in matters of residence of foreigners, that will express its opinion and submit the case to the Minister of the Interior for his decision. You will receive the decision of the Minister of Interior.

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Obligations of an EU Blue Card holder

• if the holder of an EU Blue Card terminates his/her employment during the period of its validity, he/she is required to report this fact to the Ministry of the Interior within the specified time limit,

• an obligation to report a change of employer and a change of professional position (During the first two years, these changes are subject to prior consent of the Ministry of the Interior. After the first two years of the foreign national’s stay in the CR, there is an obligation to report these changes within 3 working days),

• to report important facts related to the foreign national’s stay in the territory

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Termination of employment, change in employer or placement

Termination of employment

If the holder of an EU Blue Card terminates his/her employment during the period of its validity, he/she is required to report this fact to the Ministry of the Interior within three working days. This obligation also applies in case of change in employer and start of a new employment what means a termination of the original employment. During the first two years of his/her stay, all these changes are subject to prior consent of the Ministry of the Interior.

Change in employer or placement

1. During first two years of stay

Change in an employer or change in placement of a Blue Card holder is subject to consent of the Ministry of Interior during the first two years of stay. Ministry gives approval to changes based on a request submitted by the Blue Card holder, in case he/she still meets all the requirements for issuing this card.

One of the conditions is that the position has to be listed in a register of vacancies available for Blue Card holders - issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. This means that the employer has to enter this position to the register of vacancies available for Blue Card holders. Applicant has to specify the number of the new position to his/her application for a change in employer.

The request for approval of changes can be made through the Blue Card Application where you fill all the details in and mark the option O souhlas se změnou zaměstnavatele nebo zařazení / For a consent to a change in employer or placement.

The application for change in employer or placement must be submitted together with:

• an employment contract for a job requiring a high qualification for a term of at least one year and the statutory weekly work hours. The agreed gross monthly or annual salary must correspond to at least a 1.5 multiple of the gross annual salary in the Czech Republic announced by a Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs;

• a document to demonstrate the high qualification required for the selected job - submit a university diploma only in case you are changing to a job with different professional focus. (For example in case you are a civil engineer and you are willing to work as a civil engineer, you do not have to submit the diploma. In case you are simultaneously an engineer and a doctor and your Blue Card was issued for a job position - engineer, however you wish to work as a doctor, you have to submit a diploma proving your qualification in medicine);

• proof of accommodation - submit only in case it has changed.
   

There is no application fee. The decision on the application should be issued within 30 days, in case of complex decisions in 60 days.

In case of positive decision, you will be left with your original card with the original validity. There is no need to request a new card.

2. After two years of stay

After two years of stay the holder of a Blue Card is obliged to report the changes to Ministry of the Interior within three working days by filling the appropriate form (only in Czech), which has to be submitted at the Ministry of the Interior (Department for Asylum and Migration Policy) office.

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Extension of the validity of Blue Card

An application for extension of validity of long term residence permit (including Blue Card) shall be submitted in period of 120 days before end of validity of your long term residence permit till the end of the last day of the validity of the permit.

If the last day of validity of your Blue Card is public holiday (Saturday, Sunday, holiday), it is possible to submit the application via mail (at the Post Office) at the last day of this term. If you are not able to lodge the application in due time for reasons beyond your control, you are entitled to lodge the application within 5 working days after the cessation of such reasons. You can submit an application even earlier than 120 days before expiry the validity of authorization in justifiable cases. You are obliged to communicate the reasons for later presentation and for earlier presentation of an application with the Ministry of Interior.
 

With the application for an extension of validity of an EU Blue Card, you should primarily submit:

1. a travel document,

2. a proof of accommodation for the period of your stay in the Czech Republic,

3. an employment contract for employment requiring high qualifications signed for a period of at least one year for a legally set working week, which further contains the amount of the agreed gross monthly or annual wage corresponding to at least 1.5 times the average gross annual wage declared by Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

4. documents confirming high qualifications,

5. if it concerns carrying out a regulated occupation, a document on meeting the conditions for carrying out such an occupation (note: the MOI decides on issuing a Blue Card after the statement by the relevant authority on recognising qualifications has been issued),

6. in case your employer is a job agency and you will be temporarily allocated to another employer, a document in which there is your name, surname, former surname, citizenship, birthdate, birthplace and place of your stay in the territory of the Czech Republic (address). There have to be stated a kind of work you will do, place of work, the name of the (another) employer and its registered office in this document as well. You can find a form of this document here.
    

If you meet the conditions for extending the validity of the long-term residence permit, then, upon being invited, you are obliged to report in person to the MOI to process the data necessary for issuing the residence permit, including providing biometric data and a digital signature; a signature is not taken if, in so doing, you are prevented by a barrier that is difficult to overcome.

You are obliged to report at the MOI within a set time period, though no later than 60 days after providing biometric data, to receive your residence card.