Employee Card

 Česky

Special Cases / Non-Dual Mode Employee Card

In some special cases, which are stated below, a foreign national who wishes to reside in the territory of the CR on a long-term basis for the purpose of employment and has the right of free access to the labour market or continues to be subject to the obligation to obtain an employment permit issued by the Employment Agency of the CR can also apply for an employee card. In these cases, the right of free access to the labour market or the employment permit entitle the foreign national to perform a job and the employee card will serve merely as a long-term residence permit to him or her, i.e. it will operate in non-dual mode.
 

A. Free Access to the Labour Market of the CR

Pursuant to Section 98 of the Employment Act No. 435/2004 Coll., the right of free access to the labour market of the CR is held for example by a foreign national who

• has obtained secondary or tertiary professional education or tertiary professional education at a conservatory or university education in the CR, or

• wishes to be employed in the CR as a pedagogical worker or academic worker of a university or as a cleric of a church or religious society registered in the CR, or

• has been posted to the CR for provision of services by his or her foreign employer based in some other EU/EEA Member State or in Switzerland.
   

An employee card can be issued to a foreign national for the duration of the employer-employee relationship according to the submitted documents (for example, a contract of employment) but not for more than 2 years, with an option of repeated extension of its validity.

A foreign national can take up employment after arriving to the CR, if he or she has a valid visa for a stay of over 90 days for the purpose of collecting an employee card.

If such a foreign national changes his or her employer or job or finds additional employment and continues to be a foreign national with free access to the labour market even in the case of this new employment, he or she must notify the Ministry of the Interior of this fact within 3 working days from the date on which this fact occurred, using the form titled "Notification by a Foreign National with an Employee Card about Termination of Employment, Change of Position, Change of Employer or Employment in an Additional Job or with an Additional Employer".
 

Required Attachments to an Application for Issue of an Employee Card – an Employee Card with a Non-Dual Nature and Free Access to the Labour Market

Therefore, a foreign national with free access to the labour market is obliged to attach the following to an application for an employee card of non-dual nature:

1. a travel document,

2. a document confirming availability of accommodation,

3. 1 photograph,

4. a contract of employment, an agreement on work activity (or at least a contract on a future contract, in which the parties agree to enter into a contract of employment or an agreement on work activity by an agreed deadline). The aforementioned documents must contain a stipulation which provides that regardless of the scope of work, the agreed monthly salary will not be lower than the basic monthly minimum wage and that the amount of weekly working hours will be at least 15 hours,

5. a document proving that the foreign national comes under the definition in Section 98 of the Employment Act, that is, a document proving his or her right of free access to the labour market – the specific form of a document proving this fact depends on which provision of Section 98 of the Employment Act provides the foreign national with free access to the labour market; in some cases, this right can arise directly from a contract of employment, or else from the content of the employer-employee relationship, or it will be necessary to prove such right with some other separate document (such as a document on obtaining secondary or tertiary professional education or tertiary professional education at a conservatory or university education in the CR),

6. a document similar to an extract from the Penal Register record, issued by the state of which you are a citizen. The obligation to submit an extract from the Penal Register record does not relate to a foreign national under 15 years of age,

7. upon request, a document similar to an extract from the Penal Register, issued by the states in which, in the last 3 years, you have resided for longer than 6 months in its summary, or a signed affidavit in the event that this state does not issue such a document (not required from a foreign national under 15 years of age),

8. upon request a 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).
    

Neither a document proving the professional qualifications to perform the given job nor a document on recognition of foreign education will be requested from the foreign national. The job is not required to appear among the jobs in the central register of job vacancies that can be filled by holders of employee cards.

Before a long-term visa for the purpose of collecting an employee card (D/VR) is entered, the foreign national is required to present a travel medical insurance document and, upon request, proof of payment of the insurance premium. The foreign national must present this document not to the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior but to the embassy, and such insurance must only be valid for the period from the date of entry into the territory of the CR until the time when the public health insurance coverage will apply to him or her pursuant to the Public Health Insurance Act – that is, principally from the date on which the visa was issued, until commencement of employment (as stated in the submitted documents).

In the case of a foreign national who has applied for an employee card in the territory of the CR or has arrived to the territory of the CR otherwise than with a D/VR, it is not necessary to present a document on travel medical insurance.

Employees referred to as “posted employees” who have free access to the labour market are required to present a document on travel medical insurance for the entire duration of their stay because such employees will not be covered by public health insurance.
 

B. Employment Permit

A foreign national who wishes to reside in the CR on a long-term basis for the purpose of employment with an employee card must apply to the relevant regional branch office of the Employment Agency of the CR for an employment permit only if,

• he or she has been posted by his or her foreign employer based outside the territory of the EU/EEA or Switzerland to perform work in the CR (to perform the tasks arising from a contract entered into between this employer and a Czech legal entity or natural person), or if

• he or she is working as an intern in an employer-employee relationship with an employer in the CR, or if

• a valid international agreement provides so in his or her case.
   

In the above cases, a foreign national will apply for an employment permit for a job not appearing in the central register of job vacancies that can be filled by holders of employee cards.

An employee card may be issued to a foreign national for the period of validity of his/her employment permit. Extension of its validity is a condition for possible extension of validity of his or her employee card.

A foreign national may take up employment after arriving to the CR if he or she has a valid employment permit and a visa for a stay of over 90 days for the purpose of collecting an employee card, other long term or short term visa or residence permit.

If such a foreign national changes employer or job or finds additional employment and continues to be a foreign national with an employment permit even for this new employment, he or she must notify the Ministry of the Interior of this fact within 3 working days from the date on which such a situation occurred, and must do so using the form titled "Notification from a Foreign National with an Employee Card about Termination of Employment, Change of Job, Change of Employer or Employment in an Additional Job or with an Additional Employer".
 

Required Appendices to an Application for an Employee Card – an Employee Card of a Non-Dual Nature accompanied by an Employment Permit

A foreign national with an employment permit is required to attach the following to an application for an employee card, which is of a non-dual nature:

1. a travel document,

2. a document confirming availability of accommodation,

3. 1 photograph,

4. a contract of employment, an agreement on work activity (or at least an agreement for a future contract, in which the parties agree to enter into a contract of employment or an agreement on work activity by an agreed deadline). The aforementioned documents must contain a stipulation which provides that regardless of the scope of work, the agreed monthly salary will not be lower than the basic monthly minimum wage and that the amount of weekly working hours will be at least 15 hours,

5. an employment permit; if the foreign national applied for an employment permit and it has not yet been issued, this fact may be indicated (ticked).in the application for an employee card, also supplying the reference number of the filed application, the date on which the application was filed and the regional branch office of the Employment Agency of the CR where the foreign national has applied for the employment permit,

6. a document similar to an extract from the Penal Register record, issued by the state of which you are a citizen. The obligation to submit an extract from the Penal Register record does not relate to a foreign national under 15 years of age,

7. upon request, a document similar to an extract from the Penal Register, issued by the states in which, in the last 3 years, you have resided for longer than 6 months in its summary, or a signed affidavit in the event that this state does not issue such a document (not required from a foreign national under 15 years of age),

8. upon request a 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).
    

Neither a document proving the professional qualifications to perform the given job nor a document confirming recognition of foreign education will be requested from the foreign national. The job is not required to appear among the jobs in the central register of job vacancies that can be filled by holders of employee cards.

For employees referred to as “posted employees” with an employment permit [sent by a foreign employer to perform work in the territory of the CR (Section 95 of the Employment Act)] who have not entered into a contract of employment with a local employer, it will not be necessary to submit a contract of employment and it will be deemed to be sufficient to submit what is referred to as a “posting letter”, from which it is also clear that regardless of the scope of work, the agreed monthly salary is not or will not be lower than the basic minimum monthly wage and that the amount of weekly working hours will be at least 15 hours.

Before a long-term visa for the purpose of collecting an employee card (D/VR) is entered, the foreign national is required to present a document on medical travel insurance and, upon request, a document on the payment of the insurance premium. The foreign national must present this document not to the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior but to the embassy, and the insurance must only be valid for the period from the date of entry into the territory of the CR until the time when the public health insurance will apply to him or her pursuant to the Public Medical Health Act – that is, principally from the date, on which the visa was issued, until commencement of employment (as stated in the submitted documents).

In the case of a foreign national who has applied for an employee card in the territory of the CR or has arrived to the territory of the CR otherwise than with a D/VR, it is not necessary to present a document on travel medical insurance.

Employees who are referred to as “posted employees” with an employment permit may be required to submit a travel medical insurance document for the entire duration of their stay because such employees are covered by the public health insurance only in certain cases.
 

Partners, Executives and other members of statutory body of the commercial corporations

With the effect from August 15th, 2017  it is not possible to issue employee card  to a foreign national who as a partner, member of the statutory body  of  commercial corporation or cooperative   performs tasks arising from the subject of the activities of such legal entity.  This is not possible even if foreign national was issued Employment Permit by regional branch of Employment Office.

If the foreign national was issued employee card  for this reason in the past, it  is still valid,  however it not possible to prolong its validity any more (see also item Extension of validity of employee card).

The  foreign nationals who are statutory body of  commercial corporations or their members may choose as a purpose of their stay " Bussiness" purpose and apply for long-term visa for bussiness purposes at the embassy. Those who already reside  on the territory of Czech Republic for at least 5 years may apply for new  long-term residence permit  for the business purposes. Such application has to be lodged on the territory at MOI office.
 

Seasonal work

With the effect from August 15^th, 2017 solely the long term visa  for the purpose of seasonal work  are issued to foreign nationals  who intend to perform working activities that are dependent on changes of seasons.  Present employee cards issued to foreign nationals for the purposes of seasonal employment  are still valid and their validity can be extended under the provisions of Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals  effective till August 14^th, 2017.

  

Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, July 13th, 2023

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