Conditions
You can enter, reside and work in Czechiaas an intra-corporate transferee if you are a manager, specialist or trainee employee. The definitions and conditions of admission are governed by the EU Directive on intra-corporate transfer (Articles 3 and 5 of Directive 2014/66/EU). If you fulfil the conditions, you will be issued an Intra-Corporate Transferee permit.
Please note that before being transferred from a company branch located outside of the EU to a branch in Czechia, you must have been employed by that company for a certain time period: if you are a manager 6 months; a specialist 6 months; a trainee 6 months.
More information on conditions on the websites of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.
Procedures
| Where and how to apply | To apply for an intra-corporate transferee card, you must submit a special application form entitled “Application for Long-Term Residence Permit". Always provide your application reference number in communications. You must apply for an intra-corporate transferee card in person at the embassy of Czechia with the appropriate territorial jurisdiction. In this case, the embassy works as liaison between the applicant and the authority responsible for the decision, i.e. the Ministry of the Interior of Czechia. In the case where the third-country national or business corporation within which or to which the third-country national is to be transferred is participating in a Government-approved scheme and the conditions of such scheme expressly allow it, this business corporation may lodge an application on behalf of the third-country national to the Ministry of the Interior in Czechia. In this case, the supporting documents to the application should be sent by registered post to the address specified in the summons or to the office where the application was lodged. The legal deadline for processing your application for issuance of an intra-corporate transferee card is 90 days from the date of lodging the application. |
| Documents required | To obtain an intra-corporate transferee card, you must submit:
All supporting documents must be presented either in original, or as an officially certified copy. The original of the following is always required: travel document and intra-corporate transferee permit/card issued by a different EU Member State. All submitted documents must be presented in their original version with an officially certified copy into the Czech language. Supporting documents must be no more than 180 days old, with the exception of the travel document and the third-country national’s photograph, if it corresponds to his/her real appearance. If a third-country national or business corporation within which or to which the third-country national is to be transferred participates in a Government-approved scheme, and the conditions thereof allow for the replacement of certain particulars of the application by confirmation issued by that business corporation, in this case the third-country national should submit only the following documents:
Prior to affixing/stamping a long-stay visa for the purpose of collecting an intra-corporate transferee card (D/VR) into the travel document, the third-country national is required to present a proof of travel medical insurance and, on request, to provide a proof of payment of the insurance premium. The third-country national must present this document to the embassy and this requirement concerns only the period from entry to Czechia until the date of establishment of public medical insurance in Czechia according to the Public Healthcare Act - basically the period from entering the visa into the travel document until commencing employment (as specified in the submitted documents). In case of a third-country national arriving to the country otherwise than on a D/VR, proof of medical insurance is not necessary if the third-country national is to become a participant of public healthcare insurance once he/she commences employment. |
| Further requirements | If your application is approved (if you have met the conditions for the issuance of a long-stay visa), you will be contacted by the embassy of Czechia where you submitted the application. If your application has been approved, the embassy, upon instruction from the Ministry of the Interior, will issue a visa for a stay of over 90 days for the purpose of collecting an intra-corporate transferee card (D/VR). Before affixing the visa, you will be asked to present a proof of possession of travel medical insurance for the period from the date of entry to Czechia until the date of establishment of public medical insurance in Czechia. Upon request, a third-country national can be requested to submit a proof certifying that the premiums have been paid. The visa for stay of over 90 days for the purpose of collecting an intra-corporate transferee card (D/VR) is issued with a validity period of 6 months, but for a stay of maximum 60 days, which is counted from the date of entry to Czechia. Once you arrive in Czechia, you should visit the offices of the Ministry of the Interior within 3 days to comply with your registration obligations and to provide your biometric data necessary for producing your intra-corporate transferee card. Once your biometric data has been recorded, you will be issued with a “Confirmation of compliance with conditions for issuance of an intra-corporate transferee card”. On the basis of this confirmation, you can be employed from the date of the issuance of the confirmation until the date of termination of the application procedure (issuance of the biometric card). Within the deadline set, but no later than 60 days after the acquisition of biometric data, you should come in person to an office of the Ministry of the Interior to collect your intra-corporate transferee card and to verify whether the data specified in the card is correct and the data carrier with your biometric data is functional. During your stay in Czechia, please remember to report any changes in your data and information within three (3) working days from the date on which such a change occurred. If the decision to cancel the intra-corporate transferee card is issued, the Ministry determines a period to depart from Czechia and issues the Departure Order to the third-country national; the third-country national must leave the territory of Czechia within the given period. The Ministry will also inform the concerned business corporation about issuance of the decision to cancel the intra-corporate transferee card and of the reasons for such decision. |
| Duration of validity of permits | The period of validity of the ICT permit is of at least 91 days or the duration of the transfer (whichever is shorter), and may be extended to a maximum of 3 years for managers and specialists and 1 year for trainee employees. The intra-corporate transferee card is most frequently issued for the duration of intra-corporate transfer. The card may be repeatedly extended up to a maximum duration of 3 years for a manager or specialist, and 1 year for a trainee employee. |
| Appeals | If your application is rejected, you will receive a written copy of the decision of the Ministry of the Interior to reject your application. In the event of rejection of an application for an intra-corporate transferee card, you may, within 15 days from the delivery of the decision to reject the application, file an appeal against such decision with the Commission for Decision-Making in Matters of Residence of Foreign Nationals. You must however lodge your appeal with an office of the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior. If the Ministry of the Interior (Department of Asylum and Migration Policy) fails to find any reason to cancel or change its own negative decision (so called "autoremedura"), within 30 days of taking receipt of the appeal it shall pass the case to its superior administrative authority for decision, which is the Commission for Decision-Making in Matters of Residence of Foreign Nationals. The Commission then decides on the appeal and delivers the written decision on the appeal to the applicant. |
| Extension or renewal | An intra-corporate transferee card may be extended repeatedly on condition of satisfaction of basically the same conditions as for issuance of a new intra-corporate transferee card for the permitted duration of intra-corporate transfer to the territory of EU Member States, which is a total of 3 years for a manager and specialist and a total 1 year for a trainee employee. An application for extension of the intra-corporate transferee card must be lodged with an office of the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior. The application must be lodged while the current intra-corporate transferee card is still valid, but no sooner than 120 days before it expires. During the examination of the application a third-country national who has been a holder of a valid ICT and according to the conditions stated in the Law has applied for the extension of its validity is entitled to stay in the territory of Czechia until the final decision is issued. Legality of his/her stay can be certified by a long-term visa sticker that is affixing to a travel document (i.e. the “Bridging Label”). |
Rights
| Change of status | An applicant who intends to stay in the territory for a purpose other than that for which he/she was granted, is obliged to apply to the Ministry for a new long-term permit. An applicant must do so within the period of validity of the ICT and provide proof of the purpose of the stay he/she intends to fulfil (e.g. proof of studies, a newly negotiated employment contract, etc.). |
| Family members | Family members are entitled to apply to the Ministry of the Interior of Czechia for issuing a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification. If family members have not resided in territory of Czechia yet, the application must be lodged at the Embassy of Czechia abroad. Family members who are entitled to lodge this application are specified by the Law. Detailed information about a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification |
Mobility
Upon the fulfillment of certain conditions you can, on the basis of an ICT permit issued in one EU country, work in other EU countries if the entity where you will work belongs to the same company. If the duration of your mobility is shorter than 90 days during a 180-day period, you are subject to short-term mobility rules. If the duration of the mobility is longer than 90 days, you are instead subject to long-term mobility rules. The following procedures apply if you have an ICT permit in an EU Member State and intend to move and work in Czechia: | |
| Short-term mobility | If a third-country national is a holder of a valid Intra-Corporate Transferee Card (ICT) issued by another Member State of the European Union, he/she is entitled to enter and reside in the territory of Czechia without any further residence permit for a period not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period. However, the residence card (incl. the ICT) does not substitute a travel document. Thus, the residence card has to be used in combination with a valid travel document in these cases. In general, the exemption from the requirement to hold a visa for short-term stays does not apply to third-country nationals who intend to perform gainful activities in the territory of Czechia. However, a holder of a valid ICT card issued by a different Member State of the European Union is entitled to work in the territory of Czechia without any special permit, if the duration of his/her stay is no longer than 90 days in any 180-day period and if the entity where he/she will work belongs to the same company (i.e. a holder of the ICT card issued by a different Member State has to be intra-corporate transferred to the territory of Czechia by his/her employer). This exemption is set out in Section 98 of the Act no. 435/2004 Coll. on Employment. An employer to whom the third-country national citizen was dispatched by his/her employer under an employment contract shall be obliged to inform an appropriate Regional Office of the Labour Office of Czechia at the latest on the date of commencement of that third-country national citizen to work. Detailed information about a free access to the Labour Market |
| Long-term mobility | If a third-country national is a holder of a valid Intra-Corporate Transferee Card (ICT) issued by another Member State of the European Union and he/she intends to reside in the territory of Czechia for the purpose of an inter-corporate transfer for a period longer than 90 days and, concurrently, if the entity where he/she is going to work in the territory belongs to the same company, he/she is obliged to apply for the ICT permit for employee of another Member State of the European Union and then he/she gets an ICT card (ICT EU). A third-country national who is a holder of this ICT, who intends to reside in the territory of Czechia for a period longer than 90 days and who intends to perform a profession as a manager or a specialist or a trainee based on the intra-corporate transfer is obliged to lodge the application for the ICT EU issuing in the territory of Czechia at the office of the Ministry of the Interior within 90 days upon entering the territory of Czechia. It is possible to lodge this application at the Embassy of Czechia abroad as well. A third-country national is obliged to lodge the application in person. If a third-country national or a corporation is participating in the Government-approved scheme, and if the conditions of this programme allow, the corporation is entitled to lodge the application instead of the applicant under his/her power of attorney. To obtain the Intra-Corporate Transferee Card of another Member State of the European Union (ICT EU), a third-country national is obliged to submit:
Originals or other officially authenticated copies of all of the attached documents must be submitted. Travel documents must be submitted in original. All submitted documents in foreign languages must be submitted in their original version and with an officially certified translation into the Czech language. The required attachments to the applications must not be older than 180 days, except for travel documents and the photograph of the third-country national, provided that corresponds to his/her current appearance, residence permit issued by another Member State or the documents underlying the original permit application, such as the extract from the Penal Registry record. Family members of a third-country national who is a holder of an ICT EU card and who intends to reside together with him/her in the territory of Czechia are entitled to apply e.g. for a visa for a stay of over 90 days (a long-term visa) for the purpose of family reunification. This application has to be lodged at the Embassy of Czechia abroad. |