Visa support provided to foreign investors

Relocating a company to a foreign destination is always a demanding administrative process. The Investment and Business Development Agency CzechInvest assists foreign companies with overcoming the challenges inherent in that process, including relocation of management and key employees. Visa support starts with tailored consultancy and continues with the administration of government visa programmes the accelerate visa processes.

The Czech Republic offers several government visa programs aimed at investors and employers, significantly contributing to the country’s economic development. These programs provide a more efficient alternative to standard visa processes, allowing employers to benefit from faster and less administratively demanding application and approval procedures.

In 2023, the Czech Republic joined the ranks of countries supporting the Digital Nomad program, responding to the growing trends in international mobility of freelance workers, particularly in the IT sector. This year, the program has been expanded to include marketing specialists, further facilitating the relocation of these professionals and strengthening the Czech labor market.

* If the foreigner has entered the Czech Republic in another way, for example, without a visa with a biometric passport, the registration will be carried out within 3 working days.

Note: The labour market test was abolished last year. While it is still necessary to report a vacancy to the Labour Office when hiring a foreign worker, it is no longer necessary to wait 10 to 30 days to take the test. If unemployment increases, the obligation will return

Programme for Key and Scientific Personnel

 This programme designs the visa process for members of statutory bodies, legal representatives and employees of newly established companies in the period of up to two years from the date of incorporation in a commercial register. It substantially eases the process of arranging residence permits for key employees of companies coming to the Czech Republic. Those eligible to register in the programmeinclude newly established Czech business entities of foreign investors, start-ups, technology companies, research institutes and Czech entities of foreign investors with at least 50 employees in the country and 250 employees worldwide. The programme is intended for statutory representatives, managers and key specialists who need to reside in the Czech Republic for longer than 90 days. The benefit of this programme consists in accelerated issuance of a residence permit within 30 days following submission of the application, which is a significant reduction in comparison with the standard time periods of up to 90 days for issuance of an employee card and up to 120 days for issuance of a blue card or long-term business visa.

 This programme also supports the relocation of employees’ family members who apply for a visa for the purpose of cohabitation of a family.  Last year, individual family member applications had to be processed together, but this year there has been a significant change and family members can apply for a residence title after the fact. However, their approval process will follow the deadlines set out in the law.

Within the Programme for Key and Scientific Personnel, companies can use two means of relocating their employees and statutory representatives. These are internal transfer, whereby a foreigner is transferred on the basis of a contract to work at a Czech branch while remaining in an employment relationship with the foreign investor, and localisation, whereby the transferred employee enters into an employment relationship directly with the established Czech business entity.

Where to apply for registration in the programme

The programme is administrated by CzechInvest for newly established companies, startups, research institutes and technology companies. If the application is submitted by an investor that was incorporated more than a year prior, has at least 50 employees in the Czech Republic and 250 employees globally, the application is administrated directly by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

How companies use the Programme for Key and Scientific Personnel

In 2024, more than 1099 specialists, managers, statutory representatives and their family members enjoyed the benefits of the Programme for Key and Scientific Personnel. CzechInvest processed applications of  12 newly established firms and technology companies.