Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Odbor cizinecké policie (foreign police): notification of your place of stay within 30 days if you stay more than 30 days (see CZ-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
• Ministerstvo vnitra – OAMP (Ministry of the Interior, Department for Asylum and Migration Policy): osvědčení o registraci (registration certificate for EU citizens), residence permits for non-Europeans, allocation of the rodné číslo (see CZ-NIF-TOUS-001).
• Finanční úřad (tax office): income tax, VAT, property tax; it is part of the Finanční správa. The competent office is the one for your home address (or the registered office of your company).
• ČSSZ (Česká správa sociálního zabezpečení, Czech Social Security Administration) and its district branches, the OSSZ: pensions, sickness insurance (sickness benefits), contributions of self-employed people.
• Zdravotní pojišťovny (health insurance funds, including the VZP): enrolment and health contributions (see CZ-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Úřad práce (labour office): jobseekers, family and social benefits, work permits for non-Europeans.
• Živnostenský úřad (trade licensing office, at the town hall): self-employed licences (see CZ-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001).
• Obecní úřad / Městský úřad / Magistrát (town hall): local fees (waste, dogs), civil registration, Czech POINT counter. The 205 municipalities with extended powers (obce s rozšířenou působností, ORP; Prague has its own regime) also handle vehicle registration (at any of them, whatever your home address) and driving licences, including the exchange of foreign licences (see CZ-PERMIS-TOUS-001).
• Krajský úřad (regional office): recognition of school qualifications, appeals against school decisions (see CZ-ECOLE-TOUS-003).

Online services

• Portál občana (citizen portal, obcan.portal.gov.cz, also as a mobile app): your personal space for many state services. Services are also listed by life situation on portal.gov.cz.
• Identita občana (citizen identity): the common login system. Recognised means:
  • NIA ID (name, password and SMS code) and Mobilní klíč eGovernmentu (mobile app), free, provided by the state;
  • eObčanka (Czech chip ID card): reserved for Czech citizens;
  • bank identities (bankovní identita) of many Czech banks (Česká spořitelna, ČSOB, Komerční banka, Air Bank, MONETA, Raiffeisenbank, Fio, UniCredit, CREDITAS, mBank, Partners) and MojeID.
• Datová schránka (data box): the official mailbox for dealing with the authorities, free of charge. It is created automatically for self-employed individuals and companies entered in a register; a private person can request one, including a foreigner. A document that has not been opened is deemed delivered 10 days after it arrives.
• MOJE daně (mojedane.cz): online tax returns (see CZ-IMPOTS-TOUS-001).
• ePortál ČSSZ: statements and advance payments for self-employed people, pension information.
• eDoklady: digital identity card app, reserved for Czech citizens with a valid Czech ID card.
• Czech POINT: physical counters (town halls, post offices, notaries) for obtaining official extracts: criminal record, land registry, commercial register, trade licence register.

What a foreigner can do online

• Without a registered stay: not much; however, you can request a datová schránka as a private individual, open to non-Czechs, and use it for certain state services.
• With your residence certificate: you can get a NIA ID if you hold a residence permit issued in Czechia, a visa for more than 90 days or, for an EU citizen, a valid temporary residence certificate. It gives access to the Portál občana and to the portals that accept the Identita občana. To activate it, you need a phone number from a Czech operator (SMS code) and in-person identification at a Czech POINT counter.
• With a Czech bank account: your bank's bank identity is often the simplest option (activation conditions for a foreigner to be checked with your bank).
• What stays at the counter: the notification to the foreign police and the application for a residence certificate (see CZ-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), Czech POINT extracts, and procedures that require the originals of foreign documents.

Steps

Recommended order on arrival:

1. Notify your address to the foreign police within 30 days (if your host has not done it).
2. Apply for your osvědčení o registraci at the OAMP: it gets you your rodné číslo.
3. Enrol with a health insurance fund (through your employer if you are an employee).
4. Open a bank account (the rodné číslo helps a lot), then activate a bank identity or a NIA ID.
5. Self-employed: register your živnost; your datová schránka is created automatically.
6. Register at the town hall for the waste fee, and enrol your children at school (see CZ-ECOLE-TOUS-001).
7. The following spring: tax return if necessary.

Costs and timelines

• NIA ID, Mobilní klíč eGovernmentu, Portál občana and datová schránka: free.
• Czech POINT: CZK 100 for a criminal record extract; CZK 100 for the first page of a land registry extract, CZK 50 for the following ones. Payment on the spot, in cash or by card.

Common pitfalls

• Not checking your datová schránka. A summons or a decision that has not been opened counts as delivered after 10 days.
• Looking for the digital identity card. eDoklady and eObčanka are reserved for Czech citizens: get a NIA ID or a bank identity.
• Mixing up the foreign police and the Ministry of the Interior. The police receive the address notification; the ministry (OAMP) issues the registration certificate.
• Assuming everything is translated. Most online services are in Czech. Plan for some help with the forms.

What changes by country of origin

• Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland: NIA ID available with your residence certificate; same services as Czechs, except eObčanka and eDoklady.
• United Kingdom (including Scotland): NIA ID available with a Czech residence permit or a visa for more than 90 days; your residence procedures fall under the third-country regime (see CZ-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
• Slovaks: in any administrative procedure, you can speak and submit your documents in Slovak, without translation (Code of Administrative Procedure, § 16); this also applies to the recognition of qualifications. Other languages require an official translation, unless the authority waives it.