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Work & Life

Living and working in Czechia as a foreigner: residence permits, registration, health care, tax returns and payroll.

98 articles43 guides · 51 explainers · 3 lists · 1 FAQUpdated 13 Oct 2026

Featured guide

A criminal-record certificate for a Czech visa: order it to stay valid

It must come from the right country, be recent on the day you file, carry the right stamp and be translated. Get the order wrong and you pay for it twice.

Applicants over 15 for a long-term visa or permit supply an extract from their country of citizenship and, on request, from countries where they spent over six months in the last three years.
The extract should be no older than 180 days on the filing date, or less if it states a shorter validity (as of 2026; check MV), so timing is the main risk.
The usual chain is: issue, apostille or legalisation, sworn translation into Czech, then file; EU documents may be exempt from the apostille.

6 min read · Updated 12 Oct 2026

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Guide
A criminal-record certificate for a Czech visa: order it to stay valid
It must come from the right country, be recent on the day you file, carry the right stamp and be translated. Get the order wrong and you pay for it twice.
6 min
Guide
Americans in Czechia: visas, taxes and voting from abroad
The US taxes its citizens wherever they live, so a move to Prague adds a second tax system, not a replacement. Residence, filing and voting explained.
5 min
Explainer
Apostille or legalisation? Getting foreign papers accepted in Czechia
A birth certificate that is good at home can be worthless to a Czech office. The stamp that fixes it, who is exempt, and the order of steps.
6 min
Guide
Applying to a Czech university: deadlines, entrance exams and your papers
Each Czech faculty sets its own deadline and test, and the foreign certificate in your folder may need recognition first. A route through the process.
5 min
Explainer
Average salary in Prague and what it buys: reading the number properly
The figure quoted as the Czech average wage is a tax threshold, not a Prague payslip. What it means gross and net, and how to test it against rent.
6 min
List
Before you fly: a pre-departure checklist for moving to Czechia
Most of the slow work happens at home: certificates, apostilles, insurance and a permit. What to do in the weeks before departure, and in what order.
6 min
Guide
Bringing children to Czechia: permits, insurance and school places
A child's residence permit, health cover and school place all run on separate clocks. Which comes first, and what a parent should have in hand before arrival.
5 min
Guide
Bringing your spouse to Czechia: the documents, the interview, the wait
A marriage certificate is the easy part. The slow parts are its apostille, its sworn translation and proving that the home you offer is big enough.
5 min
Guide
Buying a Czech SIM card: prepaid, contract and what to check first
Three networks, a crowd of resellers and one habit that saves money: reading what happens after the introductory price ends. A guide to your first Czech number.
6 min
Guide
Changing jobs on an employee card: tell the Ministry before you resign
An employee card belongs to a job, not to you. Why the order of events matters when you move employer, and who must notify whom.
5 min
Explainer
Cost of living in Czechia compared with the UK: rent, food and transport
A Londoner expects Prague to be cheaper, and in places it is. The comparison that matters is between two pay packets, two rent systems and two bundles of bills.
7 min
Explainer
Cost of living in Czechia compared with the US, category by category
A dollar salary does not travel intact. Health cover, tax, rent deposits and childcare are built differently, which is why price comparisons keep misleading.
6 min
Explainer
Cost of living in Prague for a family: housing, school and childcare
A child changes the Prague budget in four places at once: a bigger flat, a childcare or school choice, a tax credit and a benefit system rewritten in 2025.
5 min
Explainer
Cost of living in Prague for expats: the costs only newcomers meet
Locals and newcomers pay the same rent. The difference is in the extras: insurance, paperwork and a minimum that freelancers owe before they earn a crown.
6 min
Guide
Cost of living in Prague: a full monthly breakdown
Rent decides most of the budget, but the line newcomers forget is the gap between gross pay and take-home. A worked net-pay example, then a method for the rest.
5 min
Explainer
Czech bank accounts for Americans: FATCA and what to expect
A US passport can slow a Czech account application, because of a US law the bank must follow. What the forms ask, which products narrow and your own duties.
5 min
Guide
Czech citizenship by naturalisation: who qualifies and what is tested
Czechia now allows dual nationality, but naturalisation still means years of residence, a language exam and a civics test. The process in plain terms.
5 min
Explainer
Czech compulsory car insurance: what it covers and why premiums differ
Every registered car in Czechia must be insured, driven or not. Who is covered, who is not, and the factors that make two quotes for one car look so different.
6 min
Explainer
Czech digital identity: Bank iD, eID and which key opens which door
Your online bank can vouch for you to the tax office. The Czech system for logging in to state services, who runs it and where the risks sit.
6 min
Explainer
Czech health insurance for foreigners: public cover or a private policy
Your status, not your preference, decides which track you are on. How the two work, what neither covers, and how to move from one to the other safely.
6 min
Guide
Czech health insurance for newcomers in the first months
The gap that catches newcomers is not the system but the timing: who is covered on day one, who needs a private policy and when public cover begins.
5 min
Explainer
Czech holidays and bridging days: what the law gives, what the office does
Thirteen statutory holidays, no day in lieu when one lands on a Sunday, and an unofficial habit of taking the Friday. What it means for your pay and your leave.
5 min
Explainer
Czech income tax for employees: the form that sets your take-home
Your employer withholds tax every month, but only as accurately as the paperwork you gave it. One short signature decides whether you overpay all year.
6 min
Explainer
Czech language exams for foreigners: formats, levels and exam centres
The certificate counts, the classroom does not. How the exams for residence, citizenship and work are built, who runs them and what to ask before you book.
5 min