Your first 30 days in Czechia: tasks in the order the deadlines fall

The first month in a new country is a sequence of small bureaucratic dependencies. You cannot get a bank account without an address, you cannot prove an address without a landlord's paper, and you cannot set up your pay without a bank account. Doing the tasks in the right order matters more than doing them fast. This checklist follows the deadlines as they fall, with the body responsible for each.

It is a first-month checklist, not a full relocation plan (for that, see our step-by-step plan for moving to Prague), and the rules for your nationality and permit may differ; check the Ministry of the Interior. It assumes you have already arrived and that your visa or permit is in order. For the preparations before departure, see our pre-departure checklist.

Days 1 to 3: the legal minimum

Report your place of stay. Most non-EU nationals have to report within three working days of arrival. If you are staying in a hotel or another accommodation facility, the provider does it for you. If you rent a flat, you or your landlord handle it, and you need the owner's confirmation of accommodation. EU citizens staying longer than 30 days have 30 days (as of 2026; check the Ministry of the Interior). Our guide to registering your address with the foreign police explains the form and the office. Holders of long-term permits report later address changes to the Ministry of the Interior, not to the foreign police.

Collect the paper trail. Keep the tenancy contract, the landlord's confirmation, the registration confirmation, your permit or visa and your passport together. Take photographs of each. You will be asked for them repeatedly.

Get a working phone. A Czech SIM or an eSIM is useful for the bank's text-message codes and for the many offices that confirm appointments by text. Check whether your foreign number can receive codes if you keep it.

Learn the transport system. A weekly or monthly pass pays for itself quickly if you commute. Our guide to Prague public transport tickets explains what to buy and how to validate it.

Week 1: the basics that open up the rest

Check your housing paperwork. If you rent, read the contract again with the guide to renting a flat in Czechia as a foreigner beside you. Check the deposit (the law caps it at three months' rent), the notice terms and who is responsible for utilities. Photograph the flat's condition and note the meter readings on the day you move in. If you are still weighing renting against buying, the buy-or-rent calculator on Hypoteky.com compares the long-run costs of each, and new-build flats to rent are listed on Novostavby.com (in Czech).

Confirm your health insurance. Employees are insured in the public system through their employer, which reports them to their chosen insurer. People who are not employed need to arrange their own cover, and many non-EU residents need a commercial policy that meets the Foreigners Act. See how Czech health insurance works for foreigners and who pays your health insurance. Do not leave a gap: some permits require proof of cover continuously.

Open a bank account. Salaries are paid into Czech accounts, rent is usually paid by transfer, and many services use direct debit. Our guide to opening a bank account as a foreigner lists the documents and the dead ends. Every bank must offer a basic payment account (as of 2026; check the Czech National Bank and the bank), so a refusal of the standard product is not the end.

Weeks 2 and 3: the working-life tasks

Hand over your employer paperwork. Your employer needs your bank account for payroll, your health insurer and, if you want the basic taxpayer credit, a signed declaration. The credit is CZK 30,840 a year, or CZK 2,570 a month (as of 2026; check the Financial Administration). Without a signed declaration, the employer cannot apply it. Our explainer on income tax for employees shows how the monthly calculation works, and social security contributions shows what else comes off your pay.

Check your birth number. Foreigners with a long-term or permanent residence permit receive a Czech birth number (rodné číslo), assigned by the Ministry of the Interior. It appears on insurance and tax documents. See how to get a Czech birth number.

Set up your data box. The data box (datová schránka) is the official electronic mailbox of the state, and a message counts as delivered when someone logs in or after ten days if no one does. Read how to set up a data box before an official letter arrives unseen. Individuals get one automatically the first time they log in with eIdentita, unless they opt out, so check whether you already have one.

Register with a GP. A general practitioner registers you for routine care and prescriptions, and some insurers require it. Our guides to registering with a GP and finding an English-speaking doctor explain the process.

Carry the right documents. Which documents foreigners carry in Czechia lists what to keep on you and what to leave at home.

Week 4: tidy up and plan ahead

Check the clock on your permit. Put the expiry date and the 120-day renewal window in your calendar now. See how to renew a Czech residence permit. If you are on an employee card, read the rules on changing jobs in how to switch employers before you need them.

Book the integration course. Most non-EU nationals who received a long-term permit from 2021 onwards must complete a four-hour adaptation-integration course within a year of collecting the card; students, investors and EU citizens are among the exceptions (as of 2026; check the Ministry of the Interior). Booking it in the first month means it is done before it becomes a fine of up to CZK 10,000.

Bring family members. If your family is joining you, the application has its own timetable. See how family reunification works and, for school-age children, how to bring children to Czechia.

Start the language. Even a few weeks of Czech changes how offices and neighbours treat you. See realistic routes to learn Czech.

Think about vehicles and licences. If you drive, the rules on your foreign licence and on registering a car have their own deadlines: see exchanging a foreign driving licence and registering a car.

What to leave until later

Not everything needs to happen in thirty days. Buying property, moving to a new flat, changing banks, setting up a company and applying for permanent residence can all wait. A common mistake is to try to complete everything in the first month and to sign a long contract in a hurry. The three tasks that cannot wait are the address, the insurance and the permit paperwork. Everything else is better done with a bank account, a registered address and a working phone.

Frequently asked questions

What is the first thing I must do after arriving?

Report your place of stay: within three working days for most non-EU nationals, and within 30 days for EU citizens staying longer than 30 days, unless your accommodation provider does it.

Do I need a Czech bank account straight away?

Your employer will need one for salary. Open one in the first week or two; every bank must offer a basic account.

How do I get a birth number?

Foreigners with a long-term or permanent residence permit receive one, assigned by the Ministry of the Interior.

Do I need to register with a GP in the first month?

It is wise. Registration is simple once you have insurance, and it saves delays when you are ill.

This is a general explainer, not legal or tax advice.