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Czech Republic Work Permit 2026: How to Tell a Real Offer from a Fake “Paper”
Sent a “Czech work permit paper” and asked to pay? Most non-EU workers need an Employee Card, and there is no paper you get first. Check your offer in two minutes, then see how the real process works.
Interactive check · 2 minutes
Is your Czech job offer real? Six quick checks
Answer for the offer in front of you. The result updates as you go.
The employer gave you a vacancy number, and you found the job in the Ministry of Labour vacancy search
You found the company and its ID (IČO) in ARES, and they match your contract
Someone asked you to pay for the job, a "paper" or an "approval"
You will apply in person at the Czech embassy and pay the CZK 5,000 fee there
You were sent a "work permit" PDF before applying anywhere
Applying from India: you know which government programme you are in (answer yes if you apply elsewhere)
The tools for these checks: the Ministry of Labour vacancy search for foreigners, the Czech business register ARES, and the Ministry of the Interior application status page.
What a “work permit paper” usually is
Many people are being sent a Czech “work permit paper”: a PDF with a stamp, an “approval letter” or an “employee card confirmation”, often before they have applied anywhere. Real Czech decisions do not work that way. The Ministry of the Interior decides on your Employee Card after you have applied in person at the embassy, and you can follow that decision yourself.
There is a real document called a work permit (povolení k zaměstnání), issued by the Labour Office, but it is needed only in some cases, for example seasonal work. For most long-term jobs the Employee Card covers both residence and work. For the bigger picture, see our Czechia country page.
6 steps · tap each one
How the real process works
A Czech employer offers you a job registered in the central database of vacancies for Employee Card holders.
You sign a work contract or a pre-contract for that job.
Bring the application form with the vacancy number, your passport, the contract, proof of accommodation, proof of qualification if the job needs it, and a criminal record certificate. Documents usually need to be in Czech or officially translated.
Follow your application on the ministry’s status page.
If you are approved, the embassy issues a visa so you can travel and collect the card.
Register at a Ministry of the Interior office and give fingerprints. When you collect the card, bring your employer’s confirmation that you have started work.
Every step is on the ministry’s official Employee Card page, which also shows what the real card looks like.
If you are applying from India
The Czech embassy in New Delhi accepts 1,560 Employee Card applications a year: 600 through the Qualified Worker Programme and 960 through the Highly Qualified Worker or Key and Research Staff programmes. In the embassy’s own words, no application can be submitted outside the programmes (Embassy in New Delhi, programmes and quotas).
Employers join these programmes through the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade. If your employer has put you in one, the embassy gives you an appointment itself. If someone cannot tell you which programme you are in, that offer will not get you an appointment in Delhi. Other embassies set their own quotas, so check the page of the embassy where you live.
Pick the one closest to you
Other routes to Czechia
Our suggestion
Look at the EU Blue Card
In Czechia the threshold is CZK 73,823 a month from 1 May 2026, and in New Delhi it has no quota.
Our suggestion
Use the route chooser
A few questions point you to the route that fits your profile.
Our suggestion
Browse the jobs we track
Every job links to the employer, never to an agent.
Quick answers
For most long-term jobs, no. The Employee Card is both your residence and your work permit. A separate Labour Office work permit is needed only in some cases, such as seasonal work.
After you apply at the embassy, use your application number on the Ministry of the Interior status page. Before that, check the vacancy number in the Ministry of Labour vacancy search and the employer in ARES.
The ministry decides within 60 days, or 90 in complex cases, counted from your application at the embassy. Waiting for an embassy appointment comes on top of that.
The embassy fee is CZK 5,000. Translations, certificates and travel are extra, but there is no official fee for a job offer.
No. The Czech embassy in New Delhi states that Employee Card applications cannot be submitted outside the programmes.
Related reading
- Czechia: routes, costs and rules
- Help me choose a route to Czechia
- EU Blue Card: salary thresholds by country
Sources
- Ministry of the Interior: Employee Card
- Ministry of the Interior: status of your application
- Embassy of the Czech Republic in New Delhi: economic migration programmes and quotas
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Employee Card requirements (in Czech)
- Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs: vacancy search for foreigners
- ARES: Czech business register
Last verified: 29 October 2026
NVConsult provides education and application guidance, not legal advice. No visa, job or outcome is guaranteed. Decisions rest solely with embassies, authorities and employers.
Summary
How the real Czech Employee Card process works, six checks before you pay anyone for a "work permit paper", and the programme-only rule in New Delhi.
Official sources
https://ipc.gov.cz/en/visa-and-residence-permit-types/third-country-nationals/long-term-residence-permits/employee-card/
https://ipc.gov.cz/en/status-of-your-application/
https://mzv.gov.cz/newdelhi/en/ko/visa_information/long_term_visa_long_term_residence/economic_migration_programs_and_quotas.html
https://mpsv.gov.cz/vyhledavani-volnych-pracovnich-mist-pro-cizince
Last verified: 2026-10-29