Czech citizenship for foreigners: who qualifies, the exams, the fee and the oath

Czech citizenship (státní občanství) is granted by the Ministry of the Interior, and nobody has a legal right to it, even after meeting every condition.¹ This page covers who can apply and when, the exams, the paperwork, the oath, and what applies to people from Ukraine. It isn't legal advice, and the last section says when to get some.

Who can become a Czech citizen?

A permanent resident who has lived here long enough and meets the other conditions of the Citizenship Act. The ministry also looks at whether you're integrated into Czech society, through your family, your work or your social life, and it refuses anyone who threatens the security of the state.²

The conditions are:³

• Permanent residence for long enough, and time actually spent here (next section).
• A clean record from the age of 15: no final conviction for an intentional crime, or for a negligent one with an unconditional prison sentence. If you've lived here for less than 10 years, the same goes for your country of citizenship and every country where you lived for more than 6 months in a row in the last 10 years. People granted asylum or subsidiary protection here don't need their own country's record.
• Czech at level B1 and the realia test, unless you're exempt.
• No serious breaches in the last 3 years of the rules on residence, health insurance, social security and pensions, employment, taxes, customs and fees, maintenance for a child, or your town's own charges.
• Your income: proof of how much you earned in the last 3 years, where it came from, and that tax was paid on it. Applicants under 18 don't need it.
• Not living mainly on benefits in the last 3 years: state social support, the state social aid benefit or aid in material need. It doesn't count against you if you couldn't work for health reasons, were studying, were on maternity or parental leave, or were caring for someone who needed it.

The ministry can't waive the clean record or the income condition, and nobody, not even the minister, can make an exception the law doesn't allow.⁴

How long must you have lived here?

On the day you apply, you need permanent residence held without a break for:⁵

• at least 5 years;
• at least 3 years, if you're a citizen of an EU or EEA country or Switzerland; or
• long enough that, together with your lawful stay just before it, it adds up to at least 10 years. Someone who lived here for 7 years on long-term permits before getting permanent residence, for example, can apply after 3 years of it.

Any lawful stay before you turned 18 counts towards the 5 or 3 years.⁵ Permanent residence explains how to get there.

You must also have actually been here for at least half of that time. A trip abroad still counts as time here if it lasted no more than 2 months in a row, or 6 months for a serious reason such as pregnancy and birth, serious illness, studies, training or a business trip.⁶

The ministry can waive the time condition for a permanent resident who was born here, is or was a Czech citizen, has a Czech parent, was adopted by a Czech citizen as an adult, lives with a Czech spouse or registered partner, holds permanent residence for humanitarian reasons or in Czechia's interest, is under 18, or is stateless or has asylum.⁷ A Czech citizen's spouse or partner and an applicant under 18 can also be let off the half-the-time rule.⁷ You still need permanent residence, and your application must say which condition you ask to have waived, and why.⁷⁸

What Czech do you need, and how do the exams work?

Czech at level B1, and a basic knowledge of the Czech constitution, society, geography, history and culture at the level of a Czech primary school, tested in the realia test (zkouška z českých reálií).⁹ You don't need either if:⁹

• you completed at least 3 school years at a primary or secondary school or a university that teaches in Czech;
• you're under 15 or over 65 on the day you apply; or
• a physical or mental disability makes it impossible for you to learn them.

The ministry can also waive both for special reasons.⁷

Only full members of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) may hold them; in practice that's Charles University's Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies (ÚJOP).¹⁰⁴ You register online at least 7 days before a date, and ÚJOP says you usually wait 2 to 3 months for one.¹¹¹² In 2026 it charges 3,700 Kč for the language exam and 2,000 Kč for the realia test, or 5,700 Kč for both; these are its prices, not a state fee.¹²

• The language exam has a written and an oral part, and you must pass both. The oral part needs at least 60%. The written part has three sections: you need at least 60% in two of them and at least 50% in the third.¹¹
• The realia test is 30 written questions on civics, geography and history, and you need 60%, or 18 right.¹¹
• Resits: if you pass one part and fail the other, you resit only the one you failed.¹¹
• Other certificates: a Czech school-leaving exam (maturita), a state language exam, Czech university finals or a recognised Czech exam at B1 or higher replace the language exam, but never the realia test.¹³

Learning Czech describes both exams in more detail and lists free courses.

What do you need to bring?

You write the application yourself, saying briefly why you're applying: there's no form. At the office, an official fills in the official questionnaire with you.¹⁴ With it, you bring:⁸

• your birth certificate, and your marriage or divorce certificate, or your spouse's death certificate, if they apply;
• criminal record extracts, no older than 6 months, from your country of citizenship and the other countries where you lived (see above). If a country won't issue one, or you were there only briefly, a sworn statement can replace it. The ministry gets your Czech record itself;
• a CV in Czech, in your own words: your stays here and abroad, your work, studies, family and social life;
• the exam certificate, or proof that you're exempt;
• proof of your stays in Czechia and abroad;
• confirmations, no older than 30 days, that you owe nothing to the tax office or customs, and confirmations that you owe no social security or health insurance contributions;
• proof of your income in the last 3 years, and papers about your work or studies.

Foreign documents need an apostille or a legalisation, unless a treaty says otherwise, and an official Czech translation. Documents in Slovak don't need translating.¹⁵

Where do you apply, and what does it cost?

In person, at the regional office (krajský úřad) for your permanent address. In Prague, you go to whichever of the district offices Praha 1 to Praha 22 covers your address, not to City Hall.¹⁶⁴ You can't apply online.¹⁴

The fee is paid when you apply: in 2026, 2,000 Kč for an adult, and 500 Kč for a child or for someone granted asylum. The office can lower it for special reasons, and it isn't refunded if you're refused.¹⁷⁴

The office sends your file to the Ministry of the Interior within 30 days, with its opinion. The ministry must decide within 180 days of receiving it, asks the police and the intelligence services for their views on applicants over 15, and can pause the case to ask you for more documents.¹⁸⁴ It can also call you in for an interview.⁴

If you're refused, you can appeal (rozklad) to the Minister of the Interior within 15 days, and the minister decides within 120 days.⁴ After a final refusal, you can apply again after 2 years, or sooner if you were a child at the time, or were refused only because not enough time had passed and now it has.¹⁹

What happens at the oath, and afterwards?

If the ministry grants you citizenship, it invites you to take the citizenship oath (státoobčanský slib), at a public ceremony before the director of the regional office or, in Prague, the district office's secretary.²⁰ You promise on your honour to be loyal to the Czech Republic and to keep its Constitution and laws.²⁰

You must take the oath within 12 months of the invitation, or the ministry cancels the grant.²⁰ You become a Czech citizen on the day you take it, and you're handed the deed of citizenship (listina o udělení státního občanství).²⁰⁴ Children under 15 take no oath: they become citizens on the day a parent collects their deed.²⁰

Then:

• Your ID card. If you're 15 or over and your address is in Czechia, apply for a Czech identity card (občanský průkaz) within 60 days, with your birth certificate and proof of citizenship. If you ask within 2 months, you can also get a temporary one, for 200 Kč in 2026 (100 Kč under 15).²¹ For its first year, the deed itself proves your citizenship.²²
• Your residence card. Permanent residence ends on the day you become a citizen.²³ Return the card to your Ministry of the Interior office, in person or by post with a copy of the deed; it can't be done by data box.²⁴

Can you keep your other citizenship?

As far as Czech law goes, yes. Since 1 January 2014, Czech law has accepted dual and multiple citizenship, and you don't have to give up your old citizenship to become Czech.²⁵²⁶ Whether you keep it is up to your other country's law, so ask its embassy before you apply.

Can people with temporary protection apply?

Not on temporary protection alone. Temporary protection is a right to stay, not permanent residence, and every route to citizenship by application needs permanent residence first.²⁷

The usual path runs from temporary protection, through the special long-term residence, to permanent residence. Towards permanent residence, time on temporary protection counts half and the special long-term residence counts in full.²⁸ Temporary protection and Permanent residence explain both steps.

Once you hold permanent residence, the 10-year route also counts the lawful stay just before it.⁵ The Citizenship Act doesn't say how the ministry treats time on temporary protection there, so ask the ministry how your time is counted before you apply.

Two more points:

• Your record from Ukraine. If you've lived here for less than 10 years, you need a Ukrainian criminal record extract no older than 6 months: temporary protection doesn't exempt you, unlike asylum. If Ukraine won't issue one, a sworn statement can replace it.³⁸
• Children. Any lawful stay before 18 counts towards the 5 years of permanent residence, and the ministry can waive the time condition for a child.⁵⁷

Are there other ways to become Czech?

Yes, for some people:

• A child of a Czech parent is Czech from birth, with no application.²⁹ If only the father is Czech and the parents aren't married, the child becomes Czech when they declare paternity together, if the mother is an EU citizen, a permanent resident or stateless; otherwise, a DNA test or a grant by the ministry is needed.³⁰
• Children in a parent's application. A married couple can apply together and include their children. If only one parent applies for a child, the other must consent with an officially verified signature, and so must a child over 15.³¹
• Grew up here. Until your 21st birthday, you can become Czech by a declaration (prohlášení), with no exam, if you hold permanent residence, have lived here lawfully for at least two-thirds of the time since you turned 10, and have no conviction.³² You make it at the regional office, or the Prague district office, for your permanent address.³³
• Former Czech or Czechoslovak citizens, and their children and grandchildren, can regain citizenship by declaration, with exceptions, including anyone who is a Slovak citizen.³⁴
• Slovaks have no special route any more: they apply like other EU citizens.³⁵
• A child born here who would otherwise be stateless is granted citizenship on application, if a parent had a stay of more than 90 days when the child was born.³⁶
• A significant benefit to Czechia, for example in science, education, culture or sport: the ministry can grant citizenship to a permanent resident with a clean record, without the other conditions, on the recommendation of a ministry, a public university or a similar body.³⁷

A declaration costs 500 Kč in 2026, or 1,000 Kč at an embassy.¹⁷ The ministry says it decides on one within 60 days.³⁸

When should you ask a lawyer?

Ask an immigration lawyer, or a non-profit adviser for foreigners, if you have a conviction anywhere, gaps in your taxes, insurance or residence, long absences, or time on temporary protection or asylum to count, or if you've been refused. A refusal comes with a 15-day appeal deadline, so get advice the day it arrives.⁴

Sources

1. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §11 and §12. ↩

2. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §13(1) and (2). ↩

3. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §14(3) to (8), as amended by Act 152/2025 Coll. from 1 October 2025. ↩ ↩²

4. Ministry of the Interior, "Udělení státního občanství České republiky", mv.gov.cz. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

5. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §7(1) and §14(1). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §14(2). ↩

7. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §15(1) to (3). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

8. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §19, §20(1) to (4), §22(2) and §77. ↩ ↩² ↩³

9. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §14(4) and (5); Decree 433/2013 Coll., §2(1) and §3(1). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

10. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §70. ↩

11. Decree 433/2013 Coll., §5(2), §7(1), §8(2) and (3), §10(1) and annex 1. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

12. Charles University, Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies, citizenship exams, prices for 2026. ↩ ↩²

13. Decree 433/2013 Coll., §13; Citizen Portal, "Udělení státního občanství ČR", portal.gov.cz. ↩

14. Citizen Portal, "Udělení státního občanství ČR", portal.gov.cz; Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §17 and §21(1). ↩ ↩² ↩³

15. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §66(1) and (2). ↩

16. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §17 and annex 1. ↩ ↩²

17. Administrative Fees Act (Act 634/2004 Coll.), tariff item 8, points 13 to 16, and item 159(b). ↩ ↩²

18. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §21(1), §22(3) and §23. ↩ ↩²

19. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §25. ↩

20. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §24(1) and §27. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

21. Identity Cards Act (Act 269/2021 Coll.), §3(1), §11(c), §12(2) and §43(2); Administrative Fees Act (Act 634/2004 Coll.), tariff item 8, point 5. ↩

22. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §41. ↩

23. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §76(a) and §117f(1)(e). ↩ ↩²

24. Ministry of the Interior, "Granting the citizenship of the Czech Republic", ipc.gov.cz. ↩ ↩²

25. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Embassy in Paris, "Státní občanství ČR", mzv.gov.cz. ↩

26. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §13, §14, §40(1) and §74. ↩

27. Lex Ukrajina (Act 65/2022 Coll.), §2; Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §14(1), §15(1), §16(1) and §35(1)(a). ↩

28. Lex Ukrajina (Act 65/2022 Coll.), §7o and §7w(6); Ministry of the Interior, "Obecné informace ke zvláštnímu dlouhodobému pobytu", ipc.gov.cz. ↩

29. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §4. ↩

30. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §7 and §28. ↩

31. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §18. ↩

32. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §35(1). ↩

33. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §37(1) and (3). ↩

34. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §31 and §32. ↩

35. Citizen Portal, "Udělení státního občanství ČR", frequently asked questions, portal.gov.cz. ↩

36. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §29. ↩

37. Citizenship Act (Act 186/2013 Coll.), §16. ↩

38. Ministry of the Interior, "Nabytí státního občanství České republiky prohlášením podle § 35", mv.gov.cz. ↩