A power of attorney in Czech, for someone to act for you

A power of attorney (plná moc) is a signed paper that lets someone else act for you in a matter: you are the principal (zmocnitel), they are the agent (zmocněnec). In Czechia a written power with your signature is enough for most things, including the steps of a residence application at the Interior Ministry. Some places want more: Česká pošta and the vehicle register want your signature officially verified, at a Czech POINT counter or a notary, or one of the alternatives below. The tool fills in a power for the case you pick, prints it in Czech with a translation, and says which rule applies.

What a plná moc is

A power of attorney is how you authorise someone else to act for you. It names you and the agent, says what the agent may do, and you sign it. It's the scope that matters: the power states what the agent may do. If they do more, object to the other side as soon as you learn of it, or it binds you.¹ A power for one act, such as signing one form, could in theory be given orally, but a power for more than one act must be in writing, and every office and landlord will want it on paper anyway. If the act itself needs a special form, the power takes the same form (for an act that needs a notarial deed, a written power with a verified signature is enough).²

Before an office, you can have only one agent at a time in the same matter, and the agent can pass the power on only if it says so.³ Once the office has the power, it sends its papers to your agent rather than to you, except where you must act in person.⁴

Which power each case needs

A residence application at the Ministry. A first application for a long-term visa or a long-term, temporary or permanent residence permit is filed in person.⁵ An extension can be posted, sent from a data box or e-mailed with a recognised electronic signature, as well as filed in person.⁶ You still go in yourself for fingerprints and to collect the card. Once the application is in, the steps of the proceedings can be done by someone else: adding documents, inspecting the file, receiving letters. The Foreign Ministry's page says a power for one step, or for the whole proceedings, needs no verified signature, and the agent's signature isn't required either.⁷ Only a general power for any number of future proceedings needs your signature verified, and it must be lodged with the office before they start.³ The Interior Ministry has a blank trilingual form; the tool lays out its power the same way.

Your flat and your landlord. No law asks for a verified signature here. A lease and a notice must be in writing,⁸ so a power to sign either should be written too. Landlords and agencies sometimes ask for a verified signature anyway, so ask them before the day.

Registered post. Česká pošta hands your post to an agent only on a power with your officially verified signature, or on its recipient card (Průkaz příjemce). You can set the card up at a post office or online, and your agent then needs a Česká pošta customer card (Zákaznická karta). Items marked for the addressee only go to nobody else.⁹

Registering a car, or a change of owner. The vehicle register takes a written power only with your officially verified signature, signed electronically in a way that counts as a handwritten signature, or entered in the official register of powers (informační systém oprávnění k zastupování).¹⁰

Anything else. Ask whoever will read the power what they want. A power for an act with a special form takes that form (for a notarial deed, a written power with a verified signature is enough), and before an office a general power for future proceedings needs a verified signature.^{2 3}

How a signature gets verified

Verifying a signature (legalizace) confirms only that you signed, not what the paper says. You sign in front of the official, or confirm there that the signature is yours.¹¹ Post offices with a Czech POINT counter, municipal offices with extended powers and the Prague district offices do it while you wait. Any notary can do it too.¹² A lawyer (advokát) can instead declare that your signature is genuine, which has the same effect, and Česká pošta accepts it.^{13 9}

Fill the power in first. An official won't verify a signature on a blank form, and may refuse a paper in a language they don't read without a certified translation.¹¹ The Czech page the tool prints avoids both. Bring your passport, an EU ID card or a residence card with your photo.¹¹

Abroad, a Czech embassy or consulate can verify your signature: ask yours first whether it verifies signatures for non-citizens. A local notary's verification counts once it carries an apostille, or a superlegalisation for some countries, unless a treaty with that country waives it, as Ukraine's does.¹⁴

How to use the tool

1. What it's for. Pick the case: a residence application, your flat, registered post, a car, or something else. The box under it says whether your signature must be verified, with its sources.
2. You and the person you give it to. Names, dates of birth, the passport or ID card number and address of each of you. For a residence application, your nationalities too, as on the Ministry's form.
3. What they may do. For the Ministry, which application and its number if you have it. For the flat, your landlord, the address and what the agent may do. For the post, everything or one item. For a car, which step and the vehicle. For anything else, describe it, in Czech if you can.
4. How long, where and when. Until you revoke it, or between two dates, and the town where you sign. The date is the day you print it.

The power prints in Czech, which is what you sign and hand in, with a translation on its own page for you and your agent. Nothing you type is sent or saved.

How to revoke a power of attorney

You can't give up the right to revoke a power. You can revoke it at any time, unless it limits revocation to set reasons: then only those, or a particularly serious reason, count. Powers made with this tool set no such limit.¹⁵ Tell your agent in writing that you revoke it, and tell anyone you showed it to, such as the office, the post office or your landlord: until they know, they may still rely on it.¹⁶ What your agent does before they learn of the revocation still counts, so tell them first.¹⁵ Ask for the paper back, and anything you handed them for the matter.¹⁷

A power also ends on its own when the matter is done, when the agent gives it up, or on the death of either of you, unless it says otherwise.¹⁵ A power with an end date simply stops on that day.

Mistakes people make

• Signing before you reach the counter. If your signature must be verified, sign in front of the official, or be ready to confirm the signature is yours there.
• A power that's too vague. "To deal with everything" invites questions. Name the matter, the office or the other side, and what the agent may do.
• Giving two people a power for the same proceedings. An office deals with one agent at a time in a matter.
• Expecting an agent to file your first application. A first application, or one for permanent residence, is filed in person; the power covers the steps after it. An extension can be posted or sent from a data box, but you still go in for fingerprints and to collect the card.
• Forgetting to revoke it. When you no longer need it, revoke it in writing and tell whoever has a copy.

What to do next

The paperwork guide lists every report and application a foreigner files and the ways to file without going in. For a visa or permit, the proof of accommodation prints your landlord's confirmation, and visas and residence permits explains which one you need. Bringing a car? Importing a car covers the registration step by step. For the flat itself, the handover record is what your agent signs on the day.

Sources

1. Civil Code (89/2012 Coll.) §446. ↩

2. Civil Code (89/2012 Coll.) §441. ↩ ↩²

3. Administrative Procedure Code (500/2004 Coll.) §33. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Administrative Procedure Code (500/2004 Coll.) §34. ↩

5. Foreigners Act (326/1999 Coll.) §169d(1). ↩

6. Public Administration Portal, "Žádost o prodloužení dlouhodobého pobytu" (extending a long-term stay, service S7334), portal.gov.cz. ↩

7. Foreign Ministry, "Zastupování při podání žádosti" (representation when applying), mzv.gov.cz, updated 28 August 2019. ↩

8. Civil Code (89/2012 Coll.) §§2237 and 2286. ↩

9. Česká pošta, "Podmínky pro vydání zásilky / poukázané peněžní částky" and "Průkaz příjemce", ceskaposta.cz. ↩ ↩²

10. Road Vehicles Act (56/2001 Coll.) §6(7) and §8(8). ↩

11. Act 21/2006 Coll., on verification, §§1, 10, 13 and 18. ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. Notaries Act (358/1992 Coll.) §72. ↩

13. Advocacy Act (85/1996 Coll.) §25a. ↩

14. Treaty between the Czech Republic and Ukraine on legal assistance in civil matters (123/2002 Coll. of International Treaties), Art. 18; Czech Embassy in Kyiv, "Ověřování", mzv.gov.cz. ↩

15. Civil Code (89/2012 Coll.) §§442 and 448. ↩ ↩² ↩³

16. Civil Code (89/2012 Coll.) §444. ↩

17. Civil Code (89/2012 Coll.) §449. ↩