How to register your address in Czechia as a foreigner

Czechia wants to know where every foreigner lives, and the first report is due fast: within three working days of arriving if you're not an EU citizen. It's one form at the foreign police, separate from your visa or permit, and every later move has its own deadline.

Who has to report their address, and by when?

If you're not an EU citizen, you report your address to the police within three working days of entering Czechia. Children under 15, diplomats and people the Ministry of the Interior houses are exempt.¹ Weekends and public holidays don't count as working days.

If you're an EU citizen, you report within 30 days of arriving, but only if you'll stay longer than 30 days. The same applies to your family members living here with you. Citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland follow the EU citizen's rules.¹

Either way, the duty is met if you filled in and signed the registration form at your accommodation provider, such as a hotel or a landlord, who passes it to the police.¹

Where do you go, and what do you bring?

You report in person at the residence department (oddělení pobytových agend) of the foreign police, at the regional police directorate for the place you live.²

1. Find your region's residence department and its opening hours at policie.gov.cz.
2. Fill in the registration form. It asks for your name, date of birth and citizenship, your address abroad, your passport and visa numbers, and where you're staying, from when, for how long and why.³ The police registration form fills in the police's own form for you, ready to print and sign.
3. Hand it in yourself, in person, with your passport and, if you're not an EU citizen, proof of travel health insurance.⁴ Your lease is worth having with you too.

The police list no fee for it.² If you came on a visa to collect a residence permit, your visit to the Ministry of the Interior for the card is a separate step, explained in visas and residence permits.

Does a hotel or landlord report you?

Only if you filled in and signed the registration form with them. In law, anyone who houses you for payment is an accommodation provider (ubytovatel), and a lease or a sublease counts as accommodation, so a landlord letting you a flat is one. A provider must report a foreign guest or tenant to the police within three working days, and give you a written confirmation of your accommodation if you ask.⁵⁶

Hotels do this routinely; many private landlords don't know the duty exists.

What else can EU citizens do?

Ask for a registration certificate (osvědčení o registraci), if you'll stay longer than three months. It's optional: reporting your address is your only duty.⁸

• Apply to the Ministry of the Interior in person, by post, through a data box or by signed e-mail, from within Czechia.
• Bring your passport, photographs, proof of accommodation and, unless you're here to work or run a business, proof of health insurance.
• It costs 200 Kč, is issued within 30 days and is valid for ten years.⁹⁸

A family member who isn't an EU citizen applies for temporary residence within three months of arriving.¹⁰

How do you report a move to a new address?

You report a move on the notice of changes (oznámení změn), to the office your status points to. The deadline depends on your status and on how long you'll live at the new address.¹¹¹²

The ministry takes the notice in person, by post, through a data box or by signed e-mail, with your passport and proof of accommodation for the new address. It's free on a long-term visa or permit; a permanent resident who isn't an EU citizen pays 1,000 Kč for the new card.¹² The notice of changes fills in the form for you, and temporary protection has its own notice of changes for temporary protection.¹³

What happens if you miss the deadline?

You can be fined up to 3,000 Kč for not reporting your address on arrival or a move in time, and the same goes for other changes you must report, such as a new passport.⁷ If you've missed a deadline, report as soon as you can rather than not at all.

Sources

1. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §93; §1(3) applies the EU citizen's rules to citizens of the EEA and Switzerland. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Police of the Czech Republic, Directorate of the Alien Police Service, "Reporting of the place of foreigner's residence", policie.gov.cz. ↩ ↩²

3. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §97. ↩

4. Ministry of the Interior, "Registration after arrival", ipc.gov.cz. ↩

5. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §99, §100(c) and (e), §102(1) and §103(b). ↩

6. Ministry of the Interior, "General information for accommodation providers", ipc.gov.cz. ↩

7. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §156(1)(d) and (g), and (5)(d) for you, with §103(e) for changes such as a new passport; §156(2) and (5)(a), and §157(4) and (8)(b), for an accommodation provider. ↩ ↩²

8. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §87a; Ministry of the Interior, "Registration certificate", ipc.gov.cz. ↩ ↩²

9. Administrative Fees Act (Act 634/2004 Coll.), tariff item 116(5). ↩

10. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §87b. ↩

11. Foreigners Act (Act 326/1999 Coll.), §98(1), (3) and (6). ↩

12. Ministry of the Interior, "Change of address", ipc.gov.cz. ↩ ↩²

13. Lex Ukrajina (Act 65/2022 Coll.), §6(10). ↩