Ukrainians in Czechia

This section is for Ukrainians who live in Czechia or plan to move there: legal status and documents, work, taxes, social benefits and a bank account. We will add city guides over time.

# Just arrived

1. Get your status. If you left Ukraine because of the war, apply in person for temporary protection at a regional assistance center for Ukraine (KACPU). You attach your passport and a document about your housing. Under the EU decision, from 5 August 2026 protection is granted only to people who meet their military obligations in Ukraine, if the person did not have protection in Czechia on 4 August. The Czech Ministry of the Interior checks this in applications filed from 5 August and requires proof from people aged 18 to 60.
2. Keep your address up to date. The address in your housing document becomes your address on file. A protection holder tells the Ministry of the Interior about a move within 3 working days if they will live at the new place for more than 15 days. Details are on the page Reporting your address in Czechia.
3. Register with a health insurance company. Your insurance applies from the day protection is granted, but the state pays for adults only for a limited time. We explain what to do next on the page Health insurance for Ukrainians in Czechia.
4. Open an account. The law gives protection holders the right to a basic payment account, and the humanitarian benefit is paid only into an account in Czechia.
5. If you have no money, apply to the state employment service Úřad práce for the humanitarian benefit. You can file the first application on paper; after that, only online.
6. Enroll your child in school. Your child must start school no later than 90 days after protection is granted; online classes at a Ukrainian school do not replace it.

# Already living in Czechia

• Temporary protection is currently valid until 31 March 2027. For the next extension, the law requires online registration by 15 March 2027 and a new visa sticker by 30 September 2027. To learn what is known about validity until 2028, see the page about temporary protection.
• If you expressed interest in special long-term residence in April 2026, you can register until 31 December 2026. New applicants are not being accepted at the moment; the conditions are on the page about special long-term residence.
• When 90 days have passed since protection was first granted (150 days if protection was granted on or before 10 February 2025), tell your health insurance company who pays for your insurance from now on. You do not need to report children and people aged 65 and over: the state keeps paying for them.
• All grounds for staying are compared on the page Legal status in Czechia.

# Working in Czechia or earning income in Ukraine

Temporary protection and special long-term residence give you the right to work without a separate permit. Your employer must register you before your first working day, and the minimum wage in 2026 is 22,400 Kč a month. This is covered on the page Work in Czechia.

If you have a home in Czechia where you intend to live permanently (bydliště), or you stay here for at least 183 days in a calendar year, you are usually a Czech tax resident and also declare your Ukrainian income here. If you could count as a resident of both countries, Article 4 of the agreement between Czechia and Ukraine decides. Self-employed people (OSVČ) can ask in writing by 31 December 2026 for an earlier refund of overpaid social security contributions for the first half of 2026; without a request, the overpayment is credited in the annual statement for 2026. Details are on the page Taxes in Czechia.

For the affairs you still have in Ukraine, you will need our general guides:

• Transfers from abroad to an individual: limits and financial monitoring
• Sole trader (FOP) abroad: taxes and residency
• Wise in Ukraine: transfers, exchange rate and fees (in Ukrainian)
• Today’s National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Czech koruna rate

# What has changed in the rules

• On 30 July 2026 the EU extended temporary protection until 4 March 2028. From 5 August 2026, protection is granted only to people who meet their military obligations in Ukraine, if the person did not have protection in that country on 4 August. The Czech Ministry of the Interior applies this requirement to applications filed from 5 August for first protection, repeat protection and protection for family reunification.
• On 1 October 2026 registration for special long-term residence began for those who expressed interest in April.
• On 1 July 2026 Act 90/2026 Sb. came into force (Sb. stands for the official Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic, Sbírka zákonů). The minimum base for social security contributions of the self-employed for 2026 was lowered, and the overpayment for January–June is being refunded.
• On 1 April 2026 employers started registering foreign workers only through the employer’s single monthly report (JMHZ).
• On 1 January 2026 unemployment benefit changed: in the first months it is 80% of earnings, up to 38,537 Kč a month.
• On 1 October 2025 a new state social benefit known as superdávka was launched. The law expressly excludes temporary protection holders from it.
• On 11 February 2025 the Lex Ukrajina VII act (the seventh package of amendments to Czech laws on Ukrainians) cut the period of state-paid health insurance from 150 to 90 days, wrote the annual extension of protection into the law and introduced special long-term residence.

A bill (sněmovní tisk 213) has not been passed yet, so its conditions do not apply. Among other things, it proposes paying the humanitarian benefit only if the person stays in Czechia for at least 16 days a month (this would apply to everyone, including children and vulnerable people). Adults who are not vulnerable would also have to work or be registered as job seekers. It also proposes ending temporary protection after more than 30 days outside the Schengen area. More on the page Humanitarian benefit and other payments to Ukrainians in Czechia.