This page is for people who are already in Czechia or are only planning to move and want to understand which papers they will need. It gives the overall picture; the detailed steps for your address and health insurance are on separate pages, with links at the end.
Which documents confirm your status?
Your status is confirmed by a document that depends on the basis of your stay:
| Status | Document | Can you travel with it? |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary protection | A passport or another document with the protection visa sticker, for example a border pass (hraniční průvodka); sometimes a stamp is used instead of a sticker | You travel with your passport |
| Special long-term residence | A biometric residence card (průkaz o povolení k pobytu) | No, the card is not a travel document; you need a passport |
A protection holder must always carry the original passport with the sticker: a copy is not enough. If you have no passport and cannot get one for reasons beyond your control, Czechia can issue a protection holder a Czech travel document (cestovní průkaz totožnosti); you need a photo for it.
According to an archived Ministry of the Interior page with 2023 data, for long-term residence, residence as a family member of an EU citizen or permanent residence, a Ukrainian needs a valid passport in their current surname: under Czech law, a passport in a previous surname is invalid.
Will Ukrainians get a rodné číslo?
No, if they have temporary protection, a war-related tolerance visa or special long-term residence. A rodné číslo is a Czech personal number, and it is usually given to a foreigner with a residence permit, but Act 65/2022 Sb., known as Lex Ukrajina (Sb. stands for the Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic, Sbírka zákonů), expressly excludes these three groups.
Without this number, you are identified by other numbers. For health insurance, your payment reference is your 10-digit insured person number at the health insurance company VZP (Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna). For taxes, the tax office gives people without a rodné číslo its own identifier (VČP).
How is your address registered?
A protection holder tells the Ministry of the Interior about a new address within 3 working days if they will live there for more than 15 days. Their first address is the home named in the document submitted with the protection application. Holders of special long-term residence report a change within 30 days if it will last more than 30 days.
For other foreigners, the general rule applies: report your place of residence to the police within 3 working days of entry. The duty counts as fulfilled if you signed a registration form with the person who provides your accommodation; it does not apply to children under 15 and to people housed by the Ministry of the Interior. The ministry advises checking your address on Portál občana (obcan.portal.gov.cz). Details are on the page Reporting your address in Czechia.
How does health insurance work?
A protection holder is insured in the state system from the day protection is granted. For people aged 18 to 64, the state pays for insurance for 90 days from when protection is first granted (150 days if protection was granted on or before 10 February 2025). After that, your employer pays, the state pays for certain groups, or you pay yourself: 3,024 Kč a month in 2026. For children and people aged 65 and over, the state keeps paying, and you do not need to report them to the insurance company. Details are on the page Health insurance for Ukrainians in Czechia.
Do Ukrainian documents need an apostille and a translation?
An apostille is not needed, but a Czech translation usually is. Both countries are parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention (Czechia since 16 March 1999, Ukraine since 22 December 2003), but a bilateral treaty on legal assistance in civil matters has been in force between them since 8 November 2002. Under its Article 18, documents issued or certified by a competent authority of one country are used in the other without further authentication. The same applies to certified signatures, copies and translations.
The Czech Ministry of Justice includes Ukraine among the countries whose documents are exempt from authentication, but advises checking the requirements in each case with the authority of the country where the document will be used. The Czech Embassy in Kyiv says that Ukrainian public documents are submitted as originals or certified copies with an official Czech translation, without an apostille.
An officially certified translation (úředně ověřený překlad) is made by a court translator (soudní překladatel). The translator signs each paper copy by hand and stamps it; an electronic translation is possible with your consent and with a qualified electronic signature. The Ministry of Justice keeps the list of court translators in the register at seznat.justice.cz.
A certified translation is not needed, in particular:
- for documents on family relationships when registering for special long-term residence;
- for a certificate of study in Ukraine submitted to the health insurance company VZP: a simple translation is enough.
In matters handled by the guardianship authorities concerning a child with temporary protection, a document covered by the treaty can be replaced by a written declaration (čestné prohlášení).
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Paying for an apostille on Ukrainian documents for Czech authorities: the treaty between the two countries exempts you from it.
- Carrying a copy of your passport instead of the original with the sticker.
- Treating the special residence card as a travel document.
- Not reporting a new address to the Ministry of the Interior: your protection may end.