Temporary protection in Czechia for Ukrainians

This page is for people who came from Ukraine after 24 February 2022 or are helping relatives get legal status in Czechia. It covers the conditions, the steps, the yearly extension, your duties and the changes in 2026.

# Who can get temporary protection?

Protection is granted to Ukrainian citizens who lived in Ukraine before 24 February 2022 and left after that date, and to their family members. The EU Council decision defines who is covered. According to the Czech Ministry of the Interior, protection is also granted to citizens of other countries and stateless persons to whom Ukraine granted international or equivalent national protection before 24 February 2022. Czech law adds foreigners who, on the date set in the EU decision, had a permanent residence permit in Ukraine and cannot go to their own country because of a real danger.

The ministry counts as family members the people who lived with you in Ukraine before 24 February 2022 and left with you:

• your husband or wife;
• your partner (previously “registered partner”);
• a minor unmarried child, including a child of your husband or wife;
• another close relative who depends on care and lives in the family.

According to the ministry, the following people are not entitled to protection:

• people who have already been granted temporary or international protection in another EU country, now or in the past (for temporary protection, see the court ruling below);
• people who now have, or on 24 February 2022 had, a permanent residence permit in another country or any Czech residence permit for more than 90 days;
• holders of Czech special long-term residence, unless it has been revoked;
• citizens of the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland;
• applicants aged 18 to 60 with military obligations who have not proved that they meet them (from 5 August 2026).

The ministry adds that exceptions to this list are possible, for example when protection is granted for family reunification.

# New military obligations requirement from 5 August 2026

The EU Council decision of 30 July 2026 (with the corrigendum of 5 August) provides that protection is granted only to people who meet their military obligations in Ukraine and, where necessary, prove it. The rule applies from 5 August 2026 to everyone except those who had temporary protection in a given EU country on or before 4 August 2026 and keep it in that same country without a break. So, according to the text of the EU decision, it also covers people whose Czech protection ended and who are asking for it again. The preamble of the decision says that military obligations can exist regardless of age or sex, for example for people who have joined the service.

The Czech Ministry of the Interior applies the requirement to applications filed from 5 August 2026: for first protection, for repeat protection and for protection for family reunification. The ministry requires proof from applicants aged 18 to 60; this age limit was set by Czech practice, not by the EU decision. The requirement does not apply to people who already have valid protection, and no such proof will be required when protection is extended until 31 March 2028.

The proof depends on your age:

The ministry’s main page on protection requires an entry on full exemption from military obligation, while the ministry’s news item on the extension until 2028 simply mentions exemption. Go by the stricter wording of the main page. The ministry accepts an eVOD printout if, for example, you show the same document in the Reserve+ app on your phone on the spot, or if it carries a certification by a Ukrainian consulate made no more than 3 working days earlier. Screenshots are not accepted. The full list of options is on the ministry’s page.

# How do you get protection for a family member?

A family member of a protection holder gets protection through their own application. The Act on Temporary Protection counts as family a husband, wife or registered partner, if the marriage or partnership already existed when the grounds for protection arose; an unmarried child under 18; and the parents of a protection holder under 18. Other close people who lived together may be accepted for reasons that deserve special consideration. From 5 August 2026, the Ministry of the Interior also requires proof about military obligations in these applications, if this applies to the applicant.

# What documents do you need for the application?

The Ministry of the Interior asks for the following with the application:

• the completed application form;
• your passport or another identity document;
• proof that you lived in Ukraine on 24 February 2022;
• a document about your housing;
• from 5 August 2026, proof that you meet your military obligations, if this applies to you.

A housing document can be a written confirmation from the owner or lawful user of the home with an officially certified signature, or a lease or sublease agreement without a certified signature. The ministry may still ask for a confirmation with a certified signature. People who live in state humanitarian housing do not need this document.

# Where and how do you apply?

You apply in person. People who arrived after 24 February 2022 go to a regional assistance center for Ukraine (KACPU); others go to a Ministry of the Interior office. The ministry gives the legal processing time as 60 days.

For a child under 15, the application is filed by a legal representative; a child aged 15 to 18 comes in person together with the representative. The law treats applications for residence permits filed at Czech embassies in Ukraine as inadmissible; the government has made exceptions, including for family visas and permits, study, research work and some types of work. You can ask general questions on the Ministry of the Interior’s information line for foreigners: +420 974 801 801.

Protection is shown by a visa sticker in your passport. The ministry lists these protection sticker codes: D/DO/667, 668, 669; D/DO/767, 768, 769; D/DO/867, 868, 869; D/DO/967, 968, 969. Sometimes protection is shown by a stamp instead.

# What does temporary protection give you?

Protection gives you the right to live in Czechia, currently until 31 March 2027, and to work for any employer without a work permit. In addition:

• health insurance applies from the day protection is granted; for adults, the state pays for it only for a limited time. Details are on the page Health insurance for Ukrainians in Czechia;
• free state housing is provided once and for no more than 90 days in a row from when protection is first granted; the place is assigned by the Ministry of the Interior, the Fire Rescue Service or the police. The right counts as used if, without a valid reason, you refused the housing or left it, or were away for more than 10 days in a row without telling the management;
• humanitarian benefit is possible if your family lacks money: see the page Humanitarian benefit and other payments to Ukrainians in Czechia.

Protection does not give you the right to all Czech benefits. The law expressly excludes protection holders from state social support, the new state social benefit (superdávka), care allowance and benefits for people with disabilities. The list is on the page Social benefits in Czechia. Protection holders do not receive a Czech personal number (rodné číslo).

# How do you extend protection?

Protection is extended every year in two steps, and both are required. The law has worked this way since 11 February 2025:

1. Online registration by 15 March. If you register, you are treated as a protection holder from 1 April to 30 September. You can register only through the electronic form; other ways are not accepted. For a child under 15, the parents or guardian register. In the form, you give your registered address, and for children also the name and address of their school or kindergarten. Registration is complete when you receive an email confirming it, with the date and place for the sticker.
2. A new visa sticker by 30 September. If you get it by this date, you have protection until 31 March of the following year.

If you do not register by 15 March, your protection ends on 31 March. If you register but do not get the sticker by 30 September, your protection ends on 30 September.

The 2026 cycle is over: registration ended on 15 March, the issuing of new stickers on 30 September 2026, and protection is valid until 31 March 2027. Anyone who missed either step files a new application, which is assessed under the current conditions, including the military obligations requirement. Repeat protection restores your previous legal position, but not continuity: the gap does not count as time on protection. This matters for special long-term residence, which requires 2 years of continuous protection.

The law allows the government to cancel the sticker step in an emergency; registration alone is then enough for the extension. We did not find such a regulation for 2026, and the ministry carried out both steps.

# Will protection be valid after 31 March 2027?

The Czech Ministry of the Interior says it will. The next cycle will again consist of online registration and a visit to the ministry for a new sticker, and after both steps protection will be extended until 31 March 2028. Under the law, you must register by 15 March 2027 and get the sticker by 30 September 2027; the ministry has not yet published detailed instructions for 2027.

The EU Council decision extends temporary protection only until 4 March 2028, so the Czech date is later than the EU end date. We have not found an official explanation of how Czechia will reconcile these dates. Plan with both dates in mind and watch for updates.

# What are the duties of a protection holder?

• Report your new address to the Ministry of the Interior within 3 working days if you will live there for more than 15 days, and attach a housing document. Reporting is free; you can be fined for missing the deadline. How to do it is explained on the page Reporting your address in Czechia.
• Report other changes (surname, marital status, passport details) within 3 working days.
• Carry your original passport with the visa sticker; a copy is not enough.
• Enroll your child in a Czech 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.

The address also matters because the ministry can cancel it if you have not lived there for more than 15 days. Your address then becomes the address of a public office, and after 90 days at that address your protection ends.

# Can you travel and leave for a long time?

The law has no separate travel rule for protection holders. For foreigners with a Czech long-term visa or permit, the Ministry of the Interior gives a general rule: when traveling in the Schengen area, carry a valid passport together with your visa or permit, and stay in other countries for no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. In our reading, this also applies to protection holders, because the law treats them as holders of a long-term visa.

The current law does not set a separate maximum period of absence either. Protection can end indirectly because of a long absence: the ministry cancels the address of a person who does not live there, and after 90 days of registration at the address of a public office, protection ends. The bill described below proposes ending protection after more than 30 days outside the Schengen area.

# When does protection end?

Protection ends by law if you:

• applied for temporary protection in another EU country;
• were granted temporary protection in another EU country;
• applied for international protection in another country that applies the Dublin rules;
• were granted a long-term visa, a residence permit or international protection in Czechia or in another country;
• were registered at the address of a public office for 90 days.

You can give up protection with a written statement; protection ends on the day the statement is delivered. You can file it in person at a KACPU (with a biometric passport) or at a Ministry of the Interior office, by post with a certified signature (no confirmation is issued in that case), or at the Czech embassy in Kyiv or the consulate in Lviv. A statement giving up protection is not accepted online or by email. Before you leave, the ministry advises telling your health insurance company, the school and the tax authorities.

# What if you already had protection in another EU country?

Your application must be accepted and examined on the merits: the Supreme Administrative Court decided so, even though the law and the ministry’s portal still call it inadmissible. The positions differ as follows:

• The law. From 3 September 2025, the application of a person who has or had temporary protection in another EU country is inadmissible if the Ministry of the Interior has notified the European Commission of a risk that capacity will run out. The ministry’s letter is dated 25 August 2025 and was sent on 28 August.
• The court. On 10 December 2025, the Czech Supreme Administrative Court (case 5 Azs 248/2025-18) ruled that the ministry cannot return such applications as inadmissible. The ministry must accept the application, check whether protection in the other country is still in force and, if it is, give the applicant a reasonable time to end it. The application can be rejected on the merits only if the applicant does not want to give up protection in the other country and that protection has not ended in some other way. The court also noted that the letter was sent before the rule came into force, and that the rule is contrary to EU law.
• The ministry. The ministry’s portal still calls such applications inadmissible. We have not found out whether the ministry changed its practice after the court ruling.

The bill described below proposes writing into the law a new ground for inadmissibility for people who have or had temporary protection in another EU or Schengen country.

If you were granted protection anyway, and you previously had protection in another EU country or lived in the EU on a permit for more than 90 days, the law treats you, for the purposes of the protection and social security laws, as having had protection for 6 months already. So, in our reading, the 150 days of humanitarian benefit at the full rate and the 90 days of state-paid health insurance do not apply to you.

# Can you ask for asylum while you have temporary protection?

You can apply for international protection in Czechia, but the application is put on hold while temporary protection lasts, and during all this time you are not considered an asylum seeker. An application for international protection in another EU country, by contrast, ends your Czech temporary protection.

# What if you are not entitled to protection?

The fallback option is a tolerance visa (vízum strpění). You apply in person to the Ministry of the Interior; the fee is 300 Kč, processing takes 30 days, and the visa is not issued on the spot. Holders of this visa have no state health insurance or humanitarian benefit, and they need a permit to work. Visas related to the war are valid until 31 March each year while the EU decision is in force.

# What could change for protection holders from 2027?

Nothing has changed yet: this is a government bill (sněmovní tisk 213), not a law. It passed its first reading on 24 June 2026, and it has been proposed for the agenda of the session of the Chamber of Deputies that starts on 13 October 2026. For temporary protection, the bill proposes:

• ending protection if the person has been outside the Schengen countries for more than 30 days;
• reporting a new address if you will live there for more than 30 days (currently 15), and canceling the address after 30 days of absence (currently 15); people registered at the address of a public office would report a change only in person;
• no longer treating an application for temporary protection in another EU country as grounds for ending Czech protection (protection actually granted by another country remains grounds);
• keeping state-paid health insurance for adults who cannot work because of their health only if they have officially assessed limited self-sufficiency of at least the second degree (and for the person caring for them), with a transition period of 3 months.

These changes are to come into force on 1 January 2027. Amendment No. 1989 of 12 October 2026 proposes that they come into force as early as the fifth day after publication, and that the 30 days outside Schengen be counted no earlier than from that day. Parliament will decide the final text; we will update this page once the law is passed.

Where there is no official explanation, we say so directly, and we mark our own conclusions from the text of the law with the words “in our reading”.

# What mistakes should you avoid?

• Missing the online registration by 15 March or the new sticker by 30 September.
• Not reporting your new address to the Ministry of the Interior within 3 working days.
• Carrying a copy of your passport instead of the original with the sticker.
• Showing a Reserve+ screenshot instead of a printed document.
• Asking for protection in another EU country without taking into account that your Czech protection ends as a result.