Citizenship: new regulations

Means of the Czech citizenship acquisition

A) By birth

B) By determination of paternity

C) By adoption

D) By being found on the territory of the Czech Republic

E) By granting

F) By declaration

G) In relation to the placement into institutional, foster or other forms of substitute care

A) BY BIRTH

at the time of the child’s birth, one of the parents is a citizen of the Czech Republic
if the child was born on the territory of the Czech Republic and both of the parents are without a citizenship, but on the day of the child’s birth at least one of them is permitted to legally stay on the territory of the Czech Republic for more than 90 days

B) BY DETERMINATION OF PATERNITY

a) a child who was born outside of a marriage and a citizen of Czech Republic (the father) together with the mother makes an affirmative declaration about his paternity in the Register Office. This applies only if the mother is a foreigner who:

is a citizen of an EU member state and is not a citizen of the Czech Republic
is a citizen of Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein or Switzerland
has been granted permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic
is without a citizenship

b) a child, in whose case it was determined by a court decision that his/her father is a citizen of the Czech Republic

c) a child who was born outside of a marriage and a citizen of Czech Republic (the father) together with the mother makes an affirmative declaration about his paternity in the Register Office. This applies only if the mother:

is not a citizen of the Czech Republic
is not a citizen of an EU member state
has not been granted permanent residence in the Czech Republic
is not without a citizenship

and the parents prove the father’s paternity by a DNA paternity test in the form of an expert report

C) BY ADOPTION

on the date of the decision on adoption’s legal validity, if at least one of the adoptive parents is a citizen of the Czech Republic and the decision on adoption was issued by an authority of the Czech Republic
if the decision on adoption was issued by an authority of a foreign country and one of the adoptive parents is a citizen of the Czech Republic, the child acquires the Czech citizenship on the date of the decision’s legal validity if the adoption was recognized by a competent court in the Czech Republic under the Act on Private International Law

! If an adult person was adopted by a citizen of the Czech Republic, the adoptee does not acquire Czech citizenship, but he/she has the possibility to apply for it (see below)!

D) BY BEING FOUND

On the date he/she was found on the territory of the Czech Republic, a child younger than 3 years acquires the Czech citizenship if it was not possible to identify him/her and within 6 months from the date of finding he/she did not acquire citizenship of another state.

E) BY GRANTING THE CITIZENSHIP

CONDITIONS

1) Length of permanent residence in the Czech Republic

nationals of third countries – on the day of application

5 years of permanent residence, having resided here for most of the time

b) nationals of EU member states – on the day of application

3 years of permanent residence, having resided here for most of the time

! persons under 18 years of age only have to meet the condition of legal residence for 5 (3) years and obtain permanent residence by the day of application!
c) legal residence in the Czech Republic for at least 10 years

'Residing in the Czech Republic for most of the time' means that a third country national has been living in the CR for at least 2,5 years and an EU national for 1,5 years – this can be supported e.g. by a written statement about travelling out of the CR/not travelling out of the CR.

the condition related to the length of permanent residence may be waived as stated by law

2) Czech criminal history record

the Ministry of Interior obtains the record itself
it evidences that you have not been sentenced to imprisonment for a crime committed wilfully or by negligence

3) Knowledge of the Czech language

you demonstrate your knowledge by passing an exam
the condition does not have to be met by foreign nationals who:
- for at least three years in the past attended a school where Czech was the language of tuition
- are under 15 years of age or 65 and over on the day of application
- a mental or psychiatric disability prevents them from acquiring a knowledge of the language
- more information

a fee of 3300 CZK is charged (it is not refundable if you fail the exam)
the condition may be waived if there are reasons for special consideration

4) Basic knowledge of the Czech Republic's constitutional system, culture, society, geography and history (hereafter as 'knowledge of life and institutions')

the condition does not have to be met by foreign nationals who:
- for at least three years in the past attended a school where Czech was the language of tuition
- are under 15 years of age or 65 and over on the day of application
- a mental or psychiatric disability prevents them from acquiring a knowledge of the language
- more information

a fee of 1600 CZK is charged (it is not refundable if you fail the exam)
the condition may be waived if there are reasons for special consideration

5) During the three years prior to application, you did not commit a serious breach of the responsibilities that arise from legislation governing the entry and residence of foreign nationals in the Czech Republic, public health insurance, social security, supplementary pension insurance, taxes, customs, payments and fees, duty to support and maintain a child who has permanent residence in the Czech Republic, or public law responsibilities to the municipality where you have a registered residence if the responsibilities are placed by a self-governing municipality.

this condition may be waived if you have repaired the damage or taken measures to repair it

6) Declaration of income for the past three years prior to applying for citizenship

this condition does not have to be met if you are under 18 years of age on the day of application

7) During the three years prior to application, you were not, to a considerable degree and without sound reasons, a burden to the state social support system or the system of assistance in material need (i.e. you have not been receiving benefits).

you are not largely dependent on benefits provided by the system of state social support or the system of assistance in material need – this does not apply if you are not able to work or conduct business for health reasons, if you are a student or on maternity/parental leave, or if you are continuously providing care to a person dependent on it
the condition may be waived if there are reasons for special consideration, such as if you are stateless or you have been granted asylum or supplementary protection

you cannot make a legal claim for Czech citizenship – even if you meet all the conditions required by law, you might not be granted citizenship
the decision rests with the Czech Ministry of Interior
some of the conditions that have to be met may be waived by the Ministry of Interior upon your request

GRANTING CITIZENSHIP IN SPECIAL CASES

a) parents, or a guardian, may apply for citizenship for a child under one year of age from the day a mutual declaration of paternity is made; this applies to cases where the mother is:

not a citizen of the Czech Republic
not a citizen of another EU member state
stateless

this procedure applies when the child is born outside marriage and the parents do not choose the 'Declaration of paternity' option
applications have to be submitted to the Ministry or a regional authority
applications have to be submitted within one year following the day a mutual declaration of paternity is made; if the declaration is made before the child's birth, submissions have to be made within one year following the birth
the Ministry assesses whether the father lives in the same household as the child, meets his responsibility for child support, and participates in the child's upbringing
the decision will be issued within 60 days of application

b) parents, or a guardian, may apply for citizenship for a child that is born in the Czech Republic and that does not obtain citizenship of either of the parents; this applies to cases where one of the parents has a residence permit for more than 90 days

c) citizenship may be granted to a natural person over 3 years of age found in the territory of the Czech Republic if they cannot be identified because of a low degree of intellectual maturity or a disability and if it does not transpire within 6 months of finding them that they are a national of a different country

applications are to be submitted by a guardian, or the proceedings are commenced by the Ministry itself
submissions are to be made to the Ministry or a regional authority

GRANTING CITIZENSHIP ON ACCOUNT OF A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION

foreign nationals with permanent residence in the Czech Republic may apply for citizenship and be granted it if this would constitute a significant contribution to science, education, sport, culture, etc.
the only condition to be met is a clean criminal record (you have not been sentenced to imprisonment for a crime committed wilfully or by negligence)

The following needs to be submitted:

document attesting the reason for applying
application form
birth certificate
marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate (if you have entered into marriage or civil partnership)
divorce certificate or civil partnership dissolution certificate (should this be the case)
death certificate of your spouse/civil partner (should this be the case)
criminal history record or document of equal value issued by a competent court or administration authority of the other country (in certain cases this can be replaced, e.g. with an affidavit) – must not be older than 6 months
curriculum vitae – must include information about your residence in the Czech Republic, about any foreign travels during this period, about your job, any other gainful activity, or studies, information about your family and social life, etc.

APPLICATION HANDLING PROCEDURE

Where to apply

in person at the Regional Authority (“krajský úřad”) appropriate to the place of your permanent residence; in Prague at a Municipal District Authority (“úřad městské části”)

Which documents to produce

application form
birth certificate
marriage certificate or registered partnership certificate (if you have entered into marriage or registered partnership)
divorce certificate or certificate of dissolution of registered partnership (if applicable)
spouse's / partner's death certificate (if applicable)
criminal record extract (“výpis z rejstříku trestů”) or its equivalent issued by an appropriate court or administrative body of another state (in certain cases it may be replaced for example by a statutory declaration not older than 6 months)
curriculum vitae – you shall provide information about your stay in the Czech Republic, your travel abroad during this period, your work or other paid activity or study, your family and social life, etc.
Czech language and civic knowledge examination certificate
documents proving your stay in the Czech Republic and trips abroad (for example a statutory declaration about your trips abroad and stay in the Czech Republic)
confirmation that you have no underpaid taxes in the tax records of the Financial Administration (“Finanční správa”) and the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic (“Celní správa ČR”)
proof of the origin of your financial resources for your living expenses in the Czech Republic (for example an attestation of pension receipt, proof of foreign earned income, proof of your spouse's income, etc.)
certificate of employment along with your income documentation if you are employed, and employment contracts or certificates relating to your jobs in the past
study certificate or your last school report or diploma if you are studying in the Czech Republic or studied here in the past
documents issued by foreign authorities must be certified by an Apostille unless otherwise specified by an international treaty, and officially translated into Czech if their original language is not Czech (if the documents are issued by Slovak authorities, translation is not required)
More information

a married couple may file a joint application for Czech citizenship; alternatively

parents may include their child into their Czech citizenship application under the condition that the child is under 18 years of age; in such case the birth certificate of the child shall be produced along with the application

if only one parent applies, the other parent's written consent with the child's citizenship change shall be produced unless the exercise of his/her parental responsibility has been limited or suspended, or his/her parental responsibility has been terminated or he/she has been rendered incapable (this shall be proven by a court decree – also if the parents are divorced) or the whereabouts abroad of the other parent are unknown
in the case of citizenship for merit, it is not possible to file a joint application.

Processing times

after your filing the application, the Regional Authority will send it to the Ministry of the Interior (“Ministerstvo vnitra”) by 30 days
a decision about your application will be made by the Ministry by 180 days after delivery

Result of the proceedings

if the Ministry accepts your application, it issues a certificate of naturalisation for you
you shall take the oath of citizenship by 12 months after the day the invitation has been delivered to you, otherwise the naturalization will be cancelled
you acquire the Czech citizenship the day you take the oath of citizenship (you can be exempted from this condition under special considerations)

What to do if you do not obtain Czech citizenship

file remonstrance (“rozklad”) to the Minister of the Interior - by 15 days after the rejection has been delivered to you; you shall send it via the Department of Citizenship and Registries (“Oddělení státního občanství a matrik”) of the Ministry of the Interior
after your filing the remonstrance, the Minister will make a decision by 120 days
you can bring a legal action (“žaloba”) against the decision of the Minister of the interior by 2 months after the delivery of the decision on the remonstrance
this does not apply if the application was rejected based on concealed information
if your application is refused, you cannot file a new one before the expiration of a period of two years from the date on which the rejection of your application came into force

F) BY DECLARATION

For example

a foreigner aged between 18 and 21 years, under condition he/she has a temporary residency in the Czech Republic who
has spent at least 2/3 of the period between his/her 10 years of age at the latest, and the day of the declaration legally in the Czech Republic and has not been condemned of a crime

exception: until 1/1/2015 declaration can also be made by a foreigner over 21 years of age

if the statutory conditions are fulfilled, also ex-citizens of the Czech Republic, Czechoslovak Republic or Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and their lineal descendants etc. may acquire citizenship by declaration

Course of Proceedings

the declaration shall be made at the Regional Authority appropriate to the place of your permanent residence or your last permanent residence in the Czech Republic; if you have never had a permanent residence in the Czech Republic, you may make the declaration at the Municipal Authority of Prague 1 district
you may make the declaration abroad at a Representative Office of the Czech Republic; the Office sends the documentation to the appropriate Regional Authority or Ministry
if you meet the conditions for acquisition of the citizenship by declaration, you receive a certificate of naturalization; you acquire citizenship upon receipt of the certificate

G) ACQUISITION OF THE CZECH CITIZENSHIP BY A CHILD IN SUBSTITUTE CARE

a child in substitute care that is stateless, was born and has been legally staying in the Czech Republic
the child acquires Czech citizenship upon entry into force of the court decision to place the child into substitute care

Sanctions

If you deliberately withhold, give false or incomplete information to the administrative body, you risk fine of up to CZK 50 000.

Administrative charges

they apply only if you are granted citizenship
minor or asylum holder: CZK 500
adult: CZK 2000
in special cases the fee can be reduced down to: CZK 500 for adults, CZK 100 for minors or asylum holders
acceptance of the declaration of citizenship: CZK 500
fee for language and civic knowledge examination is paid separately

Legislation

Act No. 186/2013 Coll. on Citizenship of the Czech Republic and Amending Certain Acts (Act on Citizenship of the Czech Republic), as amended
Act No. 634/2004 Coll. on Administrative Charges, as in chapter 170/2013 Coll.
Act No. 500/2004 Coll., Code of Administrative Procedure, as amended
Regulation No. 433/2013 Coll.