Temporary residence of an EU citizen

The residence of an EU citizen and their family in the EU territory is regulated in Book 1, Title III, Chapter 2 of the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals in the Czech Republic. The provisions of Section 18 (c) of the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals in the Czech Republic explicitly states that a foreign national may reside temporarily in the territory of the Czech Republic without a visa, if they are a citizen of the EU. This means that they can stay in the Czech Republic without any special permission for any period of time only on the basis of a travel document or an identity card. The only requirement is (if the expected length of the stay exceeds 30 days) to notify the police of the place of residence within 30 days from the date of entry.

Temporary residence without a registration

The above rule that an EU citizen may reside in the Czech Republic without any permit (Section 18, c) means that an EU citizen commits no offence by not applying for a certificate of temporary residence according to Section 87, a. An EU citizen resides illegaly in the Czech Republic only if they have been administratively expulsed. However, the “obligation to notify” also applies to EU citizens, if the period of their intended stay in the Czech Republic is longer than 30 days. In this case, within 30 days from the date of entry into the territory of the Czech Republic they must notify the competent foreign police department (based on the place of their residence) of their presence.

Temporary residence with a registration

An EU citizen can apply for the issue of a certificate of temporary residence, i.e. a residence registration, if he intends to stay in the Czech Republic for a period longer than 3 months.

This is a special residence permission for which is an EU citizen legally entitled to apply. A certificate of temporary residence is not a condition for legal stay of the EU citizen in the territory of the Czech Republic, and it is therefore left to their will whether they apply for it or not. For this reason, the law does not use the term "permit" in connection with temporary residence. This certificate is applied for mainly for practical reasons when there is need to produce an official confirmation of residence in the Czech Republic, for example, at another office, for the purpose of social benefits, or in employment.

Residence can be registered in this way either for a specific purpose (employment, self-employment, or studies) or without stating any purpose. An EU citizen is therefore no longer obliged to prove the purpose of stay. However, if the purpose of stay is stated, the EU citizen must submit a document confirming the purpose of stay when applying. This registration of stay is different from the notification of place of residence.

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