First-instance authority: Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic

This is the most important part of the procedure for granting international protection. The Ministry evaluates all information and documents related to your application (these can be submitted throughout the procedure also in languages other than Czech). A decision should be issued within six months, though this period can, in some cases, be extended to 18 or 21 months.

If you possess a travel document from your country of origin, it will be taken from you for the duration of the procedure at the Ministry, a regional court, or the Municipal Court in Prague. You will be issued an applicant for international protection card, which will serve as your ID and residence card. You must carry this card with you at all times. Its validity can be extended repeatedly.

The procedure at the Ministry concludes with the issuance of a decision, which becomes legally effective on the day it is delivered to you. If you are granted asylum, you will receive a card for persons granted asylum. If you are granted subsidiary protection, you will receive a card for subsidiary protection holders valid for the duration of the granted protection.

If your application for international protection is denied, you have the right to bring a legal action against the decision to the relevant regional court (the court’s jurisdiction is based on your registered residence at the time the decision was issued). For residents of Prague, the relevant court is the Municipal Court in Prague; if you are filing your action at the reception centre at the international airport, the relevant court is the Regional Court in Prague. You must file your action within 15 days from the day following the delivery of the decision. In most cases, the action has a suspensive effect, meaning you can remain in the Czech Republic under the same conditions as during the procedure at the Ministry of the Interior. If the action does not automatically have a suspensive effect, you can ask the court to grant it. You may stay in the Czech Republic while awaiting the court’s decision on whether suspensive effect will be granted.

ACCOMMODATION DURING THE PROCEEDINGS

A reception centre is where you go to apply for international protection. In the Czech Republic, there are two such centres: one in Zastávka u Brna and another at Václav Havel Airport Prague. The airport reception centre is specifically for individuals arriving by airplane and applying for international protection in the airport’s transit area. You must remain at the reception centre until the basic entry procedures are completed. These include identification, initiation of the international protection procedure (issuing your applicant for international protection card), an entry interview, and a mandatory health check. The airport reception centre operates under its own set of rules, including a maximum stay of up to 180 days.

After completing the mandatory entry procedures at the reception centre, you can choose to stay either at one of the residential centres operated by the Refugee Facilities Administration of the Ministry of the Interior or in private accommodation.

Staying at a residential centre provides accommodation, meals (or financial support for food), basic sanitary products, healthcare, social and psychological services, as well as opportunities for leisure activities. You are allowed to leave the centre, but you must report your absence and return within the specified time. If you apply for international protection with your family, you can stay together at the residential centre.

Staying in private accommodation:

If you wish to stay outside the residential centres operated by the Ministry of the Interior, you must apply to the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy (OAMP). Your application must include a lease agreement or a declaration from the property owner with their signature officially certified. The foreign police may verify that you are indeed residing at the provided address. When staying in private accommodation, you are responsible for covering all associated costs yourself. Only in rare cases may you be eligible for a financial contribution.

Possibilities for a financial contribution /to be added/