Documents

In order for you to be able to integrate yourself into the society after your return to the Czech Republic (i.e., for example, to register yourself with the Labour Office, apply for benefits from the State Social Support Programs, or benefits intended for those in material need, in order for you to be able to work or perform business activities in the Czech Republic, or to register your children at school and you and your family with a general practitioner), you shall be in possession of valid documentation. The situation may arise that your documentation has already expired or is invalid for another reason, that you have lost such documents or never even obtained them.

The most important documents are:
The identity card (IC), a document proving your permanent residence which is closely related to the identity card (PR) and the birth certificate (BC).

Identity card

The identity card, hereinafter the IC, shall be issued by a city hall of the town in which you are currently residing in the Czech Republic, after you submit an application for the identity card there. If you are residing in a small village, you shall submit the application at the city hall of the town to which this village belongs, or at a municipal office (of smaller towns) to which the village belongs. The application will be completed by an official of the given office, you shall only read it, confirm that the information is correct and sign it. You do not need to bring along any photograph of yourself for the IC, since your picture shall be taken by the official right there and then.

To complete the application, you shall bring the following documentation:

• the previous identity card (if you have any)
• the documents confirming any potential changes in the data and the new data (e.g. confirmation on the change of permanent residence)
• a document proving the fact that the client had been staying abroad on a long-term basis (e.g. documents attesting to studies, employment agreements, lease agreements or a stamp in the passport)

If a person applying for the IC had reached the age of 15 during his/her stay abroad, then she/he shall also provide these documents:

• birth certificate
• further documents attesting to the facts which are necessary to clarify any potential discrepancies in data in Czech public registers
• document proving your citizenship – you shall apply for it at a Regional Office based on the permanent residence, or the last permanent residence of the person whose citizenship is being in question – there, you should file an application on the issuance of a certificate on citizenship of the Czech Republic (the application has to be submitted in person and you will need, among other documents, your identity card and your birth certificate to be able to file the application). If the given person has never have had a permanent residence on the territory of the Czech Republic, the application shall be filed at the Municipal Office for Prague 1. Furthermore, the application may also be submitted via a Czech embassy located abroad.

Permanent residence

You shall notify the city hall or the municipal/town office located at the place of your permanent residence of the address of your permanent residence. (This shall be done via the Department for Administrative Affairs at city halls.)

You will need these documents:

• registration ticket for permanent residence
• identity card or passport or the current certification on Czech citizenship
• children under 15 years of age will also need their birth certificate and a document proving their Czech citizenship
• excerpt from the Land Registry (if you own real estate in the Czech Republic) or a lease agreement

Birth certificate

In order to apply for your Identity Card, you will need your BC in some cases.

If you are not in possession of one, you shall apply for an issuance of a duplicate of the BC at the registry office (registry authority for an administrative district to which a town in which the person, applying for the BC, had been born belongs), you can do so both for yourself and your child. If you apply for a BC of a citizen of the Czech Republic who was born abroad, you have to apply for it on the so-called special registry office (e.g. in Brno, there are 9 Registry Offices and those assigned to municipal parts, such as the Municipal Office for the Municipal Part of Brno-Centre, and you shall find the special registry office at the same location – Department of the Special Registry Office.).

You will need these documents:

• a document proving your identity (IC, passport)
• a public document (e.g. marriage certificate, birth certificate or a BC of your relative from which your details necessary for your BC will be able to uncover, passport)
• an officially verified power of attorney if a representative is handling the application on your behalf

Travel documents (passport)

If you wish to travel to the Czech Republic but you do not have a valid passport, you shall apply for its issuance at a Czech embassy (embassies do not issue identity cards).

If you need for serious reasons to leave the foreign country immediately and you have found yourself in an emergency situation, such as due to a loss of employment, accommodation, etc., you can apply for the passport after your return to the Czech Republic.

For the purposes of applying for your passport, you will need to present:

• your photograph (in the size of 5x5 cm),
• certificate on the Czech citizenship not older than 12 months,
• relevant Czech documents from the registry office (birth certificate, marriage certificate),
• declaration on citizenship – you may complete the form prior to your arrival at the embassy, which will help you to reduce the time for the application being processed.

If you are trying to acquire documents and further administrative or other matters, the following information may come in handy:

Verification of certificates, documents, authenticity of signatures

• This procedure is called legalization and verification (vidimation). The legalization certifies that the applicant had signed the given document in front of the certifying person by hand or declared the signature on the document as his/her own. The verification certifies that a duplicate or a copy is identical to the presented document.
• The legalization is performed directly onto the presented document, and the applicant is obliged to present a valid identity document (identity card, passport, driver’s licence, certificate of residence permit for foreigners, etc.).
• The verification (vidimation) is performed onto a copy of the presented document, i.e. the original, an already verified document, a duplicate or a copy acquired from the file.

Fees for the certification:

• Legalization – the person is charged an administrative fee of CZK 30 in cash for the certification of the signature authenticity.
• Verification – the person is charged an administrative fee of CZK 30 in cash for each commenced page in the A4 format.

There is also an option of being released from the obligation to pay administrative charges under the relevant provisions of Act No. 634/2004 Coll., on administrative fees, as amended. The applicant shall pay any potential creation of a copy.

The verification of certificates, documents, signatures and the excerpt from the criminal records may be obtained at any post office, authority (e.g. offices of municipal parts, municipal offices or town offices, Regional Authorities and other) which used the system called CZECHPOINT.

An excerpt from the criminal records is charged by an administrative fee of CZK 100 (regardless the number of pages).