We provide answers to the most frequently asked questions (regularly updated in accordance with political developments).


Important documents

Deal Scenario

The Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration on the future relationship between the UK and the EU anticipates a transition period lasting until December 31 2020. It assumes that the UK citizens living in the Czech Republic will maintain and enjoy the rights that EU nationals have today in order to live, travel, work and study during this time. If a deal is made before the end of the year, some additional benefits might be given to UK citizens.

In case there is a gap between December 31, 2020 and the approval of a deal, there may either be another temporary regime set up by the negotiators, or the citizens will be treated equally as third country citizens. This is also the case of a no deal scenario, see below.

No Deal Scenario

The situation of UK citizens in the Czech Republic will be governed by Act No. 326/1999 Coll. on the Residence of Aliens in the Territory of the Czech Republic. The law covers several areas from residence, citizenship, access to labour market to recognition of professional qualifications, etc.

Guide For UK Citizens

 

In order to gain a right to stay in the Czech Republic after 2020, newcomers have to submit an application for temporary, a long-term or permanent residence permit of third country nationals. For short visits, this obligation is waived.

You can however continue residing on Czech territory once you prove that you were legally staying in the Czech Republic prior the the end of transition period date – if possible, by a valid temporary or permanent residence permit.

For easier orientation please see Brexit webpage of Ministry of the Interior and the guide for UK citizens.

Also check our article on visas and residencies here.

A work permit, employee card, or blue card is not required for a UK citizen or a UK citizen family member whose work (in accordance with the Czech Labour Code) began prior to 2021. This covers the persons covered and benefiting from the Withdrawal agreement.
Check our article on work and studies.

Yes. Same rules as for UK citizens, provided family relation predates withdrawal date.

If you have lived in the Czech Republic for more than five years you can apply for a Permanent Residence Permit. If you are a family member of Czech or another EU citizen with a permanent residence permit and you have been living in the Czech Republic for more than two years you can apply for a Permanent Residence Permit. After stay for more than five years on permanent residence permit, you can apply for the citizenship.
Also check our article on visas and residencies here.

After 1 January 2021, it is possible to drive motor vehicles in the Czech Republic only with a UK driving licence that complies with driving licence template set in the Conventions on Road Traffic (Vienna 1968, Geneva 1949). Such driving licences were issued in the UK from July 1998 (in a form of a plastic card). If you have a UK driving licence issued before July 1998, you can drive motor vehicles in the Czech Republic only with an international driving licence issued in the UK.
Check our article on driving licences here.

Generally, it is possible to state that professional qualifications gained in the UK before the withdrawal date will be counted as professional qualification gained in the EU. Professional qualifications gained in the UK after withdrawal date cannot be counted as qualifications gained in the EU and, therefore, it will be necessary to proceed on the basis of academic recognition regarding the recognition of these qualifications. The academic recognition procedure does not differentiate qualifications on the basis of the country of origin.

 

As to specified medical and non-medical professions, the Brexit Act states that qualifications gained during the transitional period in the UK will be recognised as qualifications gained in an EU member state.

Recognition procedures will not be affected by Brexit. Recognition of academic qualifications is not even a part of the Brexit Act. Recognition of Foreign Higher Education for academic purposes is not regulated by EU law. The Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Lisbon Recognition Convention) will remain the main international convention defining recognition procedures. UK higher education qualifications will thus be subject to standard recognition procedures known as academic recognition defined in Section 89, 90 and 90a of the Act No. 111/1998 Sb.

Contact your higher education provider to check whether your situation will change after the 31 December 2020. You should be able to continue with your placement and also be eligible for broadly the same support as other students, as long as you are living there by 31 December 2020 and meet residency requirements.
Starting a new course in the EU from 1 January 2021, read the guidance on starting a full degree course in the EU from 1 January 2021.

Also, check our article on work and studies.

By leaving the EU without an agreement, the UK will become a third country from the  EU perspective and preferential status of our trade with the UK will end. This means that businesses will be able to rely on the minimum standard guaranteed by WTO rules. 

Check our article on doing business in the UK after December 31, 2020.

All persons employed by an employer with a registered office or permanent residence in the Czech Republic, irrespective of their nationality, will continue to have access to the Czech healthcare system after the Brexit date. Same goes for the persons with permanent stay in the Czech Republic who are obliged to have a health insurance with the Czech Republic. Access to healthcare for majority of UK citizens residing in the Czech Republic will not change after UK leaves the EU.

British citizens arriving to the Czech Republic after the Brexit date will be in a position of third country nationals, their access to the healthcare will be limited according to the given rules stipulated in Act No. 326/1999 Sb. Basically, they will be obliged to be covered by private (travel) health insurance as specified in Act No. 326/1999 Sb. regulating the residence of foreigners in the Czech Republic.

In the area of income and capital gains taxation, the Convention between the Government of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital Gains , 89/1992 Sb., which was signed in London on 5 November 1990, still remains in force and effective. Brexit will have no impact on the existence of this particular Convention. Its provisions have to be followed as in the situation when the UK is a member state of the EU.

British citizens with payments accounts in the Czech Republic are expected to maintain the same overall level of rights that they have currently before Brexit. After the Brexit date, the British citizens as foreigners from a non – EU (so called third) country who are legally resident in the Czech Republic will be in principle able to open bank account in the Czech Republic. Obviously, exact conditions for opening a payment account and using a specific product may differ bank by bank, because they depend on the terms and conditions offered by each individual bank.

  • a) sickness
  • b) maternity / paternity
  • c) invalidity
  • d) survivors´
  • e) accidents at work and occupational diseases
  • f) unemployment
  • g) pre-retirement
  • h) family benefits

Yes, benefits listed in a) to e) are fully exportable according to the national legislation; in case of unemployment, family and long term care benefits the exportability is limited to a grace period till the end of 2020.



 


Updated: 21 December 2020

Aktuality

V krizových situacích na hranicích s UK volejte:

Brexit helpline: 00 800 67891011 (všechny EU jazyky)

Konzulární služba ČR ve Francii: 0033 607 764 394

Konzulární služba ČR v Belgii: 0032 477 257 104

Konzulární služba ČR v Nizozemsku: 0031 641 315 128

Konzulární služba ČR v UK: 0044 (0)776 968 2442

Key information for UK citizens

Česká republika k brexitu

Spojené království k brexitu

Průvodce britské vlády

EU settlement scheme (klíčové pro české občany v UK)

Living in the Czech Republic (klíčové pro britské občany v ČR)

Průvodce návštěvou UK po 31. 12. 2020

Evropská unie k brexitu