EU citizens who remain in the Czech Republic for more than 90 days will probably soon have to register with the Interior Ministry, under the new bill on the entry and residence of foreigners, approved by the government yesterday.
Interior Minister Vit Rakusan (STAN) said the other objectives of the draft bill were to digitise the residence permit agenda and to define the role of a “guarantor” – i.e. the entity confirming the purpose of the stay of a foreign national from a non-EU country.
According to the Interior Ministry’s quarterly report on migration, there were 1,056,626 foreign nationals in the Czech Republic at the end of June, and the Interior Ministry estimates that there are up to 200,000 EU citizens residing in the country who are not registered.
The new legislation is due to come into force in January 2026, with compulsory registration of EU citizens to start a year later. EU citizens already living in the Czech Republic will be obliged to register within two years.
Rakusan noted that the changes do not concern those applying for asylum or temporary protection, and that the migration pact is not implemented in the new law either. However, the rules will apply to foreign nationals who are legally residing in the Czech Republic.
Rakusan said that the obligation for EU citizens to register is quite common in other EU countries.
Currently, EU citizens are not obliged to report their residence in the Czech Republic. According to the Ministry of the Interior, this brings certain problems, for example that the municipality does not receive money from the state for unregistered residents. The difference between the actual and registered number of people can also have implications for the planning of capacity in schools or health care facilities, the ministry added.
Registration will make data on foreigners available to local authorities, and services that are linked to ID verification will also become more accessible to foreigners, according to the proposal.
A consortium of NGOs working with migrants said during the consultation period that the draft bill puts family members of Czech citizens who did not previously live together in another EU member state at a disadvantage. The NGOs said these people would have a worse status than the family members of foreign nationals residing in the Czech Republic, as unlike relatives of Czech citizens, the latter will be able to benefit from the status of “family member of an EU citizen” and related rights.
On Monday, these organisations called on the government not to approve the bill.
The bill also aims to digitise the agenda and residence procedures. It would create a new information system managed directly by the Interior Ministry instead of the police.
This system is expected to cost around CZK 300 million, for which the ministry plans to use EU subsidies. According to the Interior Ministry, money will have to be allocated from the state budget for co-financing and subsequently for the operation of the information system. The office estimated the annual cost at CZK 25.4 million.
The new legislation will also strengthen the role of the guarantor that enables third-country nationals to confirm the purpose of their stay. These will be persons or entities with whom the foreign national will work after arriving in the Czech Republic.
The rights and obligations of the guarantor are clearly defined in the new bill; they will have access to the residence procedure of the foreigner and will also be responsible for the payment of their possible expulsion, Rakusan said.
