Selected foreigners no longer need work permit from July
The amendment to the Employment Act among other things extended the scope of exemptions from foreigners’ obligation to have a relevant permit to work in the Czech Republic: the category ‘citizens of selected countries’ was added. The government has now adopted a regulation specifying the list of countries to which the exemption will apply from 1 July. For these foreigners, relocating to the Czech Republic will be simplified, although they will still need a residence permit.
Generally, foreigners from outside the European Union need an employment permit to work in the Czech Republic. However, selected groups of foreigners who meet specific conditions are exempt from this obligation. These are defined by the Employment Act and include, e.g., holders of permanent residence permits, students or graduates of accredited courses, or holders of certain types of long-term residence permits.
From 1 July, a new group will be added to the existing exemptions – citizens of selected states. These will automatically gain free access to the Czech labour market, without any further conditions. The government has put on the list of selected countries Australia, Japan, Canada, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Great Britain, the United States of America, Singapore, and Israel. The list will probably be expanded in the future to also include citizens of Taiwan, which was dropped from the original proposal because it does not meet the condition of being an independent state. The new free access to the labour market shall apply both to foreigners employed locally and to posted workers.
The obligation to obtain a residence permit remains
Importantly, the described above regulation only concerns work permits. The foreigners will still need to obtain a visa or residence permit to work legally in the Czech Republic. Although all the above countries have visa-free relations with the Czech Republic, i.e., their citizens can stay here for 90 days (and sometimes more) without a visa, this advantage can only be used for non-gainful activity, not for employment or the posting of workers.
In practice, this means that a Schengen visa will still be required for short-term work stays. For long-term stays, i.e., over 3 months, an employee or blue card will be required. Unlike under the current rules, employee cards will be issued to these foreigners under the ‘non-dual’ regime, and the existing ‘dual’ employee cards will automatically switch to this regime on 1 July. They will serve only as a residence permit for employment purposes, but the employment itself will no longer be subject to the approval by authorities, neither will any changes of an employer or job (the notification obligation under the Foreigners’ Residence Act remains, however). The blue card does not exist in the non-dual regime, and if a foreigner decides to apply for this type of permit, the new regulation will not significantly affect them.
Please note that the need to obtain a residence permit does not only concern foreigners. If a foreigner performs work without a valid residence permit, it is considered illegal employment, for which the employer is liable to a fine of up to CZK 10 million and other sanctions.
Although free access to the labour market for the above defined foreigners is a significant positive change, the need to obtain residence permits will still make their employment more complicated than that of EU citizens. From our discussions with the authorities, we understand that no relaxation of the residence rules is currently being considered.
We have been covering this topic for a long time. We have already reported on the upcoming changes in the employment of foreigners from third countries here, and you can also read about free access to the labour market for foreigners with special long-term residence permits here.