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EU Blue Card

The EU Blue Card (modrá karta) is a combined residence and work permit for highly qualified non-EU employees. Here is what you need, what it costs, and how it fits with a trade license.

Who is it for?

Non-EU citizens with a highly qualified job in the Czech Republic: a university degree (or a higher professional education of at least 3 years), or, for IT managers and IT specialists, at least 3 years of relevant experience in the last 7 years instead of a degree. Since July 2023 people with international protection and family members of EU citizens can also apply.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need it: they can work freely.

Conditions

  • Salary: at least 1.5 times the average gross monthly wage. From 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2027 that is 73,823 CZK gross a month. The ministry updates the average wage every year.
  • Contract: an employment contract (or a signed future contract) for at least 6 months, full time.
  • The job must be listed in the central register of Blue Card vacancies. Your employer arranges this.
  • Qualification: your degree, recognised in the Czech Republic if the job requires it, or proof of the IT experience.

How to apply

  • From abroad: at a Czech embassy. Consular fee 5,000 CZK.
  • In the Czech Republic: at a Ministry of the Interior office, if you already stay here legally. Fee 2,500 CZK.
  • Documents: the application form, passport, photo, the employment contract, proof of qualification and proof of accommodation. For non-EU citizens: the landlord signs both the rental contract and the Doklad o zajištění ubytování in front of a notary or at CzechPOINT; hand in the originals.
  • Decision within 90 days. Then you give your fingerprints and collect the card.

Validity and changing jobs

  • Valid for the length of your contract plus 3 months, up to 3 years. You can extend it.
  • Changing employer or job: report it to the Ministry of the Interior within 3 working days. In the first year, check first whether the new job still meets the conditions.
  • Without a job for too long (roughly 3 months, or 6 months after 2 years with the card), the ministry can cancel the card. Report a job loss straight away.

Family

Your spouse and children apply for a long-term residence permit for family reunification, without the usual waiting time. They have free access to the labour market. More: family visa.

Permanent residence

After 5 years of continuous residence on a Blue Card in the EU, including at least the last 2 years in the Czech Republic, you can apply for permanent residence. Stays in other EU countries count if each lasted at least 12 months. Absences: no single one longer than 12 months and 18 months in total. A Czech language exam is required (with exemptions). Fee 2,500 CZK.

Moving within the EU

With a Czech Blue Card you can travel in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180 days. To work in another EU country you apply for that country's Blue Card; you can do this from inside that country.

Blue Card and a trade license

A Blue Card is a long-term residence permit, so in principle you can also get a trade license next to your job. The condition: the Blue Card job stays your main purpose of stay, with the full salary. If you lose the job, the trade license does not save your Blue Card; to live here on self-employment alone you need to change the purpose of your stay to business. Your checklist: required documents.

Official sources

Checked in November 2026. The rules change regularly; the ministry page is leading.