The Czech Consulate General in Chicago has warned that its payment terminals will be offline from 24 to 31 December, forcing visa and passport applicants to pay fees in exact cash. Passport and ID-card issuance will be suspended entirely on 30–31 December while systems are re-configured.
Chicago is one of Czechia’s busiest North American posts, handling Schengen visas for conference travellers and employee-cards for engineers bound for Czech automotive plants. Finance teams must ensure couriers carry the precise USD amount—no change is given—and remind applicants that personal cheques are not accepted.
![Cash-Only Week Looms as Card Terminals Fail at Czech Consulate in Chicago]()
Companies with urgent mobility cases are advised to redirect filings to New York or Washington, though both are operating reduced holiday schedules. HR managers should review January travel plans for staff whose Czech passports expire within six months; postponements may be necessary until the first week of 2026.
If the downtime in Chicago complicates your timelines, VisaHQ can step in to streamline submissions by coordinating courier deliveries, monitoring fee changes, and securing appointments at alternative consulates; see their Czech Republic services page for details: https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/.
The consulate says the upgrade will pave the way for contactless payments and dynamic-currency conversion in February, but until then applicants should expect longer queues as staff reconcile cash at the window. Couriers should build extra buffer time into filing runs to avoid same-day flight cut-offs.
Chicago is one of Czechia’s busiest North American posts, handling Schengen visas for conference travellers and employee-cards for engineers bound for Czech automotive plants. Finance teams must ensure couriers carry the precise USD amount—no change is given—and remind applicants that personal cheques are not accepted.
Companies with urgent mobility cases are advised to redirect filings to New York or Washington, though both are operating reduced holiday schedules. HR managers should review January travel plans for staff whose Czech passports expire within six months; postponements may be necessary until the first week of 2026.
If the downtime in Chicago complicates your timelines, VisaHQ can step in to streamline submissions by coordinating courier deliveries, monitoring fee changes, and securing appointments at alternative consulates; see their Czech Republic services page for details: https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/.
The consulate says the upgrade will pave the way for contactless payments and dynamic-currency conversion in February, but until then applicants should expect longer queues as staff reconcile cash at the window. Couriers should build extra buffer time into filing runs to avoid same-day flight cut-offs.
