Czechia’s Interior Ministry has pulled the plug on its two main immigration helplines for the entire holiday period. The general Client-Centre number (974 801 801) went silent on 22 December and will not return until 2 January 2026; the dedicated Temporary-Protection line (974 801 802) will operate only on 29–30 December. Officials cite IT maintenance and staff leave.
The blackout lands at the worst possible moment. January is peak season for renewing employee cards, blue cards and intra-company-transfer permits, and some 400,000 Ukrainian refugees must file 2026 paperwork by 31 March. Lawyers warn that missing statutory deadlines because a phone line was down will not be accepted as force majeure; fines or even loss of status could follow.
![Interior Ministry Shuts Immigration Hotlines Until 2 January, Putting January Permit Renewals at Risk]()
Corporate HR teams report queues spilling onto the pavement at Prague’s Bohdalec branch and are already booking appointments in Brno, Ostrava and Plzeň where wait times are shorter. Many firms are leaning on third-party relocation providers to bridge the advice gap, while platforms such as VisaHQ are seeing a spike in Czech-related enquiries.
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) offers round-the-clock online support for Czech visas and residency matters, including document checks, appointment bookings and courier submissions. Its multilingual specialists effectively become a back-up helpdesk when official phone lines go dark, ensuring employers and assignees stay on track.
Best-practice steps for employers: collate outstanding documents now; secure early-January slots via the online reservation portal; brief employees on alternative email contacts; and maintain relationships with private visa agents who can file even when state helplines are dark. The episode underlines the importance of redundant support channels in mobility programmes.
The blackout lands at the worst possible moment. January is peak season for renewing employee cards, blue cards and intra-company-transfer permits, and some 400,000 Ukrainian refugees must file 2026 paperwork by 31 March. Lawyers warn that missing statutory deadlines because a phone line was down will not be accepted as force majeure; fines or even loss of status could follow.
Corporate HR teams report queues spilling onto the pavement at Prague’s Bohdalec branch and are already booking appointments in Brno, Ostrava and Plzeň where wait times are shorter. Many firms are leaning on third-party relocation providers to bridge the advice gap, while platforms such as VisaHQ are seeing a spike in Czech-related enquiries.
Amid this uncertainty, VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) offers round-the-clock online support for Czech visas and residency matters, including document checks, appointment bookings and courier submissions. Its multilingual specialists effectively become a back-up helpdesk when official phone lines go dark, ensuring employers and assignees stay on track.
Best-practice steps for employers: collate outstanding documents now; secure early-January slots via the online reservation portal; brief employees on alternative email contacts; and maintain relationships with private visa agents who can file even when state helplines are dark. The episode underlines the importance of redundant support channels in mobility programmes.
