Multinational companies with staff in Czechia have lost a key compliance lifeline after the Interior Ministry switched off its immigration hotlines for an 11-day holiday break.
According to a ministry notice reported by VisaHQ on 30 December, the main Client-Centre number (974 801 801) stopped answering calls on 22 December and will remain silent until 2 January 2026.
The dedicated line for Ukrainian temporary-protection holders (974 801 802) will operate only on 29–30 December before closing.
The blackout coincides with the peak filing season for renewals of employee cards, EU Blue Cards and intra-company-transfer permits—applications that many assignees must lodge in the first week of January to stay in legal status. Without the helplines, HR teams have no rapid channel to clarify documentary requirements or appointment availability.
![Czech Interior Ministry Helplines for Foreign Residents Go Dark Until 2 January]()
For organisations scrambling for alternatives, VisaHQ’s Czech Republic team (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) can bridge the gap by securing appointments, vetting document packs and updating clients on evolving ministry guidance, helping HR managers keep expat staff in status even while the official hotlines are offline.
The ministry cites staff leave and IT maintenance, but immigration advisers argue that the unannounced downtime creates avoidable risk. “If a company realises on 4 January that a crucial document was missing, it could lose an entire month of processing time,” warns a Prague-based lawyer.
Best practice for the holiday period is to use the online reservation system to secure January appointments immediately and to rely on email inquiries—though responses may also be delayed. Employers should brief foreign employees not to let residence cards lapse; an expired card attracts fines of up to CZK 10,000 and may invalidate local health insurance.
The ministry’s digital self-service portal remains online, but many functions—including tracking of pending applications—still require personal PIN codes that can only be issued by staff at Client-Centre counters, which are also operating on skeleton hours between Christmas and Epiphany.
According to a ministry notice reported by VisaHQ on 30 December, the main Client-Centre number (974 801 801) stopped answering calls on 22 December and will remain silent until 2 January 2026.
The dedicated line for Ukrainian temporary-protection holders (974 801 802) will operate only on 29–30 December before closing.
The blackout coincides with the peak filing season for renewals of employee cards, EU Blue Cards and intra-company-transfer permits—applications that many assignees must lodge in the first week of January to stay in legal status. Without the helplines, HR teams have no rapid channel to clarify documentary requirements or appointment availability.
For organisations scrambling for alternatives, VisaHQ’s Czech Republic team (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) can bridge the gap by securing appointments, vetting document packs and updating clients on evolving ministry guidance, helping HR managers keep expat staff in status even while the official hotlines are offline.
The ministry cites staff leave and IT maintenance, but immigration advisers argue that the unannounced downtime creates avoidable risk. “If a company realises on 4 January that a crucial document was missing, it could lose an entire month of processing time,” warns a Prague-based lawyer.
Best practice for the holiday period is to use the online reservation system to secure January appointments immediately and to rely on email inquiries—though responses may also be delayed. Employers should brief foreign employees not to let residence cards lapse; an expired card attracts fines of up to CZK 10,000 and may invalidate local health insurance.
The ministry’s digital self-service portal remains online, but many functions—including tracking of pending applications—still require personal PIN codes that can only be issued by staff at Client-Centre counters, which are also operating on skeleton hours between Christmas and Epiphany.
