A three-day fact-finding mission by the Council of Europe’s Division on Migration and Refugees (DMR) wrapped up in Prague on 24 April after a packed agenda of meetings with the Interior, Labour, Education and Human Rights ministries, UNHCR, IOM and leading NGOs. The delegation came to gauge how Czechia – the EU country hosting the highest per-capita number of people fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine – is preparing for the 2027 expiry of Temporary Protection (TP) and the roll-out of the new “Ukraine Law VII.” Officials told the DMR that roughly 382,000 Ukrainian nationals now live in Czechia, 90 % of refugee children attend local schools and about 80 % of adults are economically active. Under Ukraine Law VII, TP holders will be able to convert to standard long-term residence if they meet minimum income, housing and insurance thresholds. Regional migrant-integration centres are being expanded and a dedicated Ukrainian Consultation and Community Centre has just opened in Prague to provide legal counselling, job-matching and language courses.
![Council of Europe mission praises Czechia’s fast-track integration of 400,000 Ukrainian refugees]()
In parallel, service providers like VisaHQ stand ready to steer both individuals and corporate HR managers through the maze of Czech visa requirements. Using the company’s digital portal (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) applicants can pre-check eligibility, upload documents for review and secure appointments, reducing the risk of last-minute rejections when Temporary Protection status ends.
The DMR praised Prague’s “whole-of-government” approach, which includes accelerated Czech-language classes, fast recognition of Ukrainian professional qualifications and targeted labour-market programmes for health-care, construction and IT workers. Officials nonetheless warned that capacity bottlenecks in residence-permit processing could emerge in 2027 unless staffing and digital-workflow upgrades are funded in the 2027-29 state budget. For employers, the mission’s findings translate into practical advice: start auditing the immigration status of all Ukrainian staff now and budget time for status-change applications in late-2026. HR teams should also monitor forthcoming Interior-Ministry decrees detailing documentary evidence and fee levels for the new long-term permits. Failure to switch in time could leave workers – and the companies that rely on them – in an irregular-stay limbo. More broadly, the Council of Europe will publish a handbook later this year highlighting Czechia’s integration model as a blueprint for other EU states facing large refugee inflows. The handbook will focus on multi-agency coordination, rapid labour-market activation and the use of EU funds for language training and child-care, areas where corporate mobility managers can push for similar support in other jurisdictions.
In parallel, service providers like VisaHQ stand ready to steer both individuals and corporate HR managers through the maze of Czech visa requirements. Using the company’s digital portal (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) applicants can pre-check eligibility, upload documents for review and secure appointments, reducing the risk of last-minute rejections when Temporary Protection status ends.
The DMR praised Prague’s “whole-of-government” approach, which includes accelerated Czech-language classes, fast recognition of Ukrainian professional qualifications and targeted labour-market programmes for health-care, construction and IT workers. Officials nonetheless warned that capacity bottlenecks in residence-permit processing could emerge in 2027 unless staffing and digital-workflow upgrades are funded in the 2027-29 state budget. For employers, the mission’s findings translate into practical advice: start auditing the immigration status of all Ukrainian staff now and budget time for status-change applications in late-2026. HR teams should also monitor forthcoming Interior-Ministry decrees detailing documentary evidence and fee levels for the new long-term permits. Failure to switch in time could leave workers – and the companies that rely on them – in an irregular-stay limbo. More broadly, the Council of Europe will publish a handbook later this year highlighting Czechia’s integration model as a blueprint for other EU states facing large refugee inflows. The handbook will focus on multi-agency coordination, rapid labour-market activation and the use of EU funds for language training and child-care, areas where corporate mobility managers can push for similar support in other jurisdictions.
