Working opportunities for International Students in Czech Republic

Many higher education students in Czech Republic  choose to work part-time during their studies, either during the evenings or on the weekends. As well as this, many students find  work during the summer breaks.

The conditions of working in the Czech Republic are given primarily by the fact, if the student comes from the EU or EEA country or not. 

The EU/EEA student

As the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union, there are no restrictions in employment of the students coming from the EU or EEA countries. There is no work permit needed and these workers have the same legal status as citizens of the Czech Republic.

Where to look for a job

There are many ways how to look for a job. One of the most useful might be a website of the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and its section dedicated to the employment. For the database of vacancies see the website portal.mpsv.cz .

Non-EU/EEA students

The students, who do not come from EU or EEA countries, are obligated to get an employment permit. There are some exceptions though:

-they do not need an employment permit in case they pursue activities in the territory of the Czech Republic as part of exchange traineeships for students and young graduates from higher education institutions (if the work is the purpose of the exchange traineeship education, including lifelong learning, if the work is part of that education or if the work is based on a contract with a foreign sending organization (usually as a scholarship or a foundation’s con­tribution))

-they do not need an employment permit provided they are students up to the age of 26 and they do not work for more than 7 consecutive calendar days or a total of 30 days within a calendar year

-they do not need an employment permit if they have obtained secondary or tertiary professional education or tertiary professional education in a conservatoire under the Czech Education Act or obtained higher education under the Higher Education.

In other cases there is needed to apply for employment permit. It can be submitted personally or by other person on the basis of a written power of attorney at any locally appropriate regional office of the Public Employment Service. The permit issued is subject to the administrative fee of 500 CZK.

The permit is issued for

a definite period of time, the maximum of two years (a foreigner may apply for an employment permit repeatedly); six months in case of seasonal employment; the permit shall be issued for no longer than six months within a calendar year and may also be issued repeatedly provided that a period of at least six months elapses between the individual employments;

The permit is only valid for the employment with the employer specified in the decision, if anything relevant change, the foreigner has to apply at the locally competent regional office of the Public Employment Service for a new employment permit.

What is needed?

To get an employment permit, the student needs to submit:

• his personal identification data;
• travel document number and name of the authority that has issued the document;
• future employer’s iden­tification data, information about the work;
• attachments to the application: a photocopy of the travel document’s page containing the foreigner’s basic identification data; a statement by the employer that the employer will employ the foreigner; an officially certified duplicate of the proof of professional capacity for the business in which the foreigner will work in the territory of the Czech Republic (vocational certificate, secondary school leaving certificate, diploma of completion of higher education, etc.); other documents if required by the nature of employment or if laid down by a promulgated international agreement that has been ratified by Parliament and is binding on the Czech Republic (annexes in foreign languages shall be produced in their original versions or their officially certified copies, along with their officially certified translations into Czech; the documents that prove the professional competence to pursue a requested occupation must be superlegalised (or provided with an apostille, where appropriate) and validated).

Detailed information about employment permit application process can be found at the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic (in English).