Your first 90 days: Czechia

Temporary protection (dočasná ochrana) is the status everything else on this list depends on: health insurance, the right to work, the benefit, a school place. You apply in person at a regional assistance centre for help to Ukraine, and the centres operate in all fourteen regions; residents of the Central Bohemian region apply at the Prague centre. The ministry has 60 days to decide, so the sooner you apply, the sooner everything else can begin.

Where to go

Krajské asistenční centrum pomoci Ukrajině (KACPU)

What to bring

The completed application, a valid passport or identity document, proof that you lived in Ukraine before 24 February 2022, and proof of accommodation in Czechia — a lease, or the owner’s written consent with a notarised signature. If you are applying for a child who is not present, bring a passport photo of the child.

Since 5 August 2026, an applicant for temporary protection aged between 18 and 60 must document that their Ukrainian military obligations are settled. Without that document the application fails, and without protection there is no insurance, no right to work and no benefit. People granted protection earlier are not affected, which is why most guides online still say nothing about it.

Where to go

Krajské asistenční centrum pomoci Ukrajině (KACPU)

What to bring

One of the accepted proofs: a printout of the electronic military record, or registration in the Reserv+ app together with that printout, or the record certified by the Ukrainian embassy. An embassy-certified record is valid for 3 working days only, so obtain it immediately before your appointment — and ask at the counter which documents are accepted now, because the requirement is recent.

Your address is recorded when protection is granted, and from then on you report every change yourself. It is not a formality: the address decides which ministry office holds your file and which school your child is assigned to, and missing the deadline is a fineable offence. The notification goes to the Interior Ministry or to any assistance centre — not to the Foreign Police, where older guides still send people.

Within 3 days of moving, if you will stay at the new address for more than 15 days.

Where to go

Ministerstvo vnitra, Odbor azylové a migrační politiky

What to bring

Your travel document, proof of accommodation at the new address — a lease or the owner’s written confirmation — and the completed change-notification form. The form can be filled in online and printed, or picked up free at a ministry office or an assistance centre.

The grant of protection makes you a participant in public health insurance automatically, but that counts for nothing at a clinic until you have registered with one of the insurers and hold the insured person’s certificate — that is the document a doctor asks for. Without it you will be billed as an uninsured patient even though the state is paying your premiums. Register at once: the state pays for 90 days only, and the clock runs from the day protection was granted, not from the day you register.

Where to go

Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna ČR (VZP)

What to bring

The temporary protection visa as issued in Czechia. You can register online or at a branch by appointment; the insurer asks people who do not speak Czech to bring an interpreter. There are several insurers — choose any one of them, then stay with it.

The humanitarian benefit (humanitární dávka) covers basic living costs and part of the cost of housing. The trap is the timing: the first application must be made in person at the Labour Office during the calendar month in which protection was granted, because it is never paid retroactively — anyone who waits until next month loses that month permanently. After that it must be applied for again every month, and nothing rolls over. The amount is worked out for the whole household from its income and savings, and the amounts change from time to time, so ask the Labour Office itself what they are now.

The first application, in person, within the calendar month in which temporary protection was granted. After that, again every month.

Where to go

Úřad práce České republiky

What to bring

An identity document, proof of temporary protection, your bank account details and bank statements — the household’s income and savings are assessed.

The humanitarian benefit is transferred only to an account at a Czech bank — cash is possible only for the month in which protection was granted. No account means no benefit from the second month, and later nowhere for a salary to be paid. Banks differ in what they ask for and what they charge, so check the bank’s own page before you go.

Where to go

Banka v České republice

After the first application, made in person, every later monthly application for the humanitarian benefit is online only, and the portal accepts nothing but a Czech electronic identity. Without one you simply cannot claim from the second month — this is the most common way people lose money they are entitled to. You set it up at a Czech POINT counter in a post office or a municipal office, or through your own bank if you already have an account there.

Where to go

Czech POINT

A child with temporary protection who is authorised to stay longer than 90 days is subject to compulsory school attendance, and the duty is discharged once the guardian has applied for admission to a named school. The catchment school must accept the child, and if it is full the municipality and then the region must find a place. The ministry says plainly that you need not enrol during the first 90 days — housing and money first. But the law opens the ordinary kindergarten enrolment window only from 2 to 16 May, so a family arriving in autumn cannot wait for the next one and must approach kindergartens directly.

Compulsory school attendance must begin no later than 90 days from the grant of temporary protection.

Where to go

Spádová škola v místě bydliště

What to bring

A written application for admission, the child’s identity and protection documents, and prior school records where you have them. Records that cannot be obtained because of the war are not a bar to enrolment.

The Charles University project Čeština je klíč gives free short Czech courses from A1 to B1+, in person and online, to anyone holding valid temporary protection. Language is what opens better work, the recognition of your qualifications, and a conversation at an office without an interpreter. The courses are open only while you hold temporary protection: somebody who moves to another kind of residence can no longer enrol, so start sooner rather than later.

Where to go

Ústav jazykové a odborné přípravy Univerzity Karlovy (ÚJOP UK)

What to bring

Nothing but valid temporary protection. You apply online, and only courses currently open accept new students; the courses and the materials are free.

Temporary protection carries free access to the Czech labour market: no work permit and no separate employee permit, a valid residence authorisation is enough. It is one of the strongest entitlements in the status and people routinely do not know they have it. Your employer, not you, notifies the Labour Office of the start, the change and the end of employment. Work also settles the hardest item on this list: for an employee, the employer pays the health insurance.

Where to go

Úřad práce České republiky

What to bring

Your travel document and proof of temporary protection.

Registering as a jobseeker (uchazeč o zaměstnání) does two things at once: it puts you into the placement system, and it keeps the state as the payer of your health insurance — the simplest way to survive day ninety if you have not found work yet. It matters for the benefit too: somebody who is not actively looking for work can later be refused it. You register at the branch for your place of residence, and you must submit the proof to your insurer yourself; it does not happen automatically.

Where to go

Úřad práce České republiky

What to bring

Identity and protection documents, proof of address, and any evidence of qualifications or previous employment.

A foreign driving licence is exchanged for a Czech one at the driver registry desk of a municipal office with extended powers, in person. There is no theory test, no practical test and no medical examination for a straight exchange, and the licence itself is a widely accepted photo ID in daily life. Whether the general three-month exchange deadline starts at all for a temporary protection visa could not be confirmed against an official source, so do not put it off, and ask about the deadline at the counter.

Where to go

Obecní úřad obce s rozšířenou působností

What to bring

A valid identity document and your valid Ukrainian driving licence. Do not bring photographs — the office takes the photo or pulls it from the Interior Ministry system.

The state pays your public health insurance premiums for 90 days from the day protection was granted. The 150-day figure still all over the internet applies only to protection granted before 11 February 2025, and it is exactly why people miss this. On day 91, if nobody is registered as your payer, a debt to the insurance system starts growing silently — no letter, no refusal at a clinic — and that debt later blocks special long-term residence. Before day 90 do one of four things: take a job, and the employer pays; prove to your insurer a status the state pays for — registered jobseeker, school or university student, someone caring for a child under 7 or for another person; register as self-employed and pay the advances; or pay the premium yourself as a person without taxable income, which in 2026 is 3,024 CZK a month. Children under 18 and people aged 65 and over are unaffected: the state keeps paying for them.

Within 8 days of the change of premium payer, that is, within 8 days of day 90.

Where to go

Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna ČR (VZP)

If you are employed, your employer withholds the tax and the contributions every month and you file nothing yourself. If you are self-employed, have a second job or income from abroad, you file the return and the reports yourself, and each of those duties has its own date. Look up which dates apply to your case before the first of them arrives.

Where to go

Finanční správa České republiky

A Ukrainian diploma has no legal effect in Czechia on its own: nostrification is the procedure after which an employer, a university or a professional body must accept it. There are two routes, and this is where people lose months: primary, secondary and higher-vocational certificates are decided by the regional authority where you live, while university degrees are decided by a Czech public university with a comparable programme. Regulated professions — doctor, nurse, teacher, lawyer and many trades — need a separate recognition of professional qualifications, and the academic route is no substitute for it. You will need certified translations into Czech, so start by finding a translator who speaks Ukrainian.

Where to go

Krajský úřad, odbor školství

What to bring

Original diplomas and transcripts, an apostille or consular legalisation, and certified translations into Czech. Before you gather anything, ask the regional authority or the university which route is yours, because their lists of documents differ.

A trade licence (živnostenské oprávnění) is what lets you invoice as a sole trader. For the purposes of the Trade Licensing Act, holders of temporary protection are placed on the same footing as EU citizens, so no separate long-term residence permit is needed for it. Here is the catch: the licence is issued for a term tied to your protection and does not follow the visa automatically — after every renewal of protection you must separately notify the trade office that you are continuing, or it lapses on the date your protection would have expired. Remember too that a self-employed person pays their own health insurance advances.

Where to go

Živnostenský úřad

What to bring

Valid temporary protection, an identity document, and criminal record extracts — both the Czech one and the Ukrainian one.

Temporary protection is renewed once a year on a single national calendar, not on the anniversary of your arrival: first an online registration inside a fixed window, then an in-person visit to a regional Interior Ministry office for a new visa sticker. A missed window cannot be made up — protection simply expires, and with it the benefit and free access to the labour market. You may apply again from scratch, but the periods you have already used do not reset: the 90 days of state-paid health insurance are not granted a second time. The regime itself is extended to 31 March 2028, and the dates of the next window had not been announced when this list was checked, so watch the official page and do not rely on hearsay.

Where to go

Ministerstvo vnitra, Odbor azylové a migrační politiky

Special long-term residence (zvláštní dlouhodobý pobyt) is the way out of the yearly renewal treadmill: five years of residence, labour market access and a path towards permanent residence. You cannot apply now — it takes two years of continuous temporary protection, so for somebody who has just arrived the earliest round is 2028. But the right to it can be lost this autumn, and that is why it is on this list: among the conditions are not having taken the humanitarian benefit during an assessed period and having no health insurance debt, alongside continuous insurance, income above a threshold, registered accommodation, a clean criminal record and school attendance in Czechia for your children. The conditions and the amounts are set separately for each round and they change, so check the official page before you decide whether to take the benefit.

Where to go

Ministerstvo vnitra, Odbor azylové a migrační politiky