Tradelicense.cz / Business Visa
Business Visa for 3rd-Country Nationals
If you are not an EU-citizen with a 'Schengen passport' you will have to apply for a Business Visa if you want to have a trade license business in Czech Republic unless you have a permanent residence permit, or a residence permit based on marriage / relationship / partnership or a visa for employment purposes (provided that the job will still be the main activity).
More information on the Alexio.cz website
With a Business Visa you do not need a Work Permit.
A Work Permit you only need if you have a Work Visa (for a job as employee). A freelancer with a trade license is not an employee.
It is not possible to apply for the Visa inside Czech Republic. You will have to apply at an embassy outside Czech Republic (inside or outside the Schengen zone)
Applying for a permanent Residence Permit
It is not possible to get a permanent Residence Permit right away. You first need to apply for a Visa for Business Purposes, which is a long-term D-Visa. After extending this D-Visa for a total of 5 years, it is possible to apply for the permanent Residence Permit, not sooner.
Requirements for a D-Visa
- extract of the criminal record + apostille stamp from your home country, not older than 90 days,
- 140.000 CZK for living expenses for the duration of your stay (per year),
- Proof of Residence for the duration of your Visa (at least 1 year),
- Health Insurance for the duration of stay from a Czech insurance company (we can get it for you),
- Proof from the živnostenský úřad that you are applying for a trade license (we can get it for you)
For many people, especially the 140.000 CZK is a problem, but if you are not able to show that you have enough money for living expenses in Czech Republic, your Visa application will most likely be rejected.
3rd-Country National with Visa-Free Entry:
D-Visa for people already in Czech Republic:
Some people, especially American citizens, come here on a Tourist Visa or have a Visa-Free Entry and want to change this Visa into a Business Visa. There are four problems with this:
- A 'Visa-Free Entry' is not a visa, so it is not possible to extend or 'upgrade' to a business visa, you need to apply again for a Business Visa from scratch,
- OR The purpose of stay changes from 'tourist' into 'business', so it is not possible to extend or 'upgrade' the Visa, you need to apply again for a Business Visa from scratch,
- The D-Visa application has to be made outside Czech Republic, so you will have to travel to Bratislava, Dresden, Vienna or another embassy outside Czech Republic to file your application.
- Processing the Visa application can take 3-4 months, so it can happen your tourist stay will end before your Business Visa is ready, and you cannot pick it up anymore because your 90 days in the Schengen-zone are gone. Many travel to UK and apply in London, to stop the 'Schengen-clock' while waiting for the visa.
- Many people from Africa / Middle East / Asia can only apply at their local embassy in their home country. Coming here and trying to get a D-Visa in another way is probably a wast of time and money.
3rd-Country National without D-Visa:
D-Visa for people not in Czech Republic:
Apply for the Business Visa with as 'purpose of stay' the trade license (živnostenský list). Since you are still outside the Schengen-zone you must apply for a combined C+D Visa, which allows you to travel the first 90 days in the Schengen-zone, using your short-term C-Visa, and after the 90 days you are allowed to stay up to 1 year on your long-term D-Visa.
You must include proof that you already applied for the trade license, but for applications for a tradelicense you need to show up personally at the trade license register, so before you can apply for a D-Visa you must obtain another visa for the visit to the trade license register. Processing the application can take up to 3-4 months.
Requests from Pakistan, India, Iran, Far-East, Asia, Africa, South-America etc.
Unfortunately the Foreign Police has become very strict for 3rd-country citizens from a non-western country. In practise, it is almost certain that a Business Visa on basis of a Tradelicense will be rejected.
Virutally the only way to get a Business Visa for this group of people is to form a new s.r.o. company (also an off-the-shelf or ready-made company is not recommended)
For more information on Visa Application we refer to the
Visa Application Info section on Alexio.cz
3rd-Country National with D-Visa:
Changing Purpose of Stay
If you have already a D-Visa for employment purposes, then it is possible to change the purpose of stay into 'Business', provided that there is more than 3 months left on the original visa and you comply to all the requirements of the Business Visa.
For this, it is not necessary to go abroad. This can be done at the Foreign Police in Prague. Do not wait for the last moment and start well in time. A couple of hickups, your work Visa expires and you get an exit Visa before you know it!
We offer help with this process - contact us for details.