Author
Naturalisation is regulated by the Citizenship Act.[1] The procedure is different for refugee status and subsidiary protection. Whereas a recognised refugee can apply for the Czech citizenship directly from the refugee status, a beneficiary of subsidiary protection must obtain permanent residence first. Recognised refugees may be granted an exemption from the minimum residence period requirement, while former subsidiary protection holders may be granted this exemption only according to the same rules as other third-country nationals ( e.g., if they were born in the Czech Republic, are younger than 18 years, their spouse is a Czech citizen, or in the case of stateless persons). The other criteria are the same.
Criteria for obtaining citizenship:
- Physical presence in the Czech Republic for at least half of the period required as a minimum residence period for obtaining citizenship;
- Clean criminal record, except negligent crime where no unconditional prison sentence was imposed. If the applicant resides in the Czech Republic for less than 10 years, this condition applies also to the countries where the applicant was residing for more than 6 months during the past 10 years. Recognised refugees and former subsidiary protection holders don’t have to prove this condition in relation to their country of origin;
- Czech language exam at B1 level and a Czech Life and Institutions Exam.[2] This condition does not apply to applicants younger than 15 years or older than 65 years, applicants with at least 3 years of school attendance or high school studies in Czech language, or applicants with disabilities;
- No serious breach of legal duties in the field of health insurance, social welfare system, employment, taxes, customs and public service fees in the past three years;
- Sufficient income in the past three years (with no minimum amount specified); and
- No dependence on the social welfare system in the past three years, except for persons who cannot achieve their own income due to their health status, school attendance or high school studies, maternity and parental leave or caring for a disabled person.
Naturalisation procedure
Application for Czech citizenship can be submitted in person at the regional authority or at the Municipal District Authority of Prague according to the place of residence. After a personal interview the regional authority sends the complete application together with their opinion to the MoI, Citizenship Division of the General Administration Department.
The time limit for the procedure is 6 months. In practice, this is the biggest obstacle, as the procedure usually takes 1 to 2 years, as the department is overwhelmed with applications and the regional authority or the ministry often request additional documents from the applicant.
There is a current obstacle regarding applicants from the Russian Federation. As a part of security measures against Russia all citizenship procedures of Russian citizens are suspended for the duration of provision of temporary protection to Ukrainian nationals.[3] A group of senators together with a public initiative submitted a legal action against this measure to the Constitutional Court, and the decision is expected within a year. This measure does not affect recognised refugees, as they can still apply for and obtain Czech citizenship, but it affects beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, who have to obtain permanent residence prior to the naturalisation procedure.
Statistics
Available data only include recognised refugees, not subsidiary protection beneficiaries. As they have to obtain permanent residence at first, they fall under the general statistics on citizenship. In the year 2025 only 7 recognised refugees obtained citizenship, however this number is not final, as the data for 2025 is still being collected. In the previous years it was significantly more, in total 271 cases since 2017.[4]
[1] Act No. 186/2013 Coll., on Citizenship of the Czech Republic and on Amendments to Certain Acts (Act on Citizenship of the Czech Republic), available here.
[2] Information about the exam is available here.
[3] Sections 7x – 7y of the Act No. 65/2022, on Certain Measures in Connection with the Armed Conflict in Ukraine Caused by the Invasion of Russian Federation Troops, available here; this amendment is in force since February 2025.
[4] Data provided by the Czech Statistical Office, October 2025, available here.