Step 1: Consultation before registration
We start with a 60-minute consultation, included in the registration package. After thousands of registrations we know the questions newcomers have: is a trade license right for me, what about my visa or residence permit, social and health insurance, income from abroad, VAT, or should I have an s.r.o. instead?
We also go through the documents we need and the options of the registration package.
Step 2: We choose your trades and file the registration
Once we have your documents, we choose the right trades with you and file the trade license registration.
Choose your situation to see steps 3 and 4.
Step 3: Your trade license
After about 5 working days we get the trade license from the register, the so-called “výpis ze živnostenského rejstříku”. From that moment you can invoice your clients, even though the registrations at the tax office, social security and health insurance are still running (step 5).
Step 3: Trade license first, without an IČO
After about 5 working days we get the trade license from the register, but without an IČO (registration number). With this paper you apply for a business visa at a Czech embassy (step 4).
Once you have the visa (this can take up to 3 months), we return to the trade license office for the real trade license with the IČO. Before you have the IČO, you are not allowed to trade.
Step 4: EU residence permit and rodné číslo
Many EU citizens live here without it, but we recommend a temporary residence permit and a rodné číslo (“birth number”):
- It proves you are resident and tax resident in the Czech Republic, useful if your home country tries to tax you.
- One number for all authorities, instead of a different ‘fantasy number’ at each office. You also need it to register a car in your own name.
- You apply after arriving in the Czech Republic; nothing is needed before you come.
- For your home address (where you live), a rental contract is accepted (not Airbnb or similar), but we recommend adding the landlord’s confirmation of accommodation: Doklad o zajištění ubytování. A landlord who is not willing to sign it is often an early sign of trouble. This is not the owner’s consent for the trade license address; that is a different form.
- No work permit is needed, ever (EU law).
- The residence permit alone does not give you public health insurance; your trade license (or a job) does.
Step 4: Your current visa or residence permit
If your visa or residence permit (for example for employment, study or family) stays valid, you do not need a business visa. You can have a trade license next to it, as long as the job, study or family reason stays your main purpose of stay.
Changing your purpose of stay to business is possible without going abroad, but only if you have a long-term residence permit and have lived here for more than 5 years. You apply at an office of the Ministry of the Interior before your permit expires. Discuss your options with us.
Step 4: Business visa at a Czech embassy
You apply for a D-visa for business purposes outside the Czech Republic, usually at the embassy in your home country (US citizens and a few others can also use embassies such as Vienna, Bratislava or Dresden). A tourist visa or visa-free entry cannot be changed into a business visa here.
What you need:
- Criminal record extract with an apostille (or superlegalization), not older than 90 days
- Proof of at least 156,500 CZK for living expenses
- Proof of residence: the landlord signs both the rental contract and the confirmation of accommodation (Doklad o zajištění ubytování) in front of a notary or at CzechPOINT; hand in the originals (fail-safe best practice)
- Medical insurance from a Czech insurer: travel insurance for the first 90 days, then comprehensive insurance
- Proof from the trade license office that you are entitled to a trade license (we provide it)
After you receive the visa, two critical steps: within 3 working days of arrival, register at the foreign police for the stamp in your passport. Then, within 3 days, show that stamp at the trade license office, or the registration is cancelled and you start again. Come to us the same day the police stamp your passport and we take care of the trade license office.
Full guide: business visa, extensions and why applications get rejected →
Step 5: Tax office, social security and health insurance
With the trade license and IČO you can trade, but you are not fully registered yet. Next come the tax office (and VAT, if you need it), social security and health insurance. This takes several weeks, and longer if you are new to the Czech Republic. You do not have to wait for it to start working.
These registrations are more work than the trade license itself: every office has its own system and gives you its own number. The trade license form can pass your details on to the other offices automatically, but that only works well for people who already have a rodné číslo and are known in the Czech systems. For newcomers we register at each office separately.
Step 6: Consultation after registration
When everything is registered, you can book a second consultation, within 2 months of your trade license registration. We explain how much to pay for social security and health insurance, when and to which accounts, how to invoice clients in the Czech Republic, the EU and outside the EU, how income tax and VAT work, and how to prepare for your visa extension if you have one.
After that you are fully registered and ready to work. This consultation is for these subjects only; it cannot be saved for later or used for something else.
