The Czech Republic's new digital nomad visa hopes to attract skilled workers

A new type of residence visa is now available for citizens of select countries to live and work in the Czech Republic. Responding to the evolving landscape of global work patterns, the country has introduced a new initiative known as the Digital Nomad Program.

The new Czech visa program is now accepting applications from citizens of Australia, Japan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It aims to tap into the expertise of skilled IT professionals and freelancers, fostering economic growth within the country.

Envisioned as an economic booster, the Digital Nomad Program aims to capitalize on the changing trends in international employee mobility and the rise of freelancers, especially prominent in the IT sector. Other countries, both within and outside the European Union, are embracing similar strategies to harness the economic potential of digital nomads.

“The new digital nomad program has been launched by the Ministry of Industry, and it’s a program aimed at highly qualified workers, especially in the IT sector," Lucia Legáthová from Expat Centre Prague recently told Radio Prague.

"There are two types of nomads who can join the program, it’s either for people who are already working for a foreign company and want to relocate to the Czech Republic, or people who want to work in the Czech Republic but as a self-employed person – so they would possess a trade license in the Czech Republic.”

The new digital nomad visa is expected to be a popular choice for citizens of these countries seeking an easy way to establish residence in the country. Other visa options require an employment contract or freelance business contract (Živnostenský list), and can be imposing to set up within the first few months of moving to the country.

Legáthová adds that applications for the Digital Nomad Program has a much quicker processing turnaround (45 days) than other types of visa.

Applications for the Digital Nomad Program must be sent to digitalnomad@mpo.cz. Necessary paperwork, including an application form and a declaration from one's employer or client, can be downloaded from the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

If applying on the basis of working as a freelancer, one must also earn more than 1.5 times the average Czech gross annual salary (which would equate to more than CZK 60,000 monthly). If employed by a foreign company, that company must employ more than 50 people worldwide.

Full details about the Czech Republic's new Digital Nomad Program can be found at the website of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade.