Goodbye 'kolky,' hello cards: Czechia phases out stamps for government fees

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, residents and foreigners in Czechia will no longer need to use duty stamps (kolkové známky) to pay administrative or court fees. Instead, payments can be made directly by card or phone at government offices when submitting documents. This shift is part of an initiative to modernize public finance and simplify payment methods.

The stamps, often used by expats at the Ministry of the Interior offices, will no longer be printed after 2024. Any unused stamps must be exchanged or used before the end of the year, as they will lose all value starting in 2025.

Jan Kalina, an immigration expert and co-owner of the relocation service Move to Prague, called the current color-coded stamp system "highly impractical and restrictive." The stamps, available in denominations of up to CZK 1,000, must be purchased at Czech Post offices—frustratingly, they are not sold at Ministry of Interior offices.

Currently, applicants for residence permits, replacement ID cards, and other documents must affix stamps to their forms before submission.

If you still have stamps, exchange them at authorized Czech Post branches in the next five weeks. Undamaged stamps receive 95 percent of their value; exchange damaged stamps for 90 percent (as long as both parts of the stamp remain intact).

Mailed applications with stamps sent before Dec. 31, 2024, will still be accepted, even if received after the deadline, Kalina added.

Starting next year, all administrative and court fees will be payable via modern methods such as bank transfers or credit card payments.

Payment details for remote applications can be generated through the Information Portal for Foreigners to complete a bank transfer. Cash payments will only be accepted by some authorities, but the Ministry of the Interior has stated it will not accept cash. Digital payments will be mandatory for fees over CZK 5,000.

While digital payment options are already available for some services, full implementation for all fees will be completed by early 2025, according to the ministry’s website.

Although applications with affixed stamps will still be accepted after the change, they will be subject to the standard administrative fee since the stamps will no longer hold any value.