Brexit: How does the UK leaving the EU affect Brits in the Czech Republic?

It’s been four years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union and we are finally reaching the departure lounge as the transition period finishes at the end of this year.

Waking up on New Year’s Day will also see many UK nationals waking up across Europe into a new reality with some things staying the same and some things changing for expats.

We spoke to British Ambassador Nick Archer in order to create our comprehensive guide to help expats living in the Czech Republic prepare for Brexit.

It is key to have applied or have temporary or permanent residency status in the Czech Republic in order to continue living and working in the country.

This is ideally something that should already have been done, but applications may well be sent after the transition deadline. However, the process will be slightly more complicated as Brits will have to prove they indeed were present in the Czech Republic before the end of 2020.

Archer said:

Your employment in the Czech Republic won’t be impacted by Brexit assuming you have a residency confirmed. You can remain in the country on temporary or permanent residency if you don’t have a job at the time of the transition period ending.

Complications may, however, arise if you work in a country that neighbors the Czech Republic and regularly commute.

Archer said:

"To give you one example of the potential complexity, some people because of the nature of their work, will qualify as frontier workers and get that certified by their employer and carry on essentially, others may for bureaucratic reasons fall into a separate category as a provider of services, that's actually one of the few aspects of this which is part of the future relationship talks which as people will have seen are continuing as we have this conversation.”

If you are someone who drives and currently has a British licence but plan on staying in the Czech Republic, you will need to trade your licence in for a Czech one.

This shouldn’t impact your ability to drive in the UK upon return and according to Nick Archer is a relatively easy process.

“This is theoretically very straightforward; you take your British license to the Ministry of Transport office and you swap it. There have been two worries that people have had about this, the first is that some Czech ministry of transport officers have not been clear about their own rules and we've been working really hard and I hope therefore everyone who works at the Ministry of Transport is now familiar with what they have to do, if anyone is still encountering difficult then feed it back to us.

If you are employed in the Czech Republic, then the healthcare you receive will remain the same as you are paying into the Czech health system. An issue that may arise is if you are a pensioner or student living in the Czech Republic.

“If you are a student, you need to apply for a new European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) because the old one might not be valid anymore after 31st December 2020,” Archer said. The new EHIC card will be valid only in your country of study – the Czech Republic.”

“If you are a state pensioner but you do not have a UK-issued S1 certificate, apply for it now. For information on how to apply, please check the gov.uk website." 

Having access to your pension should not be impacted by the UK leaving the European Union and should you become a pensioner while in the Czech Republic, this will also be the case.

If you decide to move back to the UK and you are a British citizen, that would be, of course, allowed, it is different however if you plan to move with a partner, who isn't British.

According to the withdrawal agreement, if your relationship existed before Brexit date, you can return to the UK with your spouse (provided they are Czech or other EU national) as long as it is before Mar. 29, 2022 and they will be able to apply under the EU settlement scheme. After this date, they will need to follow general UK immigration rules for third party nationals.

This is a slightly grey area and is likely to differ depending on the type of residency you have in this country.

Temporary residence means this will not be possible as free movement for British citizens will end on Dec. 31, but having permanent residence in the Czech Republic gives people rights under the EU directive for long-term non-EU residents. These include the possibility to move to another EU country, under certain conditions.

The key advice would be to speak to the relevant authorities in the country you are planning to relocate to.

“This is an area where privileges that people have enjoyed will not automatically continue and they will depend on what status Briton's have in the Czech Republic from Jan.1 and so anyone who is thinking of that needs to make inquiries and those inquiries will need to be made to the authorities of the potential new country of residence or country of employment and the Czech authorities.”

Sadly, a less happy story for expats living in the Czech Republic, regardless of which type of residency you have. E-gates at Prague airport are currently only for EU citizens, so from January, these can’t be used and British people will have to go through border officials.

Archer said:

"What's happening at the UK end is not that EU citizens are being excluded from the passport gates, but more nationalities are being allowed; South Koreans, Americans, Canadians are now going through the same e-passport gates at Heathrow as are European Union citizens.

New guidance has been released on the transportation of pets between the EU and the UK. According to the UK government website, there will be no change to the current health preparations for pets entering GB from 1 January 2021.

Your pet must have one of the following documents when returning to GB from the EU: an EU pet passport (issued in the EU, or in GB before 1 January 2021), or a pet passport from a Part 1 listed third country, the AHC issued in GB used to travel to the EU – which you can use up to 4 months after it was issued or a UK pet health certificate (for travel into GB only).

They do however advise people living in the EU that if they travel with their pet using a UK-issued pet passport, they should speak to their vet who will help to ensure they are compliant with EU Pet Travel Regulations. Whereas if they have a pet passport issued by an EU member state, they can use it to bring their pet to GB.

The British Ambassador said he expects things to be “a bit bumpy” at the start as we get used to new rules and regulations following the transition period.

Note: This article was written and published ahead of the completion of the future relationship trade talks and will be updated when any more information is confirmed.