Long-term Residence Permit for the Purpose of Scientific Research

Route status

Active as of 2026-06-24^[1]^[3]

Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.

Residency route facts

Identity

Identity
Official name (local)	Povolení k dlouhodobému pobytu za účelem vědeckého výzkumu as of 2026-06-12^[3] Act No. 326/1999 Coll. s. 42f(1) names the permit in these words.
Official name (English)	Long-term Residence Permit for the Purpose of Scientific Research as of 2026-06-24^[1] The Ministry of the Interior's own English page heading.
Legal basis	Act No. 326/1999 Coll., s. 42f; validity s. 44(4)(j) and, for EU mobility programmes, s. 44(4)(f); free labour-market access via Act No. 435/2004 Coll. s. 98(n) as of 2026-06-12^[3] Consolidated text of the Aliens Act in force from 12 June 2026.
Instrument type	residence permit as of 2026-06-12^[3] s. 42f(1): a long-term residence permit.

Who can apply

Who can apply
Nationals not served by this route	EU, EEA as of 2026-06-24^[1]^[3]
Minimum age	Not established from a qualifying source No minimum age is stated in s. 42f or on the route page.
Criminal-record condition	Yes as of 2026-06-12^[3] s. 42f(3)(b) requires the s. 31(1)(g) criminal-record document as a mandatory item.

Permit terms

Permit terms
Initial duration	up to 2 years as of 2026-06-24^[1]^[3]
How the initial term is set	matches the sponsor's permit
Renewable	Yes as of 2026-06-24^[1] 'You can extend a long-term residence permit repeatedly with a maximum extension period of 2 years.'
Renewal duration	up to 2 years as of 2026-06-24^[1] Same ceiling on each extension.
Maximum total duration	Not established from a qualifying source No aggregate ceiling is stated.
Work rights	full as of 2026-07-01^[1]^[4] Act No. 435/2004 Coll. s. 98(n): a foreigner carrying out systematic educational or scientific activity as an academic or as a research or development worker at a public research institution or other listed research organisation needs no work permit, employee card or blue card. The route page states the same: 'Work in the Czech Republic without an additional work permit (free access to the labour market).'

Permanent residence and citizenship

Permanent residence and citizenship
Counts toward permanent residence	Yes as of 2026-06-12^[3] s. 68(2)(a) counts the time in full; the research permit is not on the s. 68(3) exclusion list and takes no discount, unlike study (s. 68(2)(d)(1), which counts at one half).

Requirements

Requirements
Job offer required	Yes as of 2026-06-12^[3] s. 42f(1) and s. 42f(3)(a): a hosting agreement concluded with a research organisation is the operative document. It is not an employment contract, which is why the labour-market access comes from s. 98(n) of the Employment Act rather than from an employment relationship.
Salary threshold	Measured against: collective agreement Amount: Not applicable s. 42f states no remuneration floor; the instrument turns on the hosting agreement rather than on pay. s. 42f(3)(c) instead requires the research organisation to undertake in writing to meet the costs of the researcher's stay and departure for 6 months after the hosting agreement ends, where those costs fall on public funds – a liability on the host, not a threshold on the applicant.
Labour-market test	No as of 2026-06-12^[3] s. 42f sets no labour-office opinion, and Act No. 435/2004 Coll. s. 98(n) takes the researcher outside the work-permit system altogether.
Qualification requirement	none as of 2026-06-24^[1]^[3] Neither s. 42f nor the route page states a qualification threshold on the applicant. The filter sits on the other side of the hosting agreement: the host must be a public research institution, a university or a research organisation on the list kept by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
Employer sponsorship	Yes as of 2026-06-12^[3] The research organisation concludes the hosting agreement and gives the cost undertaking.
Job-search route	No as of 2026-06-12^[3] The permit requires an existing hosting agreement. What follows it is the separate s. 42(3) permit, recorded as cz-job-seeker.

Process

Process
Where to apply from	either as of 2026-06-24^[1]^[3] s. 42f(1) puts the application at a diplomatic mission; s. 42f(2) allows it to be lodged with the Ministry by a foreigner already on a long-term visa or a long-term permit for another purpose, and by the holder of a research permit issued by another Member State who intends to carry out research in Czechia for more than 1 year. The route page adds that Ireland and Denmark are outside the EU mobility limb.
Statutory processing time	up to 60 days as of 2026-06-24^[1] 60 days on both channels; an extension is decided in 60 days.
Fees	Kind: application Amount: CZK 2,500 as of 2026-06-24^[1] Administrative fee for an application lodged at a Ministry of the Interior office. Charged per: applicant Paid by: applicant Condition: application lodged in Czechia Kind: application Amount: CZK 2,500 as of 2026-06-24^[1] Consular fee – CZK 2,500, not the CZK 5,000 that the employee card, blue card and both transfer cards carry at a mission. Charged per: applicant Paid by: applicant Condition: application lodged at a diplomatic mission Kind: renewal Amount: CZK 2,500 as of 2026-06-24^[1] Extension of validity. Charged per: applicant Paid by: applicant
Quota	Quota exists: No as of 2026-06-30^[2] Outside the scope of Government Regulation No. 220/2019 Coll. Exempt from the general quota: Yes as of 2026-06-30^[2] Outside the scope of that regulation.

Physical presence

Physical presence
none stated	to keep the permit as of 2026-06-24^[1]^[3]

Family inclusion

Family inclusion
Family members may be included	Yes as of 2026-06-12^[3] s. 42a(7)(d) names holders of a permit issued under s. 42f; s. 42a(7)(e) goes further and extends the same treatment to the family of someone who has merely applied for the research permit.
Eligible relations	spouse, minor child, parent, other dependent as of 2026-06-12^[3]
Family may apply at the same time	Yes as of 2026-06-12^[3] s. 42a(7)(d) and (e) impose no residence-duration condition on a research sponsor, and (e) allows the family application while the researcher's own application is still pending. s. 44(4)(i) then ties the family member's permit to the researcher's.
Family members' work rights	full as of 2026-07-01^[4] Act No. 435/2004 Coll. s. 98(l).

Your next step

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Verification

Verification
Sources cited	4
of which official (tier 1)	4
Oldest as-of date	2026-06-12
Newest as-of date	2026-07-01
Reviewed on	2026-08-26
Schema version	1.1

Sources

[1] Long-term Residence Permit for the Purpose of Scientific Research
Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-24 · Accessed 2026-08-23 · Archived copy
[2] Narizeni vlady o maximalnim poctu zadosti – zamestnani a podnikani (Government Regulation No. 220/2019 Coll., as amended, with the per-mission tables)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-30 · Accessed 2026-08-22 · Archived copy
[3] Zakon c. 326/1999 Sb., o pobytu cizincu na uzemi Ceske republiky a o zmene nekterych zakonu – consolidated text
Ministerstvo vnitra CR / e-Sbirka · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-12 · Accessed 2026-08-22
[4] Zákon č. 435/2004 Sb., o zaměstnanosti (consolidated text in force from 1 July 2026)
Sbírka zákonů a mezinárodních smluv (e-Sbírka) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-01 · Accessed 2026-08-23