If you are applying for any type of Czech visa/residency, you need to present proof of accommodation or rental contract. Since you will not be given your original contract you will have to make a legalized copy of the rental contract which can be depending on the number of pages you have expensive ( 33 kč per page ) That is why we are recommending everyone to get proof of accommodation.
Advantages of having proof of accommodation than rent contract
1. 0 costs;
If you use your rental contract for the residency file then you should leave the original rent contract or make legal copies of the rent contract. A legal copy of each page will cost 33 kč per page
2. Incomplete documents;
If your rental contract has been extended in the last few years you should provide "Amendments" which you might not find
3. Signature;
For proof of accommodation, only one legal owner can sign but for rental contract all of them
4. Proof of accommodation can be the landlord's databox in case if he doesn't live in the Czech Republic
Signatures and authorizations
Proof of accommodation should be signed by the legal owner of the property or it can be signed by the person representing them in which case you would have to provide the original Power of attorney or legal copy of the power of attorney. If you are a Non-EU citizen then the signature of the owner should be legalized.
If you are an EU citizen or EU citizen's family member, the signature of the owner doesn’t need to be authorized unless you are applying for a Czech Permanent residency!
Duration of the proof of accommodation
If you are an EU citizen duration of the proof of accommodation doesn’t have a fixed period requirement.
Non-EU citizens’ duration of Czech residency/visa depends on the duration of the accommodation proof. For example, if your proof of accommodation is for 2 years, your long-term residency will be also for 2 years.
It is important to have proof of accommodation for a maximum period of time. According to Czech immigration, the first long-term visa is issued for a maximum of 12 months from the date of approval. If you are hoping to get your first visa for the maximum period of time, your accommodation proof should be for at least 16 months because your visa approval process can take up to 4 months
Here you can download the right proof of accommodation forms:
If you don’t want to rent an apartment before your visa approval and need help with a virtual address, please contact us.
Recently, many of our clients have been having trouble obtaining proper rental contracts for visa residency purposes. One of the main conditions of the Czech ministry of interior for visa or residency application is getting the required proof of accommodation confirmation as well as a proper rental contract from a legal owner, according to the land registry office.
In each of the following rental arrangements, not having a proper rental contract can seriously impact your ability to obtain a proof of accommodation confirmation:
The ‘middle man’
Renting out an apartment for a fair and reasonable price, as well as subletting it to other people, is a common practice and source of income for many people in Prague. If you are renting an apartment (or flat) from a subletter, make sure that the person subletting can provide a power of attorney from the legal owner, or a legal document that they have the legal right to re-rent it to third parties.
Also, it is very important to check the specific dates for which they can sublet the flat. For example, if the ‘middle man’ has a rental contract with the legal owner and it expires in 3 months, but you need proof of accommodation for 24 months, then this situation could present a significant problem for your residency renewal.
PraguExpats suggests:
If you still want to rent a flat from a ‘middle man’ then make sure….
- …that the contract is for an unlimited period of time.
- …the contract between the subletter and the legal owner states that subleasing of the flat is permitted for third parties.
- …they have the authorized power of attorney from the landlord for an unlimited period of time or…
- …that they can arrange for the proof of accommodation directly from the legal owner when needed for your visa/residency renewal.
Most residence permits for Non-EU citizens are renewed for 24 months, and if you choose the right flat from the right person, then you will avoid residency renewal problems.
Corporate flats
Owners of such flats are corporations (Bytové družstvo). In this situation, the proof of accommodation form should, and can, be signed by the president of the corporation. Most flats are rented by individuals from the corporation for an unlimited period of time, and these individuals are considered as the de facto owners of the flat.
If you intend to rent a corporate-owned flat, then make sure…
- to get the get proof of accommodation form signed by the corporate president for your future residency permit file.
- the individual who is subletting you the flat can legally provide a rental contract between them and the corporation.
- to verify that there will be no problems in providing you with proof of accommodation in 2 years time if you need to renew your residency.
The city of Prague owned flats
The owner of such flats in the City of Prague. You should never rent this type of flat as it is simply too problematic. For immigration purposes, the proof of accommodation should be signed by the legal owner. Since the owner of that type of flat is the Prague City, it is so complicated to find a direct connection to ownership.
Company flats
The owners of these flats are companies (s.r.o./Ltd)
The legal rent contract or proof of accommodation should be signed by the CEO of the company. If somebody is representing the CEO, then they need to provide an authorized power of attorney from the CEO. Also, it is important to check Company's legal representation structure. if there are multiple CEOs, then you should check if each CEO can represent the company individually. Otherwise, you should get proof of accommodation authorized from all company CEOs
Moving in with a flatmate
Please examine all 4 of the arrangements above to see which one fits best when moving in with a flatmate. Make absolutely sure that your name is added to your flatmate’s current rental contract before you move in.
As mentioned above, most residency permits for Non-EU nationalities are renewed for 2 years. As such, you will need to arrange for proper proof of accommodation form and a rent contract for those 2 years, for your future residency renewal.
We highly recommend discussing all of these requirements with your landlord before you rent an apartment or flat. This will help you to avoid misunderstandings and future troubles with your residency renewal.
Finally, how to verify the flat ownership?
Mapy.cz has a great app and it works in English. Simply look for the address of the apartment, just like a Google address search, and click on the information from the land registry office. You will be redirected to a page with a list of the legal owners for that address. Please check the photo below.
If you need virtual proof of accommodation, please check our service page!