Czech Republic: visa and entry rules
What you need to get in, how long you may stay, and what an overstay costs
Czechia's borders: every crossing point
Other 25
Airports 5
All four of Czechia's neighbours are in Schengen: Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovakia.
There is no permanent border control between them, but spot checks on the German and Austrian routes do happen, and you need your documents with you.
The country has no sea coast, so all entry is by land and by air.
The main airport is Vaclav Havel in Prague, which is also the principal hub for arriving with a connection.
Trains link Prague with Berlin, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest — inside the area this is more convenient than flying.
Driving to Czechia
Renting a car in Europe is the practical option.
An electronic vignette is required for the motorways, and it is bought in advance.
A Green Card is mandatory.
An International Driving Permit is needed only if your licence was issued outside the EU and the EEA; a licence from an EU or EEA country is valid as it is.
Travelling to Czechia with a pet
The rules are the same throughout the EU.
An ISO-standard microchip is mandatory, and it is implanted BEFORE the rabies vaccination — otherwise the vaccination does not count.
Rabies vaccination — no earlier than 12 weeks of age, and 21 days must pass between the vaccination and entry.
A rabies antibody titre test is required only for pets from a country not on the EU's approved list. The US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are on the list, so this does not apply to pets travelling from those countries; Russia is one of the countries it does apply to. Blood is taken no earlier than 30 days after the vaccination, after which there is a three-month wait before entry.
An EU veterinary certificate is required, issued by the state veterinary service.
No more than five animals per person without commercial paperwork.
Overstaying your visa in Czechia
The violation is recorded across the whole Schengen area, not against one individual country.
The main consequence is a refusal of your next visa. The record stays in the system, and getting a Schengen visa afterwards becomes considerably harder.
An entry ban for a substantial overstay applies to the entire area at once.
The days are counted across the whole of Schengen. The typical mistake is to count your stay in each country separately.
What else to check before you go
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Entry rules change faster than anything else on this site, and they change without notice. We cross-check every page against several sources and state the date it was verified, but that does not replace the main step: before you travel, check an official source — the country’s consulate, its immigration service or its e-visa portal. Especially if more than a couple of months have passed since our check.