From 1 June 2026, selected adjustments in government economic migration programmes will come into effect, which may be practically important for both employers and foreign workers and their advisers. The changes mainly concern the Key and Scientific Personnel Program, the Highly Qualified Employee Program and the Labor Migration Project from Indonesia. From the point of view of practice, it is mainly about simplifying part of the documentation for highly qualified applicants, expanding the circle of entities that can enter the Key and Scientific Staff Program, and adjusting the rules for changing employers for participants in the labor migration project from Indonesia.
The most visible change for many employers will be the simplification of administration for highly qualified foreigners. For participants in the Key and Scientific Staff Programme and the Highly Qualified Employee Programme, it will now be generally not required to submit extracts from the criminal records of those countries in which the applicant has resided for more than six months in the last three years. Such persons will be able to compensate for their integrity in the countries of their previous residence by a declaration of honour. In practice, this can mean easier preparation of documents for both employers and candidates, especially in situations where the person concerned has worked or studied in more than one country in the past.
At the same time, however, it is important to emphasise that this is not a complete removal of the requirements for proof of good repute. An extract from the criminal records of the home country remains a mandatory element of the application. Similarly, the administrative authority may, in justified cases, request an extract from another state, if it considers it necessary. The practical impact of the change should therefore be understood as a simplification of the standard procedure, not as an absolute resignation to individual assessment by the authorities.
Another important novelty concerns the Key and Scientific Personnel Program. According to the new setup, the program is also open to academic and research spin-offs, i.e. business companies established for the purpose of technology transfer and commercialization of scientific results, in which research organizations have a direct ownership interest. These entities will be able to be classified as technology companies. The verification of the subject of activity and property interconnection is to be carried out by CzechInvest. This change is important for the innovation ecosystem in the Czech Republic, especially because it extends access to the program to companies that stand at the intersection of the academic sector and the commercial use of research.
The Key and Scientific Personnel programme is designed for Czech and foreign investors, research organisations, technology companies and start-ups that need to bring foreigners to the Czech Republic in the position of statutory bodies, managers or specialists. At the same time, the programme works with the possibility of submitting an application for a residence permit at an embassy and also declares that the application will be processed within 30 days of submission, provided that the conditions of the programme are met and the application contains all the necessary requirements. The expansion of the program with spin-offs can thus be seen as a step that reflects the needs of the knowledge economy and technology transfer.
The Highly Qualified Employee Programme also remains a key tool for employers when recruiting professionals across borders. The program is intended for direct employers who want to bring highly qualified foreign workers to the Czech Republic. The participants of the programme include, in particular, employees in positions classified in the main classes CZ-ISCO 1, 2 and 3, i.e. legislators and managers, specialists and technical and professional staff, as well as seconded or internally transferred managers and specialists and their immediate family members. It is with this program that the aforementioned simplification regarding proof of integrity will probably be the most practical change for many employers.
The third change concerns the Labour Migration Project from Indonesia. The previous settings did not include the actual regulation of changing employers, and therefore the general rule was applied, according to which it was possible to change employers only after the expiry of the entire validity period of the employee card. In accordance with the announced change, it will now be possible for a project participant to change employers after 6 months from the issuance of an employee card. This brings the project closer to the rules already in place in other government economic migration programs and is in line with European law.
For employers operating in production and industry, this change is of particular importance. The job migration project from Indonesia is aimed at recruiting qualified employees, especially for technical and manufacturing positions, such as welders, electricians, locksmiths, CNC operators or chip production workers, and allows for the receipt of a maximum of 1000 applications for employee cards per year. While the new rule on changing employers after six months may increase the flexibility of labour mobility, it also increases the importance for employers of well-set retention, recruitment strategy and internal adaptation of foreign employees.
From the point of view of client practice, it can be summarised that the changes effective from 1 June 2026 do not represent a complete reconstruction of the economic migration system, but rather targeted adjustments in points that were clearly perceived as practically significant. In the case of highly qualified programs, it is an effort to reduce the administrative burden on part of the documentation. The Key and Scientific Staff Programme is also open to academic and research spin-offs. And the Indonesian project is about unifying the rules for changing employers with the broader framework of economic migration and the requirements of European law.
It will be appropriate for employers and HR teams to reflect these changes in internal checklists, instructions for candidates and expectations when planning mobility cases. In particular, for the Key and Scientific Staff and Highly Qualified Staff programmes, it will be advisable to work with the possibility of using an affidavit where the rules allow it, while remaining cautious in view of the fact that an extract from the home country remains mandatory and the authorities may also request additional documents in justified situations. In the case of entities in the field of research, innovation and technology transfer, it may be appropriate to reassess whether their structure meets the conditions for inclusion in the Programme of Key and Scientific Personnel.
To get a better idea of the practical impact, several model situations can be presented. For an employer who relocates a senior specialist who has worked in several countries in the last three years, the new regulation may mean simpler completion of the file, as part of the documentation on integrity will be able to be replaced by an affidavit in standard cases. In the case of a university or research spin-off, the amendment may open the way for the use of the Key and Scientific Staff Programme where this was not previously obvious. And for employers involved in the labor migration project from Indonesia, it is advisable to take into account that after six months from the issuance of the employee card, there is new room for a change of employer, which may have an impact on long-term capacity planning and retention measures. These examples are only illustrative and it is always necessary to take into account the specific conditions of the case and the current wording of the programme.
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