Czechia Overhauls Work Visa Policy: More Slots for Skilled Foreigners, Fewer for Low-Skilled Migrants

Strategic shift in 2025

Czechia is expanding its work visa quotas to attract more high-skilled professionals—particularly IT experts, engineers, and scientists—while reducing access for low-skilled migrants, especially from certain African nations.

Czechia is expanding its work visa quotas to attract more high-skilled professionals—particularly IT experts, engineers, and scientists—while reducing access for low-skilled migrants, especially from certain African nations.

Digital Nomads & Skilled Professionals in Focus

The Czech Embassy in India will start issuing 24 new slots for IT professionals through its digital nomad visa program. The visa allows self-employed workers to reside and work in Czechia and will be processed within 45 days.

Work visa caps will also rise for:

Chinese nationals – up to 1,170 annually

Thai nationals – from 300 to 460 per year

According to Schengen.News and Expats.cz, Czechia is targeting high-value workers to meet labor shortages in tech and science.

Fewer Visas for Low-Skilled Workers

Czechia’s Interior Ministry has proposed cutting quotas for low-skilled applicants from countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, and Zambia. Quotas for high-skilled applicants from these nations remain unchanged.

Taiwan Workers Exempted

As of early 2025, Taiwanese nationals will no longer require a work permit to enter Czechia for employment purposes. In 2024, 185 Taiwanese citizens were employed in the country, per the Ministry of Labour.

Geopolitical and Economic Trends

This policy shift mirrors broader EU efforts to attract high-skilled labor while curbing low-skill migration, driven by automation and workforce shortages in key sectors.