Temporary protection — temporary protection for Ukrainians who fled the war. Legal basis — *Act No. 65/2022 Coll.* ("Lex Ukrajina"); key amendment — Act No. 24/2025 Coll. (Lex Ukrajina VII, effective from 11.02.2025), latest amendment — Act No. 314/2025 Coll. (from 03.09.2025). Protection extended until 31.03.2027.
Extension in 2026 — two steps
- First step — online registration by 15.03.2026, after which protection is valid only until 30.09.2026.
- Second step — personal visit for a visa stamp by 30.09.2026, and only then protection is valid until 31.03.2027.
The first step does not work without the second: on 30.09.2026, protection will end, not continue. Do not count on "I'll sign up later" — the official wording is *“na nový termín není právní nárok”* (there is no legal right to a new appointment), branch capacities are not guaranteed by anyone.
What the status gives
- Work — free access to the labor market, no separate permit is needed. The employer submits an information card to the Labor Office (Úřad práce) no later than the day the work begins.
- Medicine — access to public health insurance (veřejné zdravotní pojištění), but the state pays contributions for only 90 days (persons aged 18–64).
- Schengen — maximum 90 days in any 180.
What the status does not give
- A personal identification number (rodné číslo) is not assigned at all (§ 7v of Act 65/2022 Coll.) — instead, the insurance institution issues a policyholder number (číslo pojištěnce).
- With temporary protection, you cannot apply for an employee card or another residence permit (pobyt). There is one exception — government regulation No. 308/2022 Coll. (application at a foreign institution in Ukraine). This is why a special long-term residence permit remains practically the only way forward.
