A fresh ranking published on 11 July by international insurer-broker William Russell places Czechia among the world’s top ten most welcoming destinations for foreign nationals. The study assessed 56 countries and 50 major cities against a basket of hard data (foreign-born employment rates, migrant-population share, visa openness and safety indices) as well as soft indicators such as survey feedback about integration and day-to-day experience. Czechia scored 7.88/10 overall, good enough for eighth place, while Prague came sixth in the city league table, outranking Dubai, Seoul and Hong Kong. Researchers highlight the country’s exceptional 79.5 percent employment rate for foreign-born residents—the third-highest in the sample—as a decisive factor. More than one million foreigners now live in Czechia (roughly 10 percent of the population), and labour-market absorption remains strong thanks to persisting skills shortages in IT, engineering and healthcare.
![Czechia climbs to 8th most welcoming country for expats in new global index]()
VisaHQ’s Czech Republic portal can help newcomers and HR teams navigate one of the trickiest parts of relocation—securing the right visa or residence permit. Its online tools guide users through eligibility checks, document assembly and application submission, while local experts monitor policy updates to prevent delays; you can explore the service at
For multinational employers, the findings reinforce Czechia’s reputation as a reliable hub for near-shoring and shared-service operations: work authorisation is comparatively fast, salary costs are competitive and most newcomers find a job quickly once language barriers are addressed. Yet the report also points to shortcomings that HR and global-mobility teams should note. While labour-market access is excellent, structured workplace-integration support is weak: a separate 2026 survey by staffing firms GI Group and Grafton found that 76 percent of Czech employers offer no formal on-boarding programme for foreign hires. Practical hurdles—housing searches, opening bank accounts, arranging healthcare—still require local assistance, especially outside Prague and Brno where English is less widely spoken. For policy-makers, the ranking is timely ammunition in the debate over the draft Alien Residence Act now before parliament. Interior-ministry officials argue that streamlining online applications and expanding fast-track programmes such as Digital Nomad and Highly Qualified Worker will further raise the country’s attractiveness. Business chambers however warn that new security screening powers could deter talent if processing times lengthen. In practical terms, the headline result gives mobility managers empirical evidence to reassure relocating staff. Czechia combines EU single-market access, Schengen mobility and high perceived safety with a cost of living about 35 percent below the euro-area average. Companies should, however, budget for language training and consider buddy schemes to help newcomers integrate socially as well as professionally.
VisaHQ’s Czech Republic portal can help newcomers and HR teams navigate one of the trickiest parts of relocation—securing the right visa or residence permit. Its online tools guide users through eligibility checks, document assembly and application submission, while local experts monitor policy updates to prevent delays; you can explore the service at
For multinational employers, the findings reinforce Czechia’s reputation as a reliable hub for near-shoring and shared-service operations: work authorisation is comparatively fast, salary costs are competitive and most newcomers find a job quickly once language barriers are addressed. Yet the report also points to shortcomings that HR and global-mobility teams should note. While labour-market access is excellent, structured workplace-integration support is weak: a separate 2026 survey by staffing firms GI Group and Grafton found that 76 percent of Czech employers offer no formal on-boarding programme for foreign hires. Practical hurdles—housing searches, opening bank accounts, arranging healthcare—still require local assistance, especially outside Prague and Brno where English is less widely spoken. For policy-makers, the ranking is timely ammunition in the debate over the draft Alien Residence Act now before parliament. Interior-ministry officials argue that streamlining online applications and expanding fast-track programmes such as Digital Nomad and Highly Qualified Worker will further raise the country’s attractiveness. Business chambers however warn that new security screening powers could deter talent if processing times lengthen. In practical terms, the headline result gives mobility managers empirical evidence to reassure relocating staff. Czechia combines EU single-market access, Schengen mobility and high perceived safety with a cost of living about 35 percent below the euro-area average. Companies should, however, budget for language training and consider buddy schemes to help newcomers integrate socially as well as professionally.
