DOHA / PRAGUE — In a notice updated at 08:00 on 22 July 2026, the Czech Embassy in Doha announced a revised registration procedure for third-country nationals seeking long-term visas for seasonal employment in the Czech Republic. Applicants must now email a request for an appointment exclusively on Monday 25 July 2026 between 11:00 and 17:00 local time. The embassy emphasised that messages sent outside the six-hour window will be deleted automatically and that multiple submissions will result in disqualification. The move follows a surge in demand from hospitality and construction firms recruiting staff ahead of the Christmas market season and winter refurbishment projects in Czech ski resorts. Crucially for global-mobility planners, the embassy reiterated that its annual quota for employee-card (work-permit) applications from non-Qatari nationals has been set at zero for the remainder of 2026. Only seasonal-work visas—capped at nine months—will be processed. Recruiters must therefore ensure candidates qualify for the seasonal-worker category and have contracts that fit within the August-to-October period covered by the current registration round. Czech consular posts in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City continue to accept employee-card files under separate quotas, but cross-posting to Doha is no longer possible. Companies accustomed to pooling Gulf applications in Qatar will need to redirect talent flows or adjust start dates. HR teams are advised to prepare scanned employment contracts, accommodation confirmations and proof of medical insurance in advance; appointment slots typically fill within minutes of the window opening. The new rules form part of Prague’s broader economic-migration overhaul aimed at channelling lower-skilled labour through time-limited programmes while reserving multi-year employee cards for technically skilled staff sourced via priority schemes such as “Highly Qualified Worker” and “Digital Nomad.”
