The Ministry of the Interior has quietly announced that its regional Department for Asylum and Migration Policy (OAMP) office in Ústí nad Labem will shut its doors from Thursday 30 July through Monday 3 August 2026 owing to “technical reasons”. The notice, posted on the Information Portal for Foreigners on 28 July, states that all clients with pre-booked appointments during the closure period will be contacted directly by officials and offered new time slots or the option to reschedule online. Ústí nad Labem is the only OAMP branch serving the fast-growing industrial corridor that stretches from the German border to Litoměřice. The office handles residence permits, employee-card renewals and biometric captures for some 25 000 third-country nationals, many employed in automotive and chemical plants clustered around Lovosice and Teplice. Even a short shutdown therefore risks cascading delays in card issuance and collection. Employers relying on just-in-time onboarding of non-EU staff—particularly Ukrainian and Moldovan production workers—should verify whether new hires have appointments scheduled in Ústí and, if so, adjust start dates or redirect them to alternative offices in Prague-Žižkov or Plzeň where capacity allows. Under Czech procedure, an employee cannot lawfully start work until fingerprints are taken and an employee card is activated in the system. The ministry has advised walk-in clients to avoid travelling to Ústí during the closure, warning that staff shortages mean that emergency matters (for example loss of a passport) will only be handled at the Prague-Hládkov student unit. Mobility managers should alert travellers that appointment lines (+420 974 801 801) are likely to be congested this week and should use the online reservation module where possible. Although described as a one-off technical shutdown, this is the fourth OAMP office to announce a temporary closure in the last two months, reflecting chronic under-investment in IT infrastructure and real estate. Industry associations are lobbying for the long-promised central e-filing platform—scheduled for pilot launch in Q4 2026—to reduce dependence on in-person visits. In the meantime, contingency planning and early appointment booking remain essential for anyone relocating staff to North-West Bohemia.
