Foreign nationals who use the Ministry of the Interior’s Prague I (Žukovského 888/2) branch can once again file and collect residence permits after the office resumed full service on 9 October 2026. The MOI had announced an exceptional closure from 5 to 8 October due to a network outage that affected biometric workstations and card printers. During the shutdown, appointments booked through the Client Centre were automatically cancelled, forcing applicants—many of them student-visa renewals and blue-card holders—to seek emergency slots at outlying offices in Central Bohemia. Couriers delivering approved permits were also rerouted, adding up to three days to card collection times. The ministry says all cancelled time slots will be re-issued in batches over the coming week. Applicants are advised to monitor their IPC portal accounts and rebook promptly; precedence will be given to those with soon-to-expire bridging visas. Employers sponsoring new hires for seasonal peak projects in Q4 should anticipate processing lags of up to ten days. Immigration advisers welcome the quick restoration but warn that Prague I handles the capital’s highest volume of cases, including most employee-card renewals for multinational headquarters. They recommend submitting well-documented applications to avoid additional visits. Meanwhile, MOI IT staff will conduct overnight load tests during the next fortnight—applicants with early-morning appointments could face brief log-in delays to the online check-in kiosks. Tip: clients with urgent travel plans can request a one-page “bridging visa” (překlenovací štítek) at reception if their card collection is delayed; the office accepts card payments only.
