At its 19 October 2026 cabinet meeting, the Czech government quietly gave the green light to a long-anticipated regulation that creates an ‘extraordinary work visa’ for foreign nationals employed in agriculture, food-processing and forestry. The measure – submitted by Agriculture Minister Martin Šebestyán under file no. 739/26 – authorises the Ministry of the Interior to issue short-term work visas outside the existing economic-migration quota system when seasonal labour shortages threaten domestic production. According to officials familiar with the text, the visa will be available to citizens of a list of “source countries” that already cooperate with Prague on labour-mobility programmes, including Ukraine, Moldova, the Philippines, Mongolia and Georgia. Employers will have to prove that they could not fill the positions locally and must guarantee at least the statutory minimum wage, adequate accommodation and health insurance. The visa will be issued for up to nine months and will not count toward the regular annual quotas for employee-cards or blue cards, giving producers a badly needed “pressure valve” during harvest peaks. The agriculture lobby has lobbied for the scheme since the pandemic, arguing that post-Covid labour shortages and the war-related outflow of Ukrainian men have left farms short of as many as 7 000 seasonal workers each year. Food-processors, especially meat-packing plants, report similar gaps. The Czech Statistical Office estimates that vacancies in the primary sector pushed wage costs up by 12 % last year and led to unharvested crops worth nearly CZK 2 billion. Legal advisers say the special visa will simplify compliance for multinational groups that rotate staff across Central Europe. “Right now companies risk overstaying Schengen 90/180-day limits. A dedicated Czech visa valid for the whole employment period removes that uncertainty,” notes Jana Novotná, immigration manager at EY Prague. However, she cautions that processing capacity at Czech consulates – already stretched by demand for digital-nomad and skilled-worker slots – will have to be increased to make the scheme work in practice. In the short term, employers should start compiling proof of labour shortages and draft accommodation contracts so they can file as soon as the Ministry of the Interior publishes the implementing guidelines, expected within 30 days of the regulation’s publication in the Collection of Laws. Multinationals with regional agro or food-processing facilities may also want to review their posted-worker policies, as the extraordinary visa is tied to Czech employment contracts and labour code conditions.
