As a researcher employed at UCT you are insured during the whole period of your employment. UCT is paying the health insurance for you. You will receive the health insurance card from the Personnel Department in the first weeks of your stay in Prague. Usually, employees from non-EU countries receive a green health insurance card – this card is only valid in the Czech Republic, not in other EU states. Holders of this card are members of the state-provided health insurance system and receive the same health care services as the Czech citizens.
If you are a guest researcher and you are not employed at UCT, you are obliged to pay for the health insurance yourself. If you arrive to the Czech Republic based on long-term residence permit with purpose of scientific research, you can register at a Czech insurance company and become a member of the state-provided health insurance. You will have to do the registration yourself and you will have to pay the fees (currently CZK 2 336/month). You can ask your UCT Mobility Coordinator for assistance with the registration.
In other cases, you are obliged to buy commercial insurance in the scope of comprehensive healthcare (see below information for family members).
If you are not sure which rules apply to you or need additional assistance, please contact your Mobility coordinator.
Travel health insurance on arrival to the Czech Republic
Before entering the Czech Republic, you are obliged to buy commercial or travel health insurance that covers the starting period of your stay: from the date of entry to the territory of the Czech Republic until the first day of your employment.
We recommend to buy this insurance only after your visa has been approved (not when applying).
When your visa is approved, the Czech embassy will provide you information on the type of insurance and the length of the required period. We recommend to take commercial or travel insurance for 1 month, or longer in case the embassy asks for a longer period.
When collecting your visa, you will be asked to submit the insurance’s Terms and Conditions in Czech and in some cases also a proof of payment for the insurance.
The insurance must be contracted with a provider specifically certified to provide such insurance within the Czech territory. We recommend to use one of the Czech companies or branch offices in the Czech Republic.
According to the new rules (starting October 2023) the insurance needs to have the minimum coverage limit of EUR 400 000. As most travel insurance products do not offer this high coverage limit, you will need to buy a comprehensive health insurance.
Czech companies that currently offer this kind of insurance in the short-term duration (minimum 1 month) are:
Please note that this list may not be complete as the offer of available products is changing over time.
You may apply online and receive all related documents anywhere in the world.
Read more details on the web page of EURAXESS Czech Republic.
Please note that some countries and categories of citizens are exempt from this obligation.
Health insurance for family members of researchers
In case your family members are coming with you, they are obliged to purchase health insurance themselves and they need to prove it before receiving the visa.
Spouses of researchers need to purchase a comprehensive health insurance for the whole period of their stay. They can arrange the insurance with any insurance company authorized to provide it in the Czech Republic. The contracted limit has to be at least EUR 400 000.
Some companies providing comprehensive insurance in the Czech Republic (please note that this list is not complete, as the offer of available products can change over time):
Starting 1.1.2024 underage children become members of the state-provided healthcare system on the day they receive their residence card. Their legal guardian needs to register the child during 8 days after receiving the residence card at a Czech health insurance company that is part of the state-provided healthcare system (typically VZP). The legal guardians need to pay for the insurance according to the currently set price (CZK 2336/month as of October 2023).
Before receiving your visa, you will need to buy comprehensive health insurance for your child for the first 90 days of their stay.
Information for researchers, who already have a valid comprehensive insurance for their children: if you have an insurance contract with pVZP for your child, the best option is to wait until the contract with pVZP expires and afterwards change to the state-provided healthcare system. In this case, you need to register your child with the new insurance company latest 8 days before your contract with pVZP expires.
Insurance companies that participate in the state-provided healthcare system:
Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna České republiky – VZP
state-owned, English website
Vojenská zdravotní pojišťovna České republiky
Česká průmyslová zdravotní pojišťovna
Oborová zdravotní pojišťovna zaměstnanců bank, pojišťoven a stavebnictví - OZP
Zaměstnanecká pojišťovna Škoda English website
Zdravotní pojišťovna ministerstva vnitra České republiky
Revírní bratrská pokladna, zdravotní pojišťovna