Czech work visa quotas to rise for Philippines and India in 2027

The Czech government plans to raise work visa quotas by the end of the year: from 10,300 to 12,000 a year for the Philippines and from 600 to 1,600 for India. From 2027, the labor market will also open to workers from Indonesia. The trigger was record demand: this summer, the monthly limits for Filipinos ran out for the first time.

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MPSV), the amendment to the quota regulation is due to take effect on January 1, 2027, if the government approves it. The draft is being submitted by the Ministry of the Interior; it is not yet known when it will reach a cabinet meeting.

The Philippines: quotas exhausted for the first time

Around 17,500 Filipinos currently live in Czechia, and almost a third of them came to the labor market last year under the regulated labor migration program. Czech companies' interest in workers from the country continues to grow.

The annual quota was already doubled in 2024, to 10,300 places. It is divided by month, so no more than 860 Filipinos a month can receive a Czech work visa. In July, August and September of this year, the monthly limit ran out for the first time.

According to Tomáš Surka, head of the Czech branch of the recruitment agency Orienta, people go to work in manufacturing, logistics, hospitality and construction. Vacancies in social care and healthcare are also increasingly in demand.

One of the employers is the truck maker Tatra Trucks in Kopřivnice. It has more than 300 full-time employees from the Philippines: machine operators, car mechanics and painters. Company representative Andrej Chirtek describes them as experienced, reliable and willing to work overtime, and the plant plans to hire another hundred Filipinos.

India and Indonesia: new opportunities

The quota for India will also grow: instead of the current 600 people a year, 1,600 will be able to come to Czechia from next year. The MPSV stresses that these are economic migration programs that take into account both employers' needs and the state's interests; only vetted employers and workers who meet the criteria can take part.

From 2027, Indonesia will also join the “Qualified Employee” program. Previously, Indonesians came individually or through a special program for large employers, but the conditions were too strict. As Petra Silovská of the law firm Hrenek, Toman, Kotrba explains, the program was open only to companies with more than 250 employees, which had to take on at least 100 people at once. The threshold was later lowered to 50, but that did not help either. Only Škoda Transportation managed to bring in a large group of Indonesians.

According to Silovská, who headed the MPSV's department of international labor mobility and integration of foreigners until June, the quota for Indonesia next year will be 300 people a year. This is a trial phase: the aim is to see how integration goes. Employers will have to take special needs into account, such as halal food and a place to pray during the day. Škoda Transportation's experience shows that integration is going well, so, in her words, the quota will be raised gradually.

Besides the Philippines, India and Indonesia, the “Qualified Employee” program also covers Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Thailand.

Around Prague guide on the topic: Work in Prague and Czechia

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz