The word “registration”, as newcomers use it, glues together two completely different things — and that is exactly where the argument with the landlord starts.
The first is ohlašovací povinnost (the duty to report): a foreigner’s obligation to tell the state at which address they are staying. It is not a “right to the flat”, it is information.
The second is potvrzení o zajištění ubytování (confirmation that accommodation has been secured): a paper from the owner or the landlord stating that housing has been provided to you. It is requested by OAMP — Odbor azylové a migrační politiky, the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Czech Ministry of the Interior — when you apply for a residence permit or extend one.
Neither of the two gives the tenant any extra rights to the flat and neither turns them into an owner. It is worth saying this out loud to the landlord in the very first conversation: a good share of refusals dissolves right there.
The Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals (zákon č. 326/1999 Sb.) obliges a foreigner in §93 to report their place of stay. For third-country nationals the deadline is 3 working days from entering the territory.
The penalty for failing to do so is a fine of up to 3,000 Kč. In practice that is not a ruinous sum, but a recorded offence in your file is a poor backdrop for your next residence extension.
Where you go depends on your status, and there are two different addressees here — do not mix them up:
In parallel, the same duty falls on whoever provides the accommodation. Under §99, an ubytovatel (accommodation provider) is anyone who provides housing for payment, including a private flat owner renting under a lease agreement — not just a hotel or an ubytovna (hostel-style accommodation). Under §102 they submit a přihlašovací tiskopis (registration form) to the police within 3 working days. If the landlord has done this, the tenant’s personal duty under §93 counts as fulfilled. That is exactly how it works in hotels, aparthotels and official ubytovny — they keep a guest register and you do not need to go anywhere separately. Private landlords often neglect it, so ask yours directly whether he filed the form, and if the answer is no, report it yourself.
If you have moved within Prague — say from Prague 9 to Prague 7 — the deadline depends on your status. With a long-term visa or a povolení k dlouhodobému pobytu you report the new address to OAMP within 30 days; with trvalý pobyt (permanent residence) you have 30 working days. The duty arises if you expect to stay at the new place longer than 30 days (for permanent residence, longer than 180). The three-day deadline relates to your initial entry and to reporting to the police, not to moving house inside the country.
This is the confirmation that your accommodation has been secured. It is signed by whoever provides you with housing:
The signature on a standalone potvrzení must be officially certified (legalizace). Certification is done by a matriční úřad, an úřad ORP and a krajský úřad, by a notary, by Česká pošta via Czech POINT and by the Hospodářská komora; a lawyer instead issues a prohlášení o pravosti podpisu (declaration of authenticity of the signature). Bank branches do not certify signatures. At a Czech POINT — post office or town hall — it costs 30–50 Kč per signature, at a notary around 85 Kč including VAT, and it takes about five minutes.
A standalone potvrzení is not the only option. The contract itself also serves as proof of accommodation: the original or a certified copy of a smlouva o ubytování, a nájemní or podnájemní smlouva is accepted as a full-fledged doklad o zajištění ubytování, and signatures on it do not need certifying — an ověřený podpis is required precisely for the standalone potvrzení. One practical nuance: if the contract is more than 180 days old, you will additionally be asked to prove that the accommodation is still in force.
Proof of accommodation is a mandatory part of the file. But if you do not have the paper in hand yet, that is no reason to miss the filing deadline: the application will be accepted and you will be issued a výzva k odstranění vad — a request to remedy defects with a deadline for submitting the missing document, which you can ask to have extended.
The “I don’t do registrations” refusal almost always consists of three real obligations and one myth.
§100 of Act 326/1999 Sb. obliges anyone providing accommodation to a foreigner to keep a domovní kniha — a house register of residents. What exactly goes into it — who, when they moved in, when they moved out, document number — and the fact that the records must be kept for 6 years is set out in §101; §102 sets the same six-year period for the retained přihlašovací tiskopis forms. This is genuine paperwork, and small private landlords cannot stand it.
The same §100 sets the minimum floor area at which housing counts as secured:
| Number of occupants | Minimum floor area |
|---|---|
| 1 person | 8 m² |
| 2 people | 12.6 m² |
| each additional person | +5 m² |
The maths is straightforward: four people need at least 22.6 m² — 12.6 for the first two plus 5 each for the third and the fourth. If the studio is smaller than that, the landlord cannot issue a confirmation for all four — not because he is being difficult. An important detail: the §100 rule is calculated on the living (floor, ubytovací) area, not on the total area of the flat including the balcony and the storage room.
For breaching these duties the landlord faces a fine of up to 50,000 Kč — more than sixteen times the maximum fine for the tenant. Hence the caution: the risks on the two sides are asymmetric.
Registering a foreigner’s place of stay creates no right to use the flat. A tenant’s rights are defined by the lease agreement, not by an entry in a Ministry of the Interior database. Termination is governed by the občanský zákoník (Civil Code) — §2288, §2231, §2287; the standard výpovědní lhůta (notice period) is 3 months. If a tenant will not leave, that problem is solved through the courts and has nothing to do with whether you reported the address to the authorities.
The same goes for the fear that “he’ll register himself and then register his whole family”. Registration grants no automatic rights to third parties.
This is the most common confusion on the forums. The difference is simple:
| Reporting your place of stay | Trvalý pobyt | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | notifying the authorities of an address | a separate residence status |
| Who handles it | you yourself or the accommodation provider — hotel, ubytovna, private landlord — via the přihlašovací tiskopis | the Ministry of the Interior, on application and after checking the conditions |
| Deadlines | 3 working days after entry for third-country nationals, 30 days for EU citizens | applied for after a long period of living in the country |
| Does it change when you move | yes, every time | the status stays, but you still have to report the new address — 30 working days |
When a landlord says “no registration”, what he is often really afraid of is the second one — permanent residence. Explain that you are asking for a confirmation of accommodation, not applying for permanent residence through his flat.
One more thing: do not agree to “registration for a fee” at an address where you do not actually live. That is a fictitious address, and you — not the person selling the service — will be the one dealing with the consequences.
Who you go to depends on what exactly you are doing. The initial report of your place of stay goes to the foreign police department (odbor cizinecké policie) for the area where you are staying. Applications and extensions of residence, as well as reporting a change of address for holders of a long-term visa or a residence permit, go to OAMP for your place of residence. Prague offices work by appointment and the slots go fast — book early, not on the last day of your deadline.
The conversation about the confirmation is a good moment to reread the whole contract. Tenants are protected not only by the občanský zákoník but by separate rules as well — and it matters not to confuse the sources:
For a sense of the money: according to Deloitte data for Q2 2026, rent in Prague 7 stood at 493 Kč/m² and in Prague 9 at 468 Kč/m², up 3.8% year on year. An agency fee on a rental is usually equal to one month’s rent plus 21% VAT, and it is more often the tenant who pays it.
If after a year of renting you start thinking about buying, our real estate section has a mortgage payment calculator and a form to request a mortgage consultation — but that is another story, and it is best begun with your residence properly sorted out.