How to get your criminal record certificate

There are several steps to be followed to have your criminal record certificate done hassle-free.

As we need to verify your identity properly, it is essential to either bring the necessary documents in person or to empower someone with the power of attorney with certified signature to request the criminal record certificate for you. The Czech criminal register is based on the birth/maiden names, so it is essential to prove this information as well in addition to your standard documents. There are a few options how to do it, depending on your country of origin and your status in the Czech Republic.

  1. You are the Czech resident already, possessing either the short-term, long-term or permanent residency. You are in the foreigner's register in this case, which means that your birth name was already verified, and you can get your criminal record certificate with no additional checks. (Bringing the birth certificate with you is suggested anyway, if there were any problems with accessing the foreigner's register). This option is only available at the Criminal register office.
  2. If you are staying here with no residency status (you are either the EU/EEA/Swiss citizen, visa-free visitor or using a visa), you are most probably not in the foreigner's register and we are going to need any document proving your birth/maiden name. The documents accepted for this purpose are e.g. the birth certificate, the marriage certificate (as long as your birth name is mentioned there), the confirmation of birth (could be issued by your embassy/government, depending on the country you are from), some national IDs/passports include this information as well, etc.

The document verification process depends on the country you are from:

  1. as long as your country does have a bilateral consular treaty with the Czech Republic, you are free from any additional verification. The list of these treaties is here (Czech only): https://www.mzv.cz/file/1201026/Osvobozeni_od_pozadavku_superlegalizaceapostila.pdf
  2. if your country belongs to the contracting parties of the HCCH Apostille convention, you can use the Apostille to get your document verified. The list of the countries involved is here: https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/print/?cid=41 and the list of the competent authorities is here: https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/authorities1/?cid=41
  3. in the case of your country not being a part of these treaties, the legalisation of these documents is required.

Only original documents or verified copies are accepted; in case of the documents issued in another language, a certified translation into the Czech language is required.

Where can you get the criminal record certificate?

  1. in our public office in Legerova 1877/7, 120 00 Praha 2
  2. at the „Czech POINT“ service centres located at the post and municipal offices, notaries and other places. The website (Czech only) is here: https://www.czechpoint.cz/public/
  3. at the local municipal offices (the request is re-sent by mail to us if there is no Czech POINT terminal, so it takes longer).
  4. at the Czech embassies abroad.

If you are going to use the criminal record certificate outside of the EU, you are suggested to get it directly at the Criminal register office, as the „Czech POINT“ records are not widely accepted or there could be a problem with legalization.

Record from EU countries and multilingual standard form

Records from another countries

The citizens of other EU countries (and the UK till the further notice) are getting the Czech record and the record of the country they are the citizens of. Automatically. This is the EU law and we have to ask your home country for your record as well. If you were the citizen of, or live in another EU country, you can also ask the record from that country as well. All the requests which are sent to another country have the official processing limit of 25 working days but most countries respond way faster. After receiving the records, you can choose to pick them up at the place of your request or to get them sent home by mail (if you applied at the Criminal register office directly). The Czech POINT allows to pick them up at any place throughout the network of Czech POINT.

EU multilingual standard forms

Any EU (and the UK) citizen can choose the second language of his criminal record certificate for the easier acceptance throughout the Union. This multilingual standard form is accepted within the EU
countries with no further translations due to the EU regulation: https://e-justice.europa.eu/551/EN/public_documents?init=true

Administrative fee

There is an administrative fee of CZK 100 for the request within the Czech Republic and CZK 200 at the embassies abroad.

The administrative fee for the multilingual standard form is also 100 CZK.

Contact information

Should you have any further questions, you are welcome to contact us in English by e-mail at rejstrik.trestu@msp.gov.cz, or by the phone on +420 244 006 111.