Prague City Hall runs the Expat Centre Prague (since 2020): free consultations, monthly events, and 100-page relocation guides for workers, students and entrepreneurs. Prague had 354,000 registered foreign residents — one in four inhabitants — at end-2024.
354,000 people
Registered foreign residents in Prague (end of 2024)
1 in 4
Share of Prague's population that is foreign (end of 2024)
1 in 10
Share of Czech Republic residents who are foreign nationals (2024)
3 guides
Relocation guides published
100 pages
Length of each relocation guide
1-2 events/month
Public events held
Details
Maturity
Established
Promoter
International Relations Unit, Prague City Hall (Magistrát hlavního města Prahy, MHMP)
Period
2020–present
Region (NUTS)
CZ01
Keywords
Public administration / international relations
Context
The Expat Centre Prague (Centrum pro cizince Praha) was established in 2020 by the International Relations Unit of the Chief Executive's Office of Prague City Hall (MHMP), becoming the Czech capital's official one-stop public information and support service for foreign nationals. All services are free of charge. The Centre is located at Charvátova 6, Prague 1. At the end of 2024, Prague had approximately 354,000 registered foreign residents, equivalent to one in every four inhabitants — one of the highest proportions among Central European capitals. The Czech Statistical Office recorded that roughly one in ten Czech Republic residents is a foreign national in 2024, with Prague having the highest concentration.
Activities
Services include individual consultations (by appointment) on work permits, self-employment, business registration, tenancy, healthcare and education; monthly public events (one-two per month) combining professional networking with educational content, all free; three comprehensive 100-page relocation guides, each tailored to a specific profile — employees/workers, students and researchers, and entrepreneurs/founders; and job-market orientation for professionals new to Prague.
Conclusions
The Czech Republic had no comparable city-level welcome service before 2020. Limitation: no published metrics on consultation volumes or programme outcomes were available as of June 2026.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
International Relations Unit of Prague City Hall (MHMP) provides individual consultations by appointment on work permits, self-employment, business registration, tenancy, healthcare and education.
Conditions for success
All services free of charge, lowering the barrier to access for new arrivals.
Single physical location (Charvátova 6) combined with tailored, profile-specific guidance (three distinct relocation guides for workers, students/researchers, and entrepreneurs).
Regular (monthly) public events combining networking with educational content.
Common failure modes
No published metrics on consultation volumes or programme outcomes as of June 2026, making it difficult to assess reach or effectiveness independently.
Commonly funded by
National / regional programmes
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
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Data sources
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