Citizenship by Declaration (Act No. 186/2013 Coll.)

Eligibility is primarily determined by your ancestral connection to a former citizen and the specific legal circumstances under which they lost their citizenship.

• Former Citizens (Section 31): You qualify if you were once a Czech or Czechoslovak citizen but lost that status before January 1, 2014.
• Descendants (Section 31): You qualify if you are the child or grandchild of a former citizen described above. As of early 2026, eligibility for great-grandchildren is subject to active legislative debate; you should verify the current status of Sněmovní tisk 585 if you are in the fourth generation.
• The "Slovak" Exclusion: You generally do not qualify if your ancestor became a citizen of the Slovak Socialist Republic on January 1, 1969, and remained a Slovak citizen after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
• The 1945 Decrees: Persons (and their descendants) who lost citizenship under the 1945 Benešovy dekrety (Beneš decrees)—primarily ethnic Germans and Hungarians—are generally excluded unless they fall under specific restorative exceptions for victims of Nazi persecution.
• Subcarpathian Ruthenia: Those who lost citizenship due to the 1946 treaty ceding Subcarpathian Ruthenia to the USSR are typically ineligible.
• Young Adults (Section 35): If you are between 18 and 21 years old, you may qualify if you have resided legally in the Czech Republic for at least two-thirds of your life since the age of 10 and have a clean criminal record.