The Ministry of the Interior has issued a quarterly report on the situation in the field of migration in the Czech Republic and on migration routes to the European Union.
The report contains statistics of foreigners legally residing in the Czech Republic, data related to international protection, temporary protection and information on the number of persons migrating within the three main Mediterranean migration routes to the EU - eastern, central and western. It also contains information regarding migration to the EU's eastern border and information regarding the situation on Western Balkan route. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, a total of 1,073,303 foreign nationals were registered in the Czechia, which corresponds to a share of approximately one tenth of the total population of the country. Among foreign nationals living long-term in Czechia, citizens of Ukraine were the largest group (566,151), followed by citizens of Slovakia (122,455) and Vietnam (69,281).
The significant increase in the number of foreigners in the country is mainly due to the granting of temporary protection to those fleeing due to the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. Similar to previous years, this year, all temporary protection holders whose temporary protection expired on 31 March 2025 and who were interested in continuing to reside in Czechia had to register electronically and book a personal visit to the Ministry of the Interior office by 15 March 2025 to have their visa sticker affixed.
This electronic registration guarantees them an extension of their temporary protection until 30 September 2025. By having a new visa sticker affixed during a personal visit to the Ministry of the Interior office, the temporary protection will then be extended until 31 March 2026. The Ministry of the Interior recorded over 351,000 electronic registrations for the extension of temporary protection.
Given the total number of 388, 879 temporary protection holders as of 31 December 2024, this means that approximately 90% of them took advantage of the possibility of its extension. The Czech Republic has long been the EU country hosting the highest number of displaced persons from Ukraine per capita. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, there was approximately one Ukrainian refugee for every thirty inhabitants of the Czech Republic.
According to UNHCR data, a total of 30,889 migrants arrived in Europe irregularly via the Mediterranean in the first quarter of 2025, which represents a year-on-year decrease of 20% compared to the first quarter of 2024 and a decrease of 49% compared to the last quarter of 2024.