Czech citizenship by descent

Dear Law Firm, I would like to ask you a question. My father lost his Czech citizenship in 2016, and this loss was not based on a constitutional decree of the President of the Republic or on the agreement between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Subcarpathian Ukraine. As his direct descendant, can I obtain Czech citizenship? Thank you for your time.

Good day,

Thank you for your message.

The situation you describe is addressed by Section 31 of Act No. 186/2013 Coll. on Czech citizenship.

According to paragraph 3: “A natural person whose at least one parent or grandparent is or was a former citizen under paragraph 1 may acquire Czech citizenship by declaration, provided that on the date of the declaration they are not a citizen of the Slovak Republic.”

However, paragraph 1 states that “By means of a declaration of acquisition of Czech citizenship (hereinafter referred to as “the declaration”), a natural person who lost Czech or Czechoslovak citizenship before the effective date of this Act may acquire Czech citizenship unless it was a loss of Czechoslovak citizenship under the constitutional decree of the President of the Republic …”.

In your case, your father lost his citizenship in 2016, but the law only allows for the loss of citizenship before January 1, 2014. For this reason, you are probably not eligible to obtain Czech citizenship.