Country guide · Czech Republic

Czech dual citizenship: allowed since 2014, and how families who lost it can get it back

Michael Soucek·Last reviewed October 2026

Educational information only — not legal advice. Always verify with the relevant authority, consulate or registry office.

The Czech Republic has allowed dual citizenship since 1 January 2014, when the Citizenship Act No. 186/2013 Coll. took effect. Czech citizens who take another citizenship keep their Czech one, and people who acquire Czech citizenship don’t have to give anything up. What the 2014 law didn’t do is give citizenship back to the many emigrants who lost it earlier by naturalising abroad. For them, and their children and grandchildren, the way back is a declaration under Section 31.

The short answer

  • Czech citizens naturalising abroad since 2014: they stay Czech. The only way to lose Czech citizenship now is to renounce it yourself.
  • People who lost it before 2014: they did not get it back automatically. They can reacquire it by declaration under Section 31(1) and keep their other citizenship.
  • Their children and grandchildren: they can acquire it by declaration under Section 31(3), with no language test or residence, and keep US or any other citizenship.
  • Slovak citizens: the declaration is closed to them, so Czech–Slovak dual citizenship through these routes usually isn’t possible.

What changed on 1 January 2014

Under the previous law, Act No. 40/1993 Coll., a Czech citizen who voluntarily acquired a foreign citizenship lost Czech citizenship automatically. The Czech Embassy in Brussels confirms that this rule hasn’t been part of Czech law since 1 January 2014, that Czech citizens can now fully hold dual citizenship, and that the only lawful way to lose Czech citizenship since then is a declaration of renunciation.

For Czech-American families the older history matters more. The Czech Embassy in Washington says that Czechoslovak and Czech citizens who acquired US citizenship by naturalisation between 14 November 1929 and 31 December 2013 generally lost their original citizenship automatically. That covers most emigrants of the 20th century, and it is why the Section 31 declaration exists.

The 2014 Act doesn’t say those people became Czech again. Section 31(1) instead lets a person who lost Czech or Czechoslovak citizenship before the Act took effect reacquire it by declaration. Until someone declares, a former citizen stays a former citizen.

Who can hold Czech and another citizenship today

  • Czech citizens by birth. A child is Czech by birth if at least one parent is a Czech citizen on the day of the birth (Section 4), wherever the child is born and whatever other citizenship the child gets. You only need to register the birth with the Special Registry in Brno.
  • Czech citizens who naturalised abroad on or after 1 January 2014. They kept Czech citizenship, so children born to them afterwards are Czech by birth too.
  • Former citizens and their descendants who declare under Section 31. The declaration doesn’t require renouncing anything.
  • People who naturalise in the Czech Republic. The 2014 Act doesn’t require new citizens to renounce their previous citizenship.

If your family lost Czech citizenship before 2014: the Section 31 declaration

Section 31 is a legal entitlement, not a discretionary grant. It covers three groups that matter to families abroad:

  • Former citizens themselves (Section 31(1)): anyone who lost Czech or Czechoslovak citizenship before 1 January 2014.
  • Adult children and grandchildren (Section 31(3)): anyone with at least one parent or grandparent who is or was such a former citizen, provided they are not a Slovak citizen on the day they declare.
  • Minor children (Section 31(5)): a parent can make a separate declaration for a child who is the child or grandchild of a former citizen. A child over 15 must consent.

How your ancestor lost citizenship doesn’t matter: US naturalisation counts. The declaration is excluded if the ancestor lost Czechoslovak citizenship under the 1945 presidential decree on people of German and Hungarian nationality or the 1945 treaty with the USSR on Transcarpathian Ukraine, or if the ancestor became, or would have become, a citizen of the Slovak Socialist Republic on 1 January 1969, or later acquired Slovak citizenship and still holds it.

You become Czech on the day you receive the certificate of acquisition of citizenship (Section 37(3)), not on approval. The fee is CZK 1,000 at an embassy or consulate and CZK 500 at an office in the Czech Republic, and the Ministry of the Interior decides within 60 days of receiving the declaration, plus up to 30 days for an embassy to forward it. Documents, filing and the passport afterwards are covered step by step in Czech citizenship by declaration.

Ancestors who may never have lost it

Two date windows change the picture for some families:

  • Naturalised in the US outside 14 November 1929 to 31 December 2013. The Washington embassy says people who acquired US citizenship by naturalisation in other years, or who never acquired a foreign citizenship, and their descendants don’t make the Section 31 declaration. They apply directly for a certificate of Czech citizenship (osvědčení o státním občanství), because the citizenship may never have been lost. Ask the embassy to assess the dates in your family.
  • Emigrated and naturalised before 28 October 1918. Czechoslovakia didn’t exist yet, so that ancestor was an Austro-Hungarian subject and never held Czechoslovak citizenship to lose. The embassy also points to the 1870 naturalisation convention between the United States and Austria-Hungary for people who emigrated before 1918.

Proving naturalisation dates usually needs US records; see our USCIS genealogy and naturalization records guide and how to prove an ancestor never naturalized.

How Czech citizenship can be lost now

Since 2014, Section 40 is the only way to lose Czech citizenship. You lose it by declaring that you renounce it, and only if all three conditions are met:

  1. you live permanently abroad;
  2. you aren’t registered for permanent residence in the Czech Republic; and
  3. you already hold another citizenship, or you are applying for one and renouncing in connection with that application.

The declaration is made at the Czech embassy or consulate for the country where you live or whose citizenship you are seeking, or at a regional office in the Czech Republic, and the regional office decides. Citizenship ends on the day you receive the document confirming loss. If you renounced in advance of a promised foreign citizenship, it ends when that other citizenship is proven. A citizenship acquired by declaration can also be found never to have been acquired if a reopened procedure shows the conditions weren’t met (Section 39). There is no rule taking Czech citizenship away for naturalising elsewhere.

What descendants should know

  • Grandchildren are the limit. Section 31(3) doesn’t reach great-grandchildren. See Czech citizenship for great-grandchildren and permanent residence for people of Czech origin.
  • The order of declarations matters. If your parent is the former citizen’s grandchild, your parent can declare, but that doesn’t extend to you. A child born to your parent after they become Czech is Czech by birth.
  • The 2014 one-year window is closed. Section 33 let people born abroad between 1 October 1949 and 7 May 1969 to a Czechoslovak parent declare within one year of 1 January 2014. A parent who became Czech only that way doesn’t count as a former citizen for Section 31(3).
  • Slovak roots. If your ancestor came from present-day Slovakia, look at Slovak citizenship by descent instead; Czech and Slovak routes rarely combine.
  • The US side. The State Department says US law doesn’t require a citizen to choose between US citizenship and another nationality, but you must use your US passport to enter and leave the United States. More in European citizenship by descent for Americans.

The wider picture, including the parent route and records, is in the Czech citizenship by descent guide. For how the Czech Republic compares with countries that still restrict dual citizenship, see dual citizenship by descent, country by country, and to check your own family, try the free eligibility checker.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Czech Republic allow dual citizenship with the USA?

Yes. Since the Citizenship Act No. 186/2013 took effect on 1 January 2014, Czech citizens can hold any other citizenship, including American, and acquiring Czech citizenship doesn’t require you to give up your US citizenship. There is no list of approved countries. The one practical exception is Slovakia: the Section 31 declaration is closed to anyone who is a Slovak citizen.

If my grandfather lost Czechoslovak citizenship by becoming a US citizen, is he Czech again since 2014?

No. The 2014 law didn’t give citizenship back automatically. People who lost Czech or Czechoslovak citizenship before 1 January 2014 stay former citizens unless they, or their children or grandchildren, make a declaration under Section 31 of the Act. If your grandfather has died, you can still declare: the consulate says it doesn’t matter whether the former citizen is alive.

Can I get Czech citizenship by descent and keep my American passport?

Yes. The Section 31(3) declaration is open to anyone with a parent or grandparent who lost Czech or Czechoslovak citizenship before 2014, and it doesn’t require you to renounce anything. There is no language test and no residence requirement. The US side is fine too: US law doesn’t require a citizen to choose between US citizenship and another nationality.

Will I lose Czech citizenship if I naturalise in another country now?

No. Since 1 January 2014 the only way to lose Czech citizenship is to make a declaration renouncing it under Section 40, and you can only do that if you live permanently abroad, aren’t registered for permanent residence in the Czech Republic and hold, or are applying for, another citizenship. Under the old law, voluntarily acquiring a foreign citizenship ended Czech citizenship automatically.

My great-grandparent was Czech. Can I get dual citizenship?

Not by declaration. Section 31(3) covers only children and grandchildren of former citizens, and no wider wording is in the Act as of October 2026. A parent of yours who is the grandchild can declare, and any child born to them after that is Czech by birth. Otherwise, permanent residence for people of Czech origin is the realistic route.

What if my ancestor naturalised in the US before 1929?

Then they may never have lost Czechoslovak citizenship. The Czech Embassy in Washington says US naturalisation generally caused automatic loss between 14 November 1929 and 31 December 2013, and that people naturalised in other years, and their descendants, apply directly for a certificate of citizenship instead of making a declaration. An ancestor who naturalised before 28 October 1918 was never Czechoslovak.

Can I hold Czech and Slovak citizenship at the same time?

Not usually through these routes. Every version of the Section 31 declaration is closed to people who are Slovak citizens on the day they declare, and Slovak law can take away Slovak citizenship from someone who voluntarily acquires another. If you might qualify for both, decide which you want before filing either.

Official sources

Checked against these sources on 29 October 2026. The Act and the Brussels and Washington embassy pages were read directly; the fee and decision-time figures restate our Section 31 declaration guide, which checked the Ministry of the Interior and the Administrative Fees Act. travel.state.gov refused automated access, so the US point restates our guide for Americans. Only the Czech authorities can decide your case; confirm with your Czech embassy or consulate before you apply or renounce anything.