The conditions for demonstrating knowledge of the Czech language and of Czech life and institutions are specified by Act No. 186/2013 Coll., on Czech citizenship and Decree No. 433/2013 Coll., on demonstrating knowledge of the Czech language and of Czech life and institutions for the purposes of granting Czech citizenship.
Pursuant to Section 14(5) of the Czech Citizenship Act, the Czech Life and Institutions Exam need not be taken by the following individuals:
- An applicant who documents that he or she has attended three years of basic, secondary or post-secondary school where classes were taught in Czech.
- An applicant who on the date of submission of the Czech citizenship application was less than 15 years old or more than 65 years old.
- An applicant with a physical or mental handicap that prevents him or her from learning Czech.
Pursuant to Section 14(4) of the Czech Citizenship Act, the Czech Language Exam need not be taken by the following individuals:
- An applicant who documents that he or she has attended three years of basic, secondary or post-secondary school where classes were taught in Czech
- An applicant who on the date of submission of the Czech citizenship application was less than 15 years old or more than 65 years old
- An applicant with a physical or mental handicap that prevents him or her from learning Czech
- An applicant who documents that he or she has successfully completed an equivalent language exam (pursuant to Section 13 of the Decree on demonstrating knowledge of the Czech language and Czech life and institutions for the purposes of granting Czech citizenship), which includes:
- School-leaving exam in Czech
- State Czech language exam taken at a language school with authorisation to give state language exams
- State final exam, state rigorous exam or state doctoral exam taken at a university as a party of a study programme taught in Czech
- A Czech as a Foreign Language exam for the B1 level or higher, certified by the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) and given by a full-fledged member of this association.
Recognition of documents is in the remit of the Ministry of the Interior. Documents for assessment are accepted by the Regional Authorities. ILPS CU does not assess these documents or decide on whether they should be recognised.
The Ministry of the Interior may, based on Section 15(3) of the Czech Citizenship Act, exempt Czech citizenship applicants from the obligation to demonstrate knowledge of the Czech language and the obligation to demonstrate knowledge of Czech life and institutions for reasons worthy of special consideration. The exemption request is submitted along with the Czech citizenship application, and such request has to contain an explanation of the specific reasons worthy of special consideration based on which the exemption request is filed.