Setting Up an s.r.o. or Živnost in Prague: Translation & Interpreting Checklist

Prague is the main hub for foreign-owned businesses in the Czech Republic, and setting up here is genuinely straightforward — no residency requirement, minimal share capital, and a process that usually takes a couple of weeks. What trips people up is the paperwork: which documents need certified translation, and where a court interpreter becomes a legal requirement rather than a nice-to-have. This checklist walks through both.

For a general overview of certified translation in the Czech Republic, see our full guide.

• An s.r.o. (limited company) needs a notarial deed and court registration; a živnost (sole trader) is faster and simpler — both require translated documents.
• Foreign founders and directors typically need a criminal record check, apostilled and translated, no older than 90 days.
• If you don’t speak Czech, a court-certified interpreter is legally required when signing the founding document at the notary.
• You can set up a Czech company remotely through a power of attorney — no residency required.

The right structure depends on how you plan to operate, and it affects which documents you’ll need translated.

Both routes require certified translation of any foreign-language documents you submit, and both can involve a court interpreter if you’re signing something in person without fluent Czech.

The exact list depends on your structure and whether you’re an EU or third-country national.

Every foreign-language document has to come with a certified Czech translation carrying the round stamp of a court-appointed translator — the notary, the Commercial Register, and the Trade Licensing Office all work from the Czech text. We cover the criminal record check specifically in a separate guide, since it’s one of the documents that catches people out most often.

This is the part that most often surprises first-time founders — and it’s not optional.

The founding document — a zakladatelská listina for a single founder or a společenská smlouva for multiple founders — must be executed as a notarial deed. If any founder present doesn’t speak Czech, Czech law requires a court-certified interpreter at the signing, so the notary can confirm everyone understands exactly what they’re agreeing to. A bilingual lawyer or colleague standing in isn’t sufficient — the interpreter must be officially appointed by the Ministry of Justice, and their attendance is noted in the notarial record itself.

We provide court interpreting for exactly this kind of appointment. It’s the same legal requirement that applies when buying property in Prague — any notarial deed involving a non-Czech-speaking party needs one.

This document trips up more founders than any other part of the process, mostly because the requirement varies by nationality.

Directors of an s.r.o. and third-country nationals applying for a živnost generally need to submit a foreign criminal record certificate (police clearance) from their home country, or from any country where they’ve held long-term residence. It must carry an apostille (or superlegalization for non-Hague countries), be accompanied by a certified Czech translation, and be no older than 90 days at the time of application.

EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens are often exempt from this requirement if they’ve held Czech residency for more than six months — in that case, an extract from the Czech criminal register can sometimes be used instead. We cover the full process, including country-specific routes like the US FBI Identity History Summary and the UK’s ACRO certificate, in our criminal record check guide.

You don’t need to be a Czech resident, or even physically present, to found a company here.

There’s no residency requirement for directors or shareholders of an s.r.o., and non-residents set up companies in Prague regularly. If you can’t attend the notarial deed in person, you can appoint a representative through a notarized power of attorney — if it’s signed outside the Czech Republic, it needs an apostille and a certified Czech translation before the notary or Commercial Register will accept it. Once the deed is signed, court registration in the Commercial Register (obchodní rejstřík) typically takes 5 to 10 business days.

Our office is in central Prague, a short walk from most notary offices in the city center, so we can coordinate translations and interpreting directly around your notary appointment — whether you’re in Prague for the signing or working with a representative on your behalf. For ongoing translation needs after setup — contracts, HR documents, tender paperwork — see our business terms.

We translate all the documents your notary, lawyer, or trade office will require, and provide a court interpreter for the notarial deed if needed.