Online check-in is not just a more convenient arrival — it is a way to cover all your record-keeping duties with a single submission from the guest: the UbyPort report for foreign guests, the house book, the evidence book and the basis for the accommodation fee. Here is what it must contain to work both legally and practically.
Why collect the data before arrival?
The legal obligations of a Czech host rest on the same guest data:
| Obligation | Data needed |
|---|---|
| Foreign-guest report — UbyPort (within 3 working days after check-in, Section 102 of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.) | registration-form data (Section 97): name, date of birth, nationality, permanent address abroad, travel document number, visa number (if any), start, place and expected length of stay, purpose of stay — all foreign nationals, EU citizens included |
| House book (Sections 100(f) and 101 of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.) | registration-form data plus start and end of the stay — foreign guests; kept for 6 years |
| Evidence book (Section 3g of Act No. 565/1990 Coll.) | start and end of stay, name, home address, date of birth, type and number of identity document, fee collected or exemption reason — every paying guest, Czechs included; kept for 6 years |
| Accommodation fee | number of persons and nights, exemption claims |
Booking platforms typically give you only a name and contact details — the rest you have to collect yourself. The only question is when and how: by transcribing from the document manually at arrival, or with an online form in advance. The law does not prohibit collecting in advance — it sets the latest deadline for the report, not the earliest moment of collection. The report itself goes out only after the guest arrives: you report the actual stay, not the booking.
What should an online check-in contain?
- Identification data — first name, last name, date of birth, nationality, document type and number, and the visa number for visa holders.
- Home address — required for every guest in the evidence book; for foreign guests it is also the permanent address abroad in the report.
- Stay data — arrival and departure dates, number of persons.
- Purpose of stay — a mandatory report field for foreign guests; selected from a code list otherwise buried in UbyPort’s technical documentation.
- Basis for fee exemptions — the statutory exemptions apply everywhere (Section 3b of Act No. 565/1990 Coll., e.g. under-18s or ZTP/P card holders and their companions); your municipality’s decree may add more.
- Signature — the law requires foreign guests aged 15 and over to fill in and sign the registration form or a paper document with the same data (Section 103(b) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.). It does not expressly address electronic signatures, but the police instructions allow the form to be filled in and signed on a tablet.
- Rules of the stay — house rules delivered before arrival are more enforceable than a notice board in the flat.
What about GDPR?
Collect data, not documents: transcribed document data is enough to fulfil the obligations, and blanket copying of ID cards and passports is a risky practice from a data-minimisation standpoint. Online check-in also means informing the guest what the data will be used for (the host’s legal obligations) and how long it is retained — in detail in our GDPR overview for accommodation providers.
Why does the form’s language decide everything?
The most common reason guests do not complete a form is the language barrier. A foreign guest who receives a form in Czech puts it off for later — a form in their own language gets filled in right away. With international guests, a multilingual form is the difference between 90% and 30% completion before arrival.
How Best Guest helps
This is exactly the core of Best Guest: after booking, the guest receives a link to online check-in in their own language (the form is available in 43 languages), fills in the data including the purpose of stay from the correct code list, and signs electronically. From that single submission, the house book and evidence book are kept automatically (printable as a PDF for inspections) and the accommodation fee is computed. With automatic reporting switched on, reports for foreign guests are submitted to UbyPort via the official interface once the guest arrives, with no manual filing. The 3-working-day deadline no longer depends on someone remembering.
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Frequently asked questions
Is online check-in legal in Czechia — does it replace paper books?
Yes, with one caveat. Section 3g of Act No. 565/1990 Coll. expressly allows the evidence book for the accommodation fee to be kept on paper or electronically. For the house book, the Foreign Nationals Act sets no form, but the foreign police state on their website that hosts keep it in paper form for inspections — so keep your digital records ready to print. Business hosts report foreign guests electronically via UbyPort (Section 102(3)), and per the police instructions the registration form may also be filled in and signed on a tablet.
What data must an online check-in collect?
For every guest, the evidence-book data (Section 3g of Act No. 565/1990 Coll.): first and last name, home address, date of birth, type and number of the identity document, arrival and departure dates, and any reason for a fee exemption. For foreign guests, also the registration-form data (Section 97 of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.): nationality, permanent address abroad, travel document number, visa number (if there is one in the document), expected length and purpose of stay. Foreign guests aged 15 and over also sign.
Can I ask the guest for a photocopy of their ID?
Carefully — the GDPR data-minimisation principle says: collect data, not documents, if the data suffices. Transcribed document data is enough to fulfil the report and both books; blanket copying of IDs and passports is the riskier practice.
When should the guest fill in the check-in?
Ideally before arrival. A foreign guest must be reported within 3 working days after they check in (Section 102(1) of Act No. 326/1999 Coll.). Per the police instructions, you report the actual stay, not the booking, so the report goes out only after arrival — but data filled in ahead of time means it can go out on arrival day, instead of chasing guests during their stay. The law does not prohibit collecting the data in advance; it only sets the latest deadline for the report.
What if a guest refuses to fill in the data online?
You need the data either way — the alternative is collecting it manually at arrival. It helps to communicate that this is a legal obligation (for foreign guests, a police report), not marketing. In practice the vast majority of guests complete the online form, especially when it is in their language.
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This page is provided for general information and is not legal or tax advice. Rates, deadlines and exemptions are set by law and municipal ordinances and can change — always verify current requirements with your municipality or a qualified advisor.