Czech Republic VISA

Do you plan a longer holiday or do you actually look for a new home? Has it been ages since you saw your relatives or friends living in the Czech Republic for the last time and would you like to change this? We are here for you to give you advice about the formalities connected with the travel to the Czech Republic so that you could focus only on your pleasant experience connected with a journey to and a stay in the Czech Republic.

The conditions you have to fulfil before you leave your country and to a certain extent also after you have come to the Czech Republic depend especially on the country whose citizen you are and inevitably on the length of your planned stay in the Czech Republic. Upon these criteria it is possible to distinguish following basic cases:

Citizens of the above mentioned countries do not need any residence permit while staying in the Czech Republic. A travel document which is also an identity card is sufficient for this purpose. In case a planned stay exceeds a period of three months, a person is in capacity but not obliged to apply for a residence permit issue for a citizen of a member state of the European Community. The residence permit can be:

a) Temporary stay permit – it entitles to a stay for a period longer than 90 days – no special requirements are necessary, however, it is required according to law to attest the application form with e.g. a travel document, a document confirming the purpose of the stay, etc.

b) Permanent residence permit – its validity period is ten years – it can be issued only after the fulfilment of the requirements stipulated by law, e.g. employment and at the same time uninterrupted three-year stay requirements, incumbency of a member in a statutory body of a legal entity, etc. Again it is required to attest the application form by background papers stipulated by law.

In both stated cases an application form is given in at the representative authority or the respective alien police department. It is possible to extend the validity period of issued permits with an application form repeatedly. No fees are connected with these administrative proceedings.

Without an exception the residence of citizens of these countries is in several cases subject of a visa requirement, and even in cases when a treaty or government regulations in general terms exempt from visa requirements, the visa is required if residence in  the Czech Republic exceeds 90 days or its purpose is gaining activity. We can distinguish following:

a) Residence visa up to 90 days – it entitles for residence for a period stated in the visa, but it shall not exceed 90 days

b) Residence visa over 90 days – it entitles for residence for a period longer than three months

c) Long-term residence permit – it is possible to apply for it if a foreigner has resided in the Czech Republic pursuant to the residence visa above 90 days and is going to reside here for a period longer than a year, during which time the purpose of the residence remains the same.

d) Permanent residence permit

– without a requirement of preceding uninterrupted residence in the Czech   Republic – a foreigner who fulfils terms stipulated by § 65 on foreign act, e.g. if he applies on the humanitarian grounds

– under a requirement of preceding uninterrupted residence in the Czech Republic – after eight years of uninterrupted residence as a fulfilment of a requirement stipulated by law and for a purpose of coexistence with a holder of a permanent residence permit, or after 10 years of uninterrupted residence for such a foreigner

As well as in the preceding case an application form is given in at the representative authority or the respective alien police department where it is necessary to attest documents stipulated by law, among others to show sufficient funds for the residence or an employment permit if the purpose of the residence is employment performance, and it is also possible to apply for an extension of the validity of the issued documents. However, in this case administrative fees are connected with the proceedings of visa issue or permit and their extension. The fees range from CZK 200,- to CZK 1.500,-.

Aside from the above mentioned facts, each foreigner at a request is obliged to fulfil especially informative duty toward alien police, namely after the entry to the Czech Republic to report his place of residency and in the course of the residency the changes lasting for a longer period of time.

Now you know that if you are so lucky and regulations concerning members of the EU apply to you then an organization of a trip or a stay in the Czech Republic is as easy as a trip to your neighbouring town. If you fall into the other group of mentioned persons, it is clear that there is a solution. In case you do not quite agree with this statement and some unanswered questions arise even after having read this article, it will be our pleasure to assist you not only in this respect.