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Third-country Nationals

Long-term residence

General information: Long-term residence permit
The purpose of "studies"
The purpose of "scientific research"
The purpose of "seeking employment"
The purpose of "employment"
The purpose of "business"
The purpose of "family reunification"
The purpose of "investment"
EU Blue Card
Green Card
"EC long-term residents" in other EU member states and their family members
Extending a long-term residence permit
Changing the purpose of long-term residence
A visa for the purpose of collecting a residence permit - D/VR
"Bridging label"

General information: Long-term residence permit

This article is only a brief description of long-term residences. More information about residences, or about individual purposes of long-term residences can be found on the Official Web Portal for Foreigners.

General information: Long-term residence permit

You are entitled to file an application for a long-term residence permit inside the Czech Republic at the MOI offices, if:

you have been residing in the Czech Republic on a visa for a stay of over 90 days and
you intend to temporarily live in the Czech Republic for more than 1 year including the previous visa
and if, at the same time, the purpose of your stay remains unchanged (exceptions are made e.g. for a blue card, employee card, family members or scientists).

In given cases, an application for a long-term residence permit without the precondition of staying on a visa for over 90 days can be submitted a Czech Embassy (purpose of studies, scientific research, family reunification, resident of another EU Member State, blue card or employee card or ICT card).

In general, you are obliged to submit an application for an issuing a long-term residence permit or for an extension of a validity of this permit soon enough 120 days before the end of a validity of existing long-term residence permit or a long term visa and at the latest day of a validity of the visa or residence permit. If the last day of validity of the long term visa or the long term residence permit is public holiday (Saturday, Sunday, a bank holiday), the last day you are able to submit an application is nearest following working day. In case when the deadline is on working day, which is not official day (Friday), it is possible to deliver an application of extension validity of long term residence permit by Post Office at the last day of this term.

It does not apply for applications, which you have to submit personally (an application for an issuing a long-term residence permit, an application of “change of purpose” for long term residence permit) - you have to submit these applications in person at the office of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, at the latest day of a validity of your current long-term residence permit or a current long-term visa.

Fact that the last day of term is unofficial day, cannot be considered for reason independent of the will, which obstructs to the foreigner to submit an application. For this reason we ask you to submit an applications with time-ahead.

If you are prevented from filing the application for reasons beyond your control, you are entitled to file this application within 5 working days of these reasons ending. You can submit an application even earlier than 120 days before expiry the validity of authorization in justifiable cases. You are obligated to communicate the reasons for later presentation and for earlier presentation of an application with the Ministry of Interior.

Right to stay on the territory during the examination of the application

If the application for long-term residence permit is lodged on the territory (incl. the application for “the change of the purpose” of the long term residence) or for its prolongation is lodged on the territory and in accordance with the conditions provided by the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals (for instance in prescribed deadlines) and period of validity of present long term visa or long term residence permit expires before the final decision on the application is taken, the present long term visa or long term residence permit is deemed to be valid until the decision on the application gains legal force. The right to stay on the territory will however cease before legal force of the decision on application in case of conviction to punishment of expulsion due to the administrative expulsion of applicant, application for international protection, and specifically in case of employee cards by expiration of 60 days period after the termination of current job.

The right to stay on the territory during the examination of the application is certified by long-term visa sticker attached to the travel document of the applicant. It is so called "transitory visa".

You should submit the application on a completed form (pdf, 815 kB) along with all the necessary requirements given individually for selected purposes of stay. You should, however, always submit originals or notarized copies of the documents. Travel document, birth certificate, marriage certificate and document proving the purpose of the stay must be submitted in original. All of the documents submitted must be made out in the Czech language or Slovak language or should be officially translated into Czech. Moreover, foreign public documents must be supported by a higher verification (Apostille, superlegalisation).

The requirements for the application shall not be older than 180 days except for the travel document and the photograph of the foreign national if it corresponds to his/her actual appearance.

Administrative fee

Submission of the application for long-term residence permit or its prolongation is charged with the administrative fee. Administrative fee should be paid in a form of a revenue stamp. If the administrative fee is not paid when the application is submitted or is paid only partially applicant will be noticed in writing to pay the administrative fee within 15days time. If the payment is not made within this deadline it is the reason for termination of the examination of your application. Same applies when the administrative fee is upon the notice paid only partially. You can find the overview of administrative fees here. In case of applications for long-term residence permit, for a change of long term residence purpose or for prolongation of long term residence that were submitted before 15-8-2017, the administrative fee is charged when the long-term residence permit card is handed over to you.

Application proceedings

You are obliged to file the application for a long-term residence permit and application of "change of purse" for long term residence permit in person. (Only with certain types of applications that can be filed at embassies, the particular Czech Embassy can waive this obligation, in well-substantiated cases).

An application of extension validity of long term residence you are not obligated to submit personally, it suffices, if you transmit an application to Post Transportation at the last day of statutory period.

In the event of filing the application at a Czech Embassy, the Czech Embassy works as an intermediary between the applicants and the body responsible the MOI. During the proceedings, the embassy communicates with the applicants, inviting them for an interview, informing them of the reasons for rejecting their application or invites them to arrive for the stamping of the visa for over 90 days for the purpose of collecting a residence permit.

The processing of your application is subject to the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals (pdf, 2 MB), the Administrative Code, and other related acts.

If the specified requirements have not been submitted with the application or it has other discrepancies, you will be asked in writing to remedy the discrepancies of your application in prescribed time. The time limit for the decision on your application is discontinued in such case. During the proceedings, the MOI/embassy can invite you for an interview, request that you complete the requirements, take your fingerprints or take a pictorial record of you.

Additions can be made to the application in person, by means of your proxy or by post. The documents you were asked to provide should always be provided within the set deadlines. Not providing these requirements is a reason to reject the application. During the process you can, of course, provide any other documents that you consider important for your application.

Decision to issue a long-term residence permit

In the case of a positive appraisal of your application, the MOI office/embassy at which you filed the application will contact you.

If you are not in the Schengen area at the expected time of a decision to be reached (on an application submitted inside Schengen area), please inform the given MOI office/embassy of this matter.

In the event of filing an application at an embassy, you will receive a visa for a stay of over 90 days for the purpose of receiving a residence permit, with which you can travel to the CR and report to the MOI office within 3 working days to fulfil the reporting duty and provide biometric data necessary for issuing a residence card. The address of the office which you are suppose to report at, will be given to you when receiving the residence permit at the Czech embassy abroad. If you does not appear in this period at the MOI office, the proceedings held on your application will be terminated and you will be obliged to leave the territory of the Czech Republic.

In the stated time period, however no longer than 60 days from providing the biometric data, you have to report in person at a MOI office in order to collect your residence permit card - to confirm your identity (or more precisely the correctness of the personal information in the card, its functionality and the information and correctness of the data saved on the biometric card).

During your stay in CR do not forget to report changes related to your residence.

Decision to reject an application

The MOI rejects an application for long-term residence if

the foreign national, upon request of the MOI or the embassy, does not turn up for an interview or does not submit any documents by the set deadline, or
the foreign national does not fill in the application for a long-term residence permit truthfully, or
the foreign national submits forged or altered documents or data necessary for appraising the application presented in them does not correspond to reality, or
the foreign national is persona non grata, or
the foreign national appears in the Schengen Information System, or
there is reasonable risk that during his/her stay in the Czech Republic the foreign national could threaten state security, seriously disturb public order or endanger international relations of the CR, or
there is reasonable risk that during his/her stay in the territory of another EU country the foreign national could threaten state security, seriously disturb public order or endanger international relations of EU states, or
the foreigner could endanger public health at next residence in the Czech Republic by his / her serious illness stated in conditions set out in the measure of Ministry of Health on prevention of the spread of infectious illnesses, if it happened to this illness before the foreigner entered to the Czech Republic,
the applicant did not report for a hearing without giving a serious reason, refuses to answer or gives false information in his/her testimonial, or
he / she does not submit a document on travel medical insurance prior to receiving the long-term residence permit, or
he / she does not meet the conditions set by law for granting the permit, or
facts are ascertained indicating that after the cessation of stay set out by the long-term residence permit the foreign national will not leave the territory or intends to abuse the long-term residence permit for another purpose;
the foreign national had not fulfilled the propose of his/her present long-term visa or long-term residence permit unless he/ she proves that the propose of the long term residence had not been fulfilled only temporarily and due to serious reasons;
the foreign national circumvented the law in order to be granted long-term visa all long-term residence permit for instance by marriage of convenience, by a false declaration of paternity or he /she became member of statutory body of a company or a co-operative only for the purpose;
another serious impediment of the stay of the foreign national on the territory was found out or residence of foreign national on a territory is not in the interest of the Czech Republic.