Czech Republic Visa – Complete 2025 Guide
Thinking about visiting or moving to the Czech Republic? Whether you’re coming for a short holiday, a semester at university, or to start your new life here, you’ll most likely need a visa. This article explains all the different types of Czech Republic visas, their specifics and what the application process looks like — in simple, practical language.
Czech Republic Visa – Quick summary
Here’s what you should know about Czech visas right away (we go into details in the article below).
- There are two types of Czech Republic visas:
- short-term (Schengen) visa – for stays up to 90 days in any 180-day period; most common for tourism or business visits.
- long-term visa – for non-EU citizens who want to live in the Czech Republic for more than 3 months.
- Every Czech visa application must have some official purpose of stay such as study, business/freelance, family reunification, culture, or medical treatment.
- Long-term Visa ≠ residence permit: long-term visa is a stickers in your passport, valid for up to one year. Long-term residence permit is a plastic biometric card (i.e. similar to a driver’s license) valid for up to three years. We cover the long-term residence permits in this separate article.
- If you’re unsure which visa fits your case, contact Move To Prague – we’ve helped thousands of foreigners from over 120 countries get the right one since 2012.
Czech Republic Visa – Short-term (Schengen) visa – Stays for up to 90 days
A Czech short-term visa, also called a Schengen visa, allows you to stay in the Czech Republic (and potentially other Schengen countries) for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Czech Republic’s short-term visa generally can not be extended, neither converted into any long-term visa or residence permit option inside of the Czech Republic.
Citizens of some countries (such as the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan or South Korea – see full list here) are visa-exempt which means they do not need a short-term visa to enter the Czech Republic. They basically just board a plane, land in the Czech Republic (or any other Schengen country), get their passport stamped (now being done electronically due to the EES – Entry/Exit System of the EU) and that starts the 90 days clock.
This visa-free stay technically do not allow you to work, run business or study in the Czech Republic so, if you are coming here for some of these purposes, a short-term visa might still be required.
Most common uses of the short-term Czech Republic’s visa
The short-term visa is usually used for:
- Tourism and visiting friends/family,
- Short business trips or conferences,
- Brief language or training courses.
Where to apply for the short-term visa for Czech Republic
Unfortunately, Czech short-term visa system is pretty complicated. Unlike the long-term visas (which we are covering below) that are all decided according to the same rules by the same people, short-term visa application processes vary country to country.
I some countries, short-term visa applications are submitted directly to a Czech Embassy. In some countries, they all go through a partner organization called VFS. In other countries, where Czech Republic does not have an Embassy or a Consulate, you might even need to submit your Czech short-term visa application through for example a French Embassy.
Although we have successfully obtained short-term visas for our clients, our main expertize is in long-term visa options and long-term residence permit options (people moving to the Czech Republic, not just visiting). Short-term visa rules are also very different for different nationalities and constantly change. Refer to the website of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more information on Czech short-term visas.
Czech Republic Visa – Long-Term Visa – Stays for up to 1 year
Czech Republic’s long-term visas are our specialty. We have done thousands of successful applications since 2012 and we share some of the knowledge we’ve gained over time in this and other (visa specific) articles.
The Czech long-term visa is designed for non-EU citizens who want to stay in Czechia for longer than 3 months. Maximum validity of a Czech long-term visa is one year and it is issued in a form of a sticker put directly into your passport.
In some cases, the long-term visa is the only option for you (i.e. business visa), in some cases (i.e. student visa, family reunification visa) you can choose if you want to apply for a long-term visa or a long-term residence permit (biometric card, not attached to your passport), and in some cases (i.e. employment related) you can only go for the long-term residence permit since there is not long-term visa option for that purpose of stay.
Czech Republic Visa – purposes of stay
Let’s now go through the most common types of purposes of stay accepted by the Czech Republic for long-term visas. We always write a brief description of the purpose of stay and link you to a full guide we have written on this topic (where available).
🧑💼 Business / Freelance Visa (Zivno Visa)
Czech Republic’s Business Visa is the most flexible but also the most complicated one to get.
The flexibility comes from various different fields of business you can work in. Although the business visa is mainly used for teaching English in the Czech Republic, we have worked with various other business plans as well – software developers, consultants, massage therapists, clothing store and others. You can in theory work in over 80 different fields and still get the business visa.
The complicate part is that you must convince the Czech immigration authorities that your business plan is real. That might sound easy enough in theory, it might get very complicated in real life though.
👉 Read more about this topic in our Czech Freelance Visa (Business/ Živno Visa) – Complete 2025 Guide.
👉 Special category of the business visa is the Digital Nomad Visa for Freelancers.
👨👩👧 Family (Reunification )Visa
For most types of Czech Republic Visas, the Czech Republic allows the main applicant to bring their spouses and/or children along with them. Unlike the Family Reunification Residence Permit, the Family (Reunification) Visa has no “waiting time” before your family members can apply.
Simply explained this means that your family members can join your right away. They do not have to wait for a certain amount of time to be able to apply. In many cases, you can also all apply together at the same time – for example the main applicant applies for a business visa and their spouse and child apply for the family visa along with them, at the same Embassy, on the same day.
👉 Read more about the Family (Reunification) Visa vs Family Reunification Residence Permit in our How to Bring a Non-EU Family Member to the Czech Republic guide.
👩🎓 Student Visa
If you plan on studying an accredited program of some Czech University, you generally have two options:
- Apply for a Czech Republic Visa with the purpose of studies.
- Apply for a Czech Republic Residence Permit with the purpose of studies.
Although we recommend most of our clients to go for the Residence Permit option (since it is harder to get denied), it makes sense to go for the visa instead. The main reason is that the visa process is generally a bit faster and easier after approval (since you only need to get the visa through a Czech Embassy and do not worry about obtaining a residence card).
👉 Read more about the Czech Republic’s Student Visa in our Czech Republic Student Visa article.
👩🎓 “Other” Visa
Other visa is an option that is used in situations where no other purpose of stay is applicable. For example, you do not want to get employed in CZE, do not want to run business, do not want to study here but you would still like to live in Czech Republic. In such case, you can try applying for the “other” visa.
This Czech Republic Visa type used to be used for retired citizens but that does not work anymore. The MOI stopped approving such applications years ago with more or less reasonable explanations.
The other purpose of stay is now typically used for students of non-accredited programs of Czech Universities, for some type of internships, very rarely for family reunification of unmarried couples or as variation of the Digital Nomad Visa for employed Digital Nomads.
🌍 Digital Nomad Visa Program
Czech Republic introduced the Digital Nomad visa Program in 2023. At this point (11/2025) it only applies to citizens of 13 countries (AUS, BRA, CAN, GBR, IND, ISR, JPN, KOR, MEX, NZL, SGP, TWN, USA) and to IT and Marketing fields.
The Digital Nomad Visa is the only Czech Republic visa that does not require the applicant to have ties to the Czech Republic. It actually requires the applicant to have one big client or one employer outside of the Czech Republic. That client or employer must confirm the the applicant is allowed to work from the Czech Republic and that they will pay them more that the required minimum during their whole stay in the Czech Republic.
Big advantage of the Digital Nomad Visa Program is that it is usually approved very swiftly. All out clients have been approved within 20 and 45 days.
👉 Find all details in our Czech Digital Nomad Visa: Full 2025 Guide.
🎭 Cultural Visa
Czech cultural visa is generally meant for artists that have been invited by some Czech cultural institution to perform for them in the Czech Republic for an extended period of time.
We have for example got this visa for a US opera singer that was performing for Czech National Theatre, or for an actor in The Prague Shakespeare Company.
It is also often used for film crews shooting in the Czech Republic.
🏥 Medical Visa, Sports, Seasonal Work
There are potentially other purposes of stay that you could use to move to the Czech Republic such as a Medical Treatment Visa, Sports Visa or a Seasonal Work Visa. Those are all very specific types of visa which, in our opinion, do not have much of practical use in the Czech Republic.
Let’s now look into submitting your Czech Republic Visa application.
Czech Republic Visa – where to submit your application
Czech Republic Visa application is always considered “first application” and as such, must always be submitted outside of the Czech Republic, through some Czech Embassy.
The general rules says that you can only submit a Czech visa application through a Czech Embassy in the country of your origin (passport you hold) or in a country where you have been legally residing for more than two years.
There is na exception from this rule for 42 nationalities (i.e. USA, GBR, AUS, NZL, MEX, BRA, TWN, KOR, JPN – see the full list at the official website of Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Citizens of these countries can submit their Czech Republic’s visa applications through any Czech Embassy which accepts visa applications.
For example:
US citizens can submit their Czech visa applications in the US, or in Germany, or London, or potentially even in South Korea or Vietnam if they happen to be visiting there and the Embassy has available appointments.
Citizens of India, on the other hand, can only submit their Czech Republic’s visa applications in India or in the country where they have been legally residing for more than two years.
Czech Republic Visa – Steps to get from the idea of moving to actually living here
Czech Republic’s visa processes are generally very complex and not much suitable for the applicant to go through them on their own.
You do not necessarily need to use a lawyer since Czech immigration processes do not go through courts (read more here). It is always recommended though to have someone help you with at least the first application so you do not waste months of your time, effort and money only to get denied and hire someone anyway six months later.
We list the steps you will generally need to take for any Czech visa application below along with some insider tips.
1. Think about your stay in Czech Republic
This is one of the most crucial crucial steps in the whole visa process.
Discussing their long-term plans is the first thing we do with our clients, before we even charge them anything or start working together.
The thing is that the ideal visa approach can be very different for a single person who just wants to experience the Czech Republic for a year and then goes back to continue their studies in the US (we can be pretty creative and “wild” here, visa-wise), and for a family of four who plans on staying in the Czech Republic indefinitely (we must find an option with minimal risks and high chances of approval that will work in long-term run).
Get in touch with us to discuss your case and find the most suitable solution for you.
2. Collect all the required documents
Every Czech Republic’s visa type requires slightly different set of documents. The same goes for different nationalities. The required documentation also depends on your particular situation (i.e. if you have lived outside of the country of your origin for more than 6 months within the last 3 years, you might need to provide a criminal check from that country or countries as well).
The documentation or it’s parts also change in time (i.e. the minimum bank account balance required for some visa applications has increased by 50% in the last couple years, Canada went from using Super-legalization to using Apostille).
When applying for Czech Republic’s Visa you must submit all required documents and they must all be perfectly prepared (i.e. properly done translations, correct verifications, correct form of the documents). If there is something missing or incorrect, the Embassy will not accept your visa application.
Residence permit applications work a bit differently – the Embassy can let you submit an incomplete residence permit application but has to issue a letter saying what you are missing and how much time you have to deliver it to them. Same rule does not apply to visa applications – you either have everything perfectly prepared or your will not be allowed to submit your application.
That is why we recommend working with us or with some other professional adviser to help you with your first application.
3. Get an appointment at some Czech Embassy and submit your visa application
See the “Czech Republic Visa – where to submit your application” section above for the general rules.
One thing we also want to mention at this place is that different Czech Embassies have different scheduling systems. At some Embassies (and for some visa types) booking an appointment is as simple as sending an e-mail anytime and asking for the appointment.
At some Czech Embassies various other rules apply. For example the Czech Embassy in India only accepts e-mail requests once a month, on a specific date and time and all spots are usually allocated to applicants within the first second. If you send your e-mail five seconds after the opening, you’ll need to wait another month to try again.
At other Czech Embassies, they use a “lottery system” where you have to come to the Embassy physically, put your name into a box along with 1 000 CZK admin fee and the Embassy will draw a few names that get the appointments. The rest have to come again next month.
4. Wait for the decision
Different Czech Republic visas have different processing times stated in the Act No. 326/1999 Coll.Act on the Residence of Foreigners on the Territory of the Czech Republic, for example:
- student visa – 60 days from submission,
- business visa – 90-120 days,
- family reunification visa – 90 days.
What is important to understand is that the legal deadlines given by the law are not hard lines. If the law says you must get the decision within 60 days, it does not necessarily mean you will get the decision within 60 days. Even significant delays are not uncommon for some visas types and some nationalities.
5. Get Health Insurance and collect your visa
When your visa is approved, the Embassy where you applied usually sends you an e-mail asking you to get a Czech Health Insurance and come collect the visa.
We work with all the insurance companies on the market and provide the best health insurance deals. Read more about the different options in this article.
You have to collect the visa from the same Embassy where you applied for it.
6. Get registered with the Foreign Police + further steps
Once you get the your visa from the Czech Embassy and come to the Czech Republic, you should go get registered with the Foreign Police – find the full guide for Prague here: Foreign Police Registration in Prague (2025 Guide).
In many cases, this is the last step of the Czech Republic visa process. In some cases though, there might be some additional steps required – i.e. with the business /freelance/zivno visa, you still have to get your trade license activated, get registered with the ta office, social security office etc.
Before your visa expires, apply for an extension or for a residence permit.
If your purpose of stay changes – for example, you want to switch from studying to working – you’ll need a new type of visa or residence permit. Also a lot of different rules apply for changing the purpose of your stay so always consult with a professional before committing to a change like this.
Common reasons for Czech visa refusal
Through more than ten years of experience helping clients, we’ve seen the same mistakes repeatedly:
- missing or incorrectly verified or translated documents
- insufficient financial proofs, withdrawals within the approval process,
- weak or inconsistent explanation of visa purpose,
- insufficient accommodation proof (there might actually be a lot of problems with the accommodation proof!),
- ignoring embassy-specific requirements.
📩 If you want to avoid these pitfalls, contact Move To Prague before applying. We’ll review your case and make sure your application is prepared perfectly. We also offer the “Approved or Free” guarantee so you do not risk anything working with us.
Czech Republic Visa – Final thoughts
The Czech visa system can be confusing at first, but once you understand the categories, it’s manageable.
The most important part is to choose the correct visa type and submit a complete, well-prepared application.
If you’re unsure which option fits your case, or want to save months of waiting and rejections, we’re here to help.
📩 Get in touch with Move To Prague today – we’ll advise you on the right visa, help with document preparation, and guide you through every step until your approval.
Czech Visa FAQ
Do I need a visa to enter the Czech Republic?
If you are from the EU/EEA or a Schengen country, no visa is needed. Citizens of visa-exempt countries (like the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan) + non-EU citizens already legally residing in one of EU or Schengen countries can stay up to 90 days visa-free. Everyone else needs a visa.
What is the difference between a long-term visa and a residence permit?
A long-term visa is a sticker directly attached to your passport issued for up to 1 year and is tied to a specific purpose. A residence permit is a plastic biometric card (similar to a driver’s license) valid for up to three years, depending on the purpose of your stay.
How long does a Czech long-term visa take to process?
Czech long-term visa can take anything between 10 days and 10 months to get processed. There are some official approval timelines given by the Czech immigration law (i.e. student visa = 60 days, business visa = 90-120 days, family reunification visa = 90 days) but those work more like an estimation than a hard line.
Can I switch my visa type while in the Czech Republic?
Generally, no. If you want to change the purpose of your stay, you must either apply for a new visa through a Czech Embassy again (i.e. if you came here under a student visa and wanted to switch to a business visa) or apply for a residence permit with your desired purpose of stay (various rules apply). Short-term visas can not be converted into long-term ones in the Czech Republic.
What’s the easiest long-term visa to get for the Czech Republic?
It depends on your situation. Generally speaking, the family reunification visa is relatively safe to get approved since the main applicant is already residing in the Czech Republic. Student visa is also still easier compared to other Czech visa, although this is starting to change due to applicants abusing this type of visa. The freelance (živno) visa is very popular among English teachers and relative straightforward to get approved for native speakers.
Does a Czech visa lead to permanent residency in Czech Republic?
Generally, yes. Most Czech Republic’s long-term visas can be converted into long-term residence permits and later on into the Permanent Residence Permit, potentially into Czech citizenship as well if you meet the conditions.
✅ Recommended next reads:
Czech Immigration – Hire an Immigration Lawyer, Work with an Immigration Adviser or Do It Yourself?
Czech Freelance Visa (Business / Živno Visa) – Complete 2025 Guide
