Bridge Visa – Everything You Need to Know About Czech Bridge Visa in 2026

Bridge visa (“překlenovací štítek” or “překlenovací vízum” in Czech) is a special type of visa allowing you to stay in the Czech Republic during processing of you application. In what situations you can or cannot get the bridge visa, what is the process of getting it, how long is the bridge visa valid for and what it allows you to do. This and way more in the article below – read on.

What is a Bridge Visa

Bridge visa is technically a type of a long-term visa that is affixed to your passport by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic. It allows you to stay in the Czech Republic during the processing of your residence permit application or it’s extensions (more about this below).

Who Can Get a Bridge Visa in the Czech Republic

You can often find pretty confusing or even contradictory information about the bridge visa online. Understanding who can and who can not get a bridge visa might be crucial for planning your application process and your stay in the Czech Republic in general. Let’s now make the qualification criteria clear.

Who Can Get the Bridge Visa

You can generally get the bridge visa if you are submitting your application at the Ministry of the Interior in the Czech Republic. The bridge visa is primarily issued in these cases:

• you are applying as an EU Family Member – if you are an EU family member and you apply for the “Partnership Visa” (as a distant family member) or for the standard Temporary Residence Permit (as a close family member), you can qualify for a bridge visa. You always qualify for a bridge visa if you are applying for extension of the above.

• you are applying for extension of your long-term visa – most of you reading this article will never be in a situation of extending your long-term visa. This is a situation where you got your initial visa for less than a year (which is the maximum) and for some reason you do not want to apply for a long-term residence permit yet.
• you are switching from a long-term visa to a long-term residence permit – this, on the other hand, is what most of freelancers, students or spouses experience. If you got your initial visa for a year and you want to stay longer, you have to switch from a long-term visa (a sticker in your passport) to a long-term residence permit (a ID card). Since these processes can take months, you should always request a bridge visa in this case.
• you are applying for a long-term residence permit extension – if you have an Employee Card or a Blue Card and you are applying for their extensions, if you have a student residence permit, business residence permit or family reunification residence permit and you are applying for their extension, or if you have any other type of long-term residence permit and you are applying for it’s extension. In all these cases, you can get a bridge visa.

Who Can Not Get the Bridge Visa

There are also a few situations where you can not get a bridge visa and assuming you can, can get you into serious trouble. It applies primarily in these common situations:

• you are submitting your application through a Czech Embassy – if you are submitting your application through a Czech Embassy or a Consulate and not at the MOI inside of the Czech Republic, you can not get a bridge visa! We have seen a lot of applicants from countries with the 90 days visa free stay (i.e. USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Israel etc.) thinking that they could get a bridge visa to stay past the 90 days. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The bridge visa is meant to bridge the gap between your current visa or residence permit expiring and you getting a new one. If you are here under your visa-free stay, you do not have any valid visa and hence there is nothing to bridge. If you are here under your 90 days visa-free stay and your application is not approved before your 90 days run out, you have to leave the Schengen Area and wait for your approval outside.
• you are submitting your permanent residence permit application – if you are applying for a permanent residence permit, you generally do not qualify for a bridge visa. That means that if your permanent residence permit application is not approved before your current residence permit expires, you must submit an extension application as well. Only if you do so, you can get the bridge visa and stay in the Czech Republic legally.

How to get the Bridge Visa

Process of getting the bridge visa might slightly vary based on the type of application you are submitting, the branch of the MOI where you are submitting it and the actual officer dealing with your case. In our daily experience with MOI offices all around the Czech Republic, we have seen MOI officers offering you the bridge visa automatically, as well as those who try to talk you out of it or doing everything they can to not give you the bridge visa.

Know that as long as you submitted your application correctly (in time, ideally with all important documentation), you can get the bridge visa. You do not really need any specific documentation for it or a separate application, you just have to (verbally) request it when you are submitting your application (see the “Who can get a bridge visa” section).  It is really as simple as saying “Thank you for your assistance today, could I also get the bridge visa in my passport?”. It is a matter of two minutes.

If the officer dealing with you did not sleep well that night, they can start arguing with you saying you do not really need that or that they can not give it to you. In most cases this is just their bad mood or a form of harassing you, and not a legal reality. Although there are some exceptions – i.e. if you are applying too long prior your current visa or residence permit expiration, if you are applying for the permanent residence permit.

We make sure all our clients get their bridge visas so if you are using some of our services , you do not need to worry about the bridge visa at all. 

What does a Bridge Visa Allow You to Do

The bridge visa generally has these purposes:

• it proves that you are legally staying in the Czech Republic – this might be important for your employer, for a trade license office if you are getting or extending your trade license or for any authorities you deal with (town halls etc.).
• it allows you to start or continue working, studying etc. – the bridge visa allows you to continue the purpose of your stay (i.e. if you are extending your employee card, the bridge visa allows you to continue working while waiting for the extension to be approved), if you submitted a new application (i.e. the partnership visa), the bridge visa allows you to start working from the date of submission of your application.
• it allows you to travel – while Czech Police can see your application in the system, Police in other countries can not see that. The bridge visa then serves as a prove you are legally staying (and can travel) within the Schengen Area, out of it and into it.

How Long does the Bridge Visa Last

How long the bridge visa lasts is a bit tricky question and there is no answer that fits all situations. Generally, the bridge visa should cover the whole period from your current visa or residence permit expiring to you getting a new visa or a new residence card. In real live it can be anything between 14 days (for the visa extension) and 180 days (for partnership visa).

The major factors in for how long you get the bridge visa are as follows:

• official approval time of your application type – if your application should be officially (by the law) approved within 60 days, some MOI officers will only give you 60 days of a bridge visa. Those who know the real timelines, often give you a bridge visa with longer validity.
• time when you go get the bridge visa – Czech immigration is generally pretty slow and some applications might take months to get approved. In many cases, one bridge visa is not enough to cover the whole approval period. Good news is you can get as many bridge visas as needed for your application to be processed. Bridge visas given to you in the beginning of the approval process tend to have longer validity, bridge visas given towards the end of the approval process tend to be shorter (“Your application will be approved any day now so you do not need 90 days of a bridge visa.”).
• travel plans – one of the most common reason our clients want to get a bridge visa is that they want to travel while waiting for the result, often the bridge visa reflects these travel plans (i.e. “We already have flight tickets booked so we need a bridge visa at least for XY days.”).
• mood of the MOI officer – as many other things in Czech immigration, also a bridge visa validity can be influenced by the mood of the officer you meet – some are really nice and give the bridge visa for as long as legally possible, some will just do the bare minimum and rant about it the whole time. We’ve seen significant progress here though. Since 2012 when Jan and Daria started Move To Prague, the attitude of MOI officers got way better at most branches (except for Cigánkova in Prague which still feels like hell on Earth).
• yours or your advisor’s attitude – the attitude of the MOI officers is equally important as your own attitude. If you go to the MOI grumpy and start shouting at the officers from the moment you enter the door, that will certainly not help. If you work with us for your application, you are in the best possible position. Most of our Advisors go to the MOI several times a week and have great relationships with the MOI employees. They also know your rights and are happy to fight for them if needed.

If you work with Move To Prague for your visa or residence permit application, getting you a bridge visa is a part of most of our services and their variations so you do not really need to worry about any of this. If you go through the process on your own (and you like it that way :D), hopefully this article provided you with everything you might want to know.

If you have more questions or if you want us to take care of everything, contact us and we’ll be happy to advise or assist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a bridge visa in the Czech Republic?

Bridge visa is a special type of long-term visa that allows you to stay in the Czech Republic while your residence permit application is being processed.

When can I get a bridge visa?

Bridge visa can only be issued by the Czech Ministry of the Interior, not by Czech Embassies. If you are submitting your application through a Czech Embassy, you generally can not get a bridge visa. If you are submitting your application at the Ministry of the Interior, you generally can get the bridge visa.

How long does it take to get a bridge visa and what documents do I need for it?

Czech bridge visa can be issued right on the spot when you are submitting your residence permit application. You do not need any special documents for that, neither there is an application fee. It is, although, recommended to not expect that you get the bridge visa automatically and rather ask for it.

What is the fee for a bridge visa?

There is no official governmental fee for the bridge visa. Obtaining a bridge visa is also included in most Move To Prague assistance packages.

Can Bridge Visa be extended?

Bridge visa can not be extended per se but you can request a new one when the current one expires.

For how long is a bridge visa valid?

Validity of the bridge visa ranges between 14 days and 180 days, depending on the type of application you submitted and the mood of the immigration officer handling your case.

Recommended Further Reading

Partnership Visa – 2025 Updates
Czech Republic Visa Extension
Extension of an Employee Card
Long-Term Visa Extension vs Long-Term Residence Permit
Our expat services

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