Czech Family Reunification Visa – 2026 Updates

Czech family reunification visa is a type of visa meant for close family members of the main applicant. That means if one spouse is moving to the Czech Republic or already lives in the Czech Republic, the other spouse and/or children can join under this type of visa.
We provide everything you need to know about the Czech Family Reunification Visa in 2026 in this article. Read on!

What is Czech Family Reunification Visa

Czech Family Reunification Visa is a type of Czech long-term visa (for stays above 90 days) meant primarily for close family members of a main applicant. For example, if one of you is moving here under an Employee Card, Student Visa, Zivno Visa or for example a Blue Card, your closest family members can apply for their family reunification visa and join you in the Czech Republic from day one.

In our daily practice (helping expats move to the Czech Republic), we always hear the same two questions based on some long outdated information. Let us answer these here clearly below.

Can I bring my family to the Czech Republic if I am a student?

Yes, you can bring your family to the Czech Republic as a student. The same rules for family reunification visa apply to family members of students as well. As long as as you provide all the correct documentation there is no problem with students bringing their families to the Czech Republic.

Is there a waiting time for the family reunification visa in the Czech Republic?

What people usually mean by this is if the family can join them right away or if they have to wait for some time before they can join. Let us make this clear – there is no limitation in when your family can join you. In most cases, it is even recommended that your family members submit their family reunification applications at the same time as you submit your application.

Yes, there might be a waiting period involved, but only for the family reunification residence permit, not for the family reunification visa. See more in this article.

Who Qualifies for the Family Reunification visa in the Czech Republic

One of pretty common is also if you can bring your parents. Although there are some theoretical exceptions, the Czech family reunification visa is primarily meant for:

spouses (main applicant be either male or female),
children below 18 years of age.

Parents can only apply for family reunification visa if they are SOLITARY and above 65 years of age.

Unmarried partners also do not qualify for the family reunification visa in the Czech Republic.

Czech Family Reunification Visa – General Requirements

If you want to bring your family to the Czech Republic with you (or if you want to join your family member already living here), there are a few main requirements and prerequisites. We specifically mention the ones where people make most mistakes when dealing with their application without professional assistance:

the main applicant’s application must be strong – this is better explained via a consultation (contact us for a free 15 min assessment consultation) but briefly explained – let’s say you are applying for the business visa. If your business plan is weak, it might be best to not include your family members to your application since it might further lower your chances of approval.
you must be able to prove that you really are family members – complications here come in many different shapes and forms – for example in Brazil, they have three different versions of “marriage certificate” but only one of them is actually seen as a marriage certificate by the Czech law. Also, all documents issued outside of the Czech Republic must be properly apostilled or super-legalized and and translated into Czech language by a court-approved Czech translator (this is where a LOT of people make mistakes).
you must live at the same address/have some proof of accommodation – this is also a common problem and a denial reason for people who apply for the family reunification visa without professional help. This especially applies to students and to situations where accommodation is provided by your employer. University dormitories basically never provide proof of accommodation to spouses. Many people hence get a “virtual proof of accommodation” at different address and use that for their family reunification visa. This visa then gets denied based on the fact that you are not really reuniting family if you plan on living in two different places.
you must have enough money in your bank account – the amount required for the family reunification visa in the Czech Republic is not really high (see the list of documents below for details). The important thing here is that the MOI is really looking ONLY at your bank balance. Sufficient bank balance can not be substituted by your employment contract and salary slips for example.

How to Make Your Czech Family Reunification Visa Application Easier

We understand it might sound biased written in a blog post of an immigration agent but we genuinely believe you should use a professional assistance for your first application.

Not because it is so complicated you can not do it on your own. You certainly can. The problem is that it is way more complicated to fix mistakes than it is to prevent them. If you make some small mistake in your application and it gets denied:

you have lost weeks or months of time you spent researching, preparing the documentation – and you have to go through all that again.
this delay can cause a lot of additional trouble – from not being able to see your family for extended period of time to unnecessary financial pressure – (you have to pay rent and other expenses in two different countries, you will be getting all documents again, including apostilles, translations etc.).
you will very likely hire someone to help you with the second application anyway – a lot of people come to us after they tried on their own and got denied, scared and stressed, and they wish they had come to us sooner – and honestly, we wish so too. Again, it is way easier to prevent denials than to fix them.
the denial stays on your record forever – if your application was denied for some small-mistake reason (i.e. being a bit short in the bank statement), that should generally not influence your next applications at all. If the denial was for example for using the virtual proof of accommodation, it might significantly impact your future applications.

Even having your documents reviewed before submitting them to the Embassy can significantly hep reduce your stress and increase the chances of approval.

Contacts us with a bit of information about you and your situation and we’ll be happy to review your situation and tell you if you are on a good track or if (and how) we can help you make your family reunification visa application stronger.

Documents Needed for Czech Family Reunification

Below you can find the full list of documents needed for the family reunification visa application.

application form – it is the black and white one 🙂
passport – must have at least 2 blank pages and ideally at least 2 more years of validity (to prevent your visa being shortened),
2 passport sized photos – 3,5 x 4,5 cm, no teeth visible, white or grey background,
proof of accommodation – this is a topic for a separate article 🙂 – see for example here,
proof of funds – you must have enough money in your bank account (salary slips or other proof of income can not substitute this requirement!) – as of 2026 the required amount is equivalent to 120 000 CZK per adult person and half of it (60 000 CZK) per child. There is an official calculation for this which will show you a bit lower numbers (around 115 000 CZK) but from our experience it i better to stick to the 120k, especially if you are providing a letter in other currency than CZK. The exchange rate can change significantly in time so it is always best to have a bit of a buffer there.
documents proving the purpose of your stay – this is your marriage certificate or your children’s birth certificates. Keep in mind these must be originals, very likely apostilled or super-legalized and officially translated into Czech.
criminal check/s – criminal check is required from all applicants above 15 years of age, from the country of origin and from all the countries where you have lived for more than 6 months in the last three years,
health insurance – you do not need to have health insurance to submit your application. You only have to get it once your family reunification visa gets approved, for the full validity of the approved visa (max. of one year).

Czech Family Reunification Visa Process – Step By Step

The exact steps and their timing vary based on your situation. It will be different if all of you submit your applications at the same time vs if the main applicant gets approved first and the family applies later on. It will also be different if you apply for example through a Czech Embassy in the US or if you apply through some Czech Embassy in Europe. The below steps apply generally in all cases though.

1. Plan properly – proper (and realistic) planning is one of the most important factors that can make your application either super smooth or super stressful. Czech Immigration is pretty slow. It requires original documents (no scans, no print outs, no electronic version etc.), everything is processes by people, spots at Embassies are limited. Although it might vary based on couple factors, you should expect the whole process to take at least 4-6 months from start to finish.

2. Collect documents – this is the part that requires most work and effort (unless you work with us where we take care of everything we realistically can). Making sure you have everything properly prepared (originals), legalized (apostilled, super-legalized, notarized), in Czech language and in the form the MOI wants to see that. Depending on your situation, this part can take anything between 1 and 3 months.

3. Request an appointment at some Czech Embassy – this should ideally be done during step 2. It generally requires a bit of knowledge and experience. You do not want to request the appointment too early (so you can not show up with all the required documents), neither too late (so you have everything ready and still have to wait a few weeks or months for your appointment. The exact scheduling system and availability of appointments variy from Embassy to Embassy.

4. Submit your application – family reunification visa application must be submitted in person and with ALL required documents. Even if you are missing one small thing, the Embassy will not accept your application. There is usually not official interview for the family reunification visa but the officers might still ask you some basic questions (i.e. your address, the main applicant’s work/school/business details) in passing. Make sure you get an application number from the Embassy.

5. Wait for the decision – this is often one of the hardest parts, especially if you are in some kind of time constraint. Very important thing to understand is that Czech Embassies do not make decisions about the family reunification visa. They only take your documents and then they physically ship them to the Czech Republic. That is important from two perspectives – first, it usually takes a few days/weeks (depending on how far you applied) before your application gets to an actual decision maker and they start reviewing it, second – it makes no sense to follow up with the Embassy about your applications (they do not have any info unless the MOI sends them info, in which case they immediately forward the info to you). The official approval time of the Czech family reunification visa is 60-90 days according to the Immigration Act. It does not really mean anything though. The application can take anything from two weeks to forever. If the MOI exceeds the official limit, you can submit a complaint letter using your application number (get in touch if you want to know more).

6. Get health insurance and collect your visa – once you get approved, the Embassy will send you an e-mail saying for how long the visa was approved – max. one year but it can be shortened based on some of the documents you submitted. You generally (exceptions apply) have to buy Czech private insurance covering the whole period of your stay. Check out the best health insurance for foreigners in this article. Once you have the insurance, you have to go back to the same Embassy where you applied for the visa, to collect the visa.

7. get registered with the Foreign Police – once you collect the family reunification visa from the Czech Embassy, you can come to the Czech Republic. You then have to get registered with the Foreign Police within 3 business days. If you work with us, assistance at the Foreign Police is part of our services. To see what you will be facing, check our this article: Foreign Police Registration in Prague (2025 Guide).

8. Enjoy your live in the Czech Republic – now you are all set and you can start enjoying your life in Czech Republic 🙂 Check out our Instagram or TikTok for tips on the best places to see, most iconic cafés and restaurants and more, or watch (or listen to) our Borderline Czech podcast with insider tips on YouTube or Spotify.

Still in initial phases or somewhere in the middle of the process? Get in touch with us, let’s discuss your situation and see how we can help to make your family reunification process smoother and more convenient!

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