There are plenty of ways to write a blog post about a Czech Republic visa. We decided to make it uncluttered by dividing the different types of Czech Republic visas into groups according to the duration of your intended stay. We´ll talk about Czech Republic visa types for both EU citizens and citizens of countries from outside the EU. So, how long do you want to stay?
Czech Republic visa – up to 90 days
EU Citizens
Citizens of EU countries are not required to have a visa for the Czech Republic for stays shorter than 90 days. They should just register their stay at the Foreign Police office within 30 days after their arrival. Please find out more about the process here.
Citizens of countries from outside the EU
In general, you will always need a visa to come to the Czech Republic if you are from an outside the EU country. Although there are, of course, some exceptions 🙂 Citizens of countries listed in this list (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, UAE, USA and 40 more states) are not required to have a visa for up to 90 days of their stay in the Czech Republic. Citizens of the above countries are not required to apply for a Czech Republic visa if they only intend to stay less than 90 days.
If your country is not lucky enough to be in the list above, you must apply for a short-term Czech Republic visa or so called Schengen visa. This type of visa allows you to stay up to 90 days either in the Czech Republic or in the whole Schengen area. This is always specified in the visa itself. It is also specified if the visa is one entry, two entries, multiple entries or an airport transit visa.
There must always be a purpose of your stay in the Czech Republic in your Czech Republic visa application. The main purposes are as follows:
- Tourism, Health & Spa Tourism, Medical Treatment
- Business, Conference, Cultural or Sport Event
- Invitation
- Study or Scientific Research
- Employment or Other Profit-Generating Activity
- Training
If you intend to visit the Czech Republic only (or if it will be your main destination), you must apply for the short-term Czech Republic visa at the Czech Republic diplomatic mission (Embassy or Consulate) in the country you reside in. You can also apply in special visa centers or through an accredited travel agency in some cases.
Czech Republic visa – 90 days to 1 year
EU Citizens
Citizens of EU countries are not required to have a visa for the Czech Republic for stays longer than 90 days but they are advised to apply for a temporary residence certificate. This will help prevent any problems in their country of origin (social insurance payments, etc.) and could possibly lead to more privileges in the Czech Republic (i.e. it is not possible to register your car in the Czech Republic without having a valid residence permit).
Citizens of countries from outside the EU
Czech Republic visa for stays longer than 90 days is called a long-term visa. From 18.12.2015 on, this type of visa can be issued for up to one year. The long-term Czech Republic visa always have to have a purpose. The following purposes are accepted by the Ministry of the Interior:
- Study
- Employment
- Business
- Family reunification
- Invitation
- Cultural
- “Other”
Citizens of most countries have to apply for the long-term Czech Republic visa in the country of their origin or in the country where they reside long-term. Only citizens of countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea or USA (see the full list in Czech here) are allowed to apply for the Czech Republic visa in any Czech Embassy in the world (outside of the territory of the Czech Republic).
Please find detailed information about acquiring the long-term Czech Republic visa in our BEHIND THE SCENES OF ACQUIRING LONG TERM VISA FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC (NON-EU CITIZENS) – PART I. and BEHIND THE SCENES OF ACQUIRING THE LONG TERM VISA FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC (NON-EU CITIZENS) – PART II. unique blog posts.
Czech Republic visa – 1 year to 5 years
EU Citizens
Citizens of EU countries are not required to have any visa for the Czech Republic even for long-term stays. On the other hand it is very recommended to apply for so called temporary residence if you plan to stay in the Czech Republic for so long. The residence permit is very easy to obtain and will help you prevent unnecessary problems in the country of your origin (social insurance payments, etc.) and to get more privileges in the Czech Republic (i.e. it is not possible to register your car in the Czech Republic without having a valid residence permit).
Citizens of countries from outside the EU
If you plan to stay in the Czech Republic longer than a year, you need to apply for long-term residence.You can apply directly for the long-term residence permit in some cases but usually the long-term residence is just the next step after having the long-term Czech Republic visa. The long-term residence permit can be issued for 2 years in some cases. It is a plastic card with all your biometric data (very similar to the ID Czechs use) unlike the long-term Czech Republic visa, which is just a sticker in your passport.
You are basically save in the Czech Republic once you acquire this type of residence permit and it can lead to many new opportunities.
Czech Republic visa – over 5 years
EU Citizens
In the case you have been living in the Czech Republic on the temporary residence for longer than 5 years, you can apply for so called permanent residence. This type of residence basically gives you the same rights Czechs have in most aspects of your life. You can for example get support from the government, and you can easily get a loan and mortgages, etc.
Citizens of countries from outside the EU
The system with outside EU citizens is very similar to the process of EU citizens at this point. You can apply for permanent residence after 5 years of legal life (based on the long-term visa or long-term residence) in the Czech Republic. You just need to be aware of the fact that in some cases the five years may not be calculated the same. For example, every one year is only calculated as a half year if you stay here based on the long-term Czech Republic visa with the purpose of study.
Czech Republic visa – over 10 years
In both cases of EU citizens and citizens of countries from outside the EU, you are allowed to apply for Czech citizenship after ten years of continuous residing in the Czech republic.
This article tried to give you an overall idea of the structure of Czech Republic visas. It unfortunately does not mean that we have covered all possible situations because each clients and each situation is different. Please let us know about your specific situation and we will find the best Czech Republic visa option for you.
Thank you very much for reading this blog. Do you have any questions about Czech Republic visa? Do you want us to help you with applying for the Czech Republic visa? Contact us anytime (really, we work 24/7), go to our visa assistance service page, our Trade license assistance page or read more about some specific part of the visa process in some of our other blog posts.
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