Family reunification visa

This article speaks about the family reunification visa for the Czech Republic. It explains who qualifies for the visa, what documents are needed, where and how to apply for the visa and many other topics.

If you are already living in the Czech Republic under your Family Reunification Visa and you want to extend your stay, you better read the Family Reunification - Long-Term Residence Permit article.

PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT CHANGE IN FUNDS REQUIREMENT EFFECTIVE FROM 1.4.2022 BELOW! AND AGAIN FROM 1.7.2022. AND AGAIN FROM 1.1.2023!

Who qualifies for the family reunification visa

First of all, it is important to understand what is the family reunification visa and who qualifies for it. The family reunification visa is meant couples/families whose all members are non-EU citizens (if one of you is an EU citizen and one is not, there is much better type of visa to apply for - Partnership visa - Temporary Residence Permit for family members of EU citizens). In particular, the family reunification visa is mainly meant for:

• spouses
• children

So, simply said, if for example a husband of a family (all from Serbia or Ukraine or India or Bangladesh, etc.) gets a job offer and he gets the employee card, his wife and children can apply for this family reunification visa and get it pretty easily. The same, of course, if the main applicant is the wife (she gets a job here or starts her own business here for example) - then the husband and children can get the family reunification visa.

Unfortunately, the family reunification visa does not really apply to parents of the main applicant. It could, but only under some very specific circumstances which are hard to meet (i.e. you would need to prove that your parents are not able to take care of themselves and that you have been taking care of them before and you have to continue with that even after you move here. You would then need to submit reports from various doctors, etc.).

When and where to apply for the Family reunification visa

Family members can apply for the family reunification either along with the main applicant (i.e. if the husband goes to apply for the employee card) or later on, once the application of the main applicant is approved. The best way to do that depends on several factors (nationality, how busy is the Embassy where you apply, how well prepared is the main application, what is the salary of the main applicant, etc.) but we generally recommend to wait until the main applicant' visa/residence permit is approved. It is safer for everyone and less confusing for the Ministry of the Interior.

The family reunification visa must be submitted through a Czech Embassy in the country of your origin (i.e. Indians must submit their applications at the Czech Embassy in India) or in the country where you hold a long-term or permanent residence permit (i.e. you are Indian living in UAE - then you can submit your application either in India in UAE).

There are about 40 countries whose citizens have exception from the above mentioned rule and can apply through any Czech Embassy in the world as long as the Embassy accepts long-term visa applications. The list of such countries is to be found at the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (only in Czech). The main nationalities are for example Americans, Australians, Brazilians, Canadians, Koreans or Serbians.

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What documents are needed for the Family reunification visa

The following documents will be needed for the Family reunification visa application - that means you need to have all of them ready before you go to the Czech Embassy to apply for the visa.

• application form - to be found and downloaded here
• passport - not older than 10 years, at least 2 blank pages, valid for say 1,5 more years
• 2 passport photos
• proof of accommodation - it should be the same as the main applicant' accommodation, it should be for at least a year
• proof of funds - adults (say wife) must prove availability of at least 115 810 CZK (as of 1.1.2023) in their bank account, children usually half of that amount
• documents on the purpose of your stay - since the purpose of your stay is "family reunification", you need to prove that you are related to the main applicant. Usually a marriage certificate is enough for spouses and birth certificates for children.
• criminal check - even though it is officially a "document needed upon request only", the MOI basically requests it all the time so it is better to have it ready for everyone older than 15 years.
• Czech medical insurance - once the visa is approved, you will need to get a Czech medical insurance valid for the same time as your visa (so in most cases a year. Read more about the Czech health insurance here.
• Consent of the other parent - if for example only one parent and a kid are moving to the Czech Republic and the other parent stays abroad, a consent of the other parent with the child moving here might be needed.

All the above mentioned documents must be submitted in originals or notarized copies (no simple copies or scans, etc.), they must be younger than 180 days (with some exceptions such as the marriage certificate, etc.) and they must be in Czech or officially translated into Czech.

Most Embassies also require an application fee in amount of 200 EUR (half for the kids).

What to do after approval of the family reunification visa

Once you have applied for the family reunification visa, you just have to wait for the approval. If the main applicant has already been approved and you submitted all the required documents, your visa should be approved as well. There still might be complications but Czech Republic in general honors family so you should be fine 😊

The MOI officially has 60-90 days to approve the family reunification visa but do not be worried if that takes longer to you. The MOI does not really care about any official deadlines so the approval might take much longer sometimes.

Once your visa is approved, you have to go to the same Embassy as where you applied for it, show the medical insurance and the Embassy will issue the visa into your passport. You can then come to the Czech Republic.

Once you arrive, you have to go register with the Foreign Police within 3 days after your arrival. Once this is done, you are all good 😊

We hope this article about the Family reunification visa was helpful to you. If you want to make sure you have all the required documents in order, if you do not feel confident about doing it on your own or if you simply want someone to make sure your application will be successful - contact us through the form on the right or through some of the general contacts and we'll be happy to help you 😊

Move To Prague relocation services - your specialist in Family reunification visas.