Czech Republic offers about 10 visa and residence permit options, all based on some official purpose of your intended stay. The most common ones being “employment”, “business”, “studies” and “family reunification”. We describe all the different options in these two articles: Visa Options and Residence Permit Options. What to do if you do not fall under any of these official categories though? That is where the “Other Visa” comes in play!
Situations where you can use the “Other Visa” options in Czech Immigration
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, the main purpose of the “Other Visa” in Czech immigration is to give you a chance to get a visa even if you do not fall under any other official category.
There are no specific rules for the visa so what you are basically trying to do when applying for the “Other Visa” is to convince the Czech Ministry of the Interior (MOI), that your reason to get a visa is good enough.
“Retirement Visa” no longer applies in Czech Republic
What the MOI sees as “good enough” changes in time. Some years ago, it was possible to get this visa as a retired person, as long as you could prove you had high enough (usually social security) monthly income, and that you had some reason to spend your retirement here (i.e. you ancestors were from here). At some point the MOI stopped approving these application saying that you do not need a year long visa to visit a place where your ancestors used to live. They started arguing a tourist visa is good enough for this purpose of stay.
“Students” of non-accredited programs in the Czech Republic
Despite the changes in the MOI’s approach, there are still two situations where the “Other Visa” can be used.
The most common in our daily practice are student of non-accredited programs of Czech Universities or other schools. This mainly applies to private universities such as the Anglo-American University or University of New York Prague.
It can apply to some public universities as well though, especially to some of their preparation courses (a year long course before you join a Bachelor’s program where they prepare you for the entrance exams).
In theory, it can also apply to students of Czech language classes but that is pretty complicated immigration wise. You always must prove why do you want to study Czech language. The first thought of the MOI is that you are doing it just to get a Czech/EU visa which is not a good reason. That means, if you want to get the “Other Visa” based on studying Czech, you must have a longer-term plan (i.e. “I want to study Czech so I can then study Czech universities for free”).
Unmarried couples where both are non-EU citizens
The other potential scenario where you can use the “Other Visa” is if you have been in a long-term committed relationships, you are just not married. Let us elaborate a bit since this might be a bit confusing topic 🙂
There are a few option for couples or spouses depending mainly on your nationalities.
“Partnership Visa” – partnership visa is meant for unmarried couples where one of the partners is an EU citizen. So say you are an American and have a Czech boyfriend/girlfriend, or you are an Indian with a partner from France who officially resides in the Czech Republic.
Temporary Residence Permit – this one is also meant for couples where one of you is from the EU and the other is not. The main difference here is that this residence permit only applies to married couples, not people just dating. So again, an American with a Czech spouse, or an Indian with a French spouse officially residing in the Czech Republic.
Family Reunification Visa and/or Family Reunification Residence Permit – these two apply only to married couples where both are non-EU citizens. So for example an American gets a business visa as an English teacher and wants to bring their spouse. Combination of different nationalities also apply (i.e. an Indian married to an American), but the main condition stays the same – you must be married.
Other Visa – the last combination we have not covered yet is a couple where both partners are non-EU but they are NOT married (so they can not apply for the family reunification visa or residence permit). In this case, you can try applying for the “Other Visa”. You only have a solid chance though, if you have really been dating for long and can prove it. Basically, you must behave as a married couple (i.e. live together, have a joint bank account, travel together), just not be married. There is still no 100% chance of approval plus the Other Visa might lack some of the advantages of the standard family reunification – i.e. your ability to get employed in CZE.
What to do if you want to apply for the Other Visa
As implied in the upper parts of this article, the other visa is different than most other visas since there is not official list of the documents you should submit. Yes, there is always the general set as for any other type of visa such as an application form, passport. two passport sized photos, proof of accommodation, some form of a proof of funds, criminal check/s etc.
Those documents are just technicalities though that do not have much of an impact on the final decision. What has the crucial impact is documents proving the purpose of your stay.
This might be a bit easier with the private Universities since they are pretty well known to the MOI and the MOI sees studying them as a valid reason to come to the Czech Republic.
It might might a lot trickier with the Czech language classes since having an enrollment letter for a language class will most likely not be enough in it’s own. The MOI might do a detailed interview with you questioning your motivation for studying Czech language and asking you about your plans after you finish the course.
The most complicated (paperwork wise) generally is the “unmarried situation” since you must provide plausible documents proving you have been in a genuine long-term relationship similar to a marriage. This generally includes a detailed statement of yours, plenty of photos, previous lease agreements, proves of having a joint bank account, proves of traveling together etc.
If you are thinking of applying for the Other Visa, we certainly recommend getting in touch with us for a consultation so you are well prepared for the process. Otherwise you might risk spending weeks or months preparing your application just to have it denied for a “lack of motivation” or “untrustworthy relationship”. We have unfortunately seen this happen one too many times.
Get in touch using any of the contact forms on this page or through the general Contacts page.
