The application for issuing a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification has to be lodged at the Embassy of the Czech Republic abroad. A third-country national is entitled to lodge the application at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in the state of which he/she is a citizen, or that issued his/her travel document or in the state where he/she has a long-term or permanent residence permit. Compliance with this condition is waived for a third-country national who is a citizen of a state that belongs to the list of countries whose citizens are entitled to file the application at any Embassy of the Czech Republic abroad.

A third-country national who is already residing in the territory of the Czech Republic based on a long-term visa or a long-term residence permit for another purpose (i.e. different than family reunification) is entitled to lodge this application at the office of the Ministry of the Interior in the territory of the Czech Republic. In that case, he/she is obliged to lodge the application until the very end of validity of such residence permit.

The application for issuing a long-term residence permit has to be filled in an official form. Submission of this application is charged with the administrative fee equal to 2 500 CZK. In case the administrative fee is paid at the Embassy of the Czech Republic abroad, it is generally paid in the foreign currency. Otherwise, if the application is lodged in the territory of the Czech Republic, the administrative fee has to be paid in the form of a revenue stamp(s).

To obtain a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification, a third-country national must submit:

• a valid travel document;
• a document confirming availability of accommodation;
• a photograph showing the current appearance of the applicant;
• a proof of existence of the family relationship;
• if required, a parental consent;
• a document proving that the aggregate monthly household income of family after its reunification will not be lower than the sum of:
  • the amount of the subsistence minimums of all family members and
  • the highest amount of normative costs for housing, which the third-country national can credibly prove as an amount of reasonably justified costs for the accommodation of the family
  • a third-country national is on request obliged to submit the declaration of release obligation of secrecy of the Tax Office, in full range of data, in purpose of verification aggregate monthly income of the family; if a third-country national submitted the document to the request of income of the family member, he/she is on request also obliged to submit its declaration of release obligation of secrecy
• if required, an extract from the Penal Registry record and a document proving that he/she fulfilled the conditions set out by the interim measures of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic on the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases.

Originals or other officially authenticated copies of all of the attached documents must be submitted. Travel documents must be submitted in original. All submitted documents in foreign languages must be submitted in their original version and with an officially certified translation into the Czech language. The required attachments to the applications must not be older than 180 days, except for travel documents and the photograph of the third-country national, provided that corresponds to his/her current appearance.

If a third-country national has applied for issuing the long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification at the Embassy of the Czech Republic abroad and his/her application has been approved,
a third-country citizen is required to present a medical travel insurance document and, upon request, proof of payment of the insurance premium. The applicant must present this document to the Embassy directly. If the application was lodged in the territory of the Czech Republic, a third-country citizen is obliged to submit this proof right away (at the moment of submission of the application).

If the application was lodged at the Embassy of the Czech Republic abroad and if it was approved, the appropriate Embassy will issue a long-term visa for the purpose of receiving a long-term residence permit. Upon arrival in the Czech Republic, a third-country citizen is obliged to visit an appropriate office of the Ministry of the Interior within 3 days. A third-country citizen has to provide biometric data at this office because of the production of a residence card. The residence card then will be issued at latest 60 days.

A long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification will be issued for a period corresponding to the validity of the residence permit issued to the person with whom you are to be reunited, however no less than:

• 1 year;
• 2 years in the case of family reunification with a holder of a permanent residence permit in the territory of the Czech Republic.

The validity of a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification can be repeatedly extended. The application for an extension of the validity of this residence permit has to be lodged in the territory of the Czech Republic at the office of the Ministry of the Interior. A holder of this residence permit has to lodge the application for an extension of the validity before the expiration of the validity of the previous permit at the latest, but not sooner than 120 days before its expiry.

The validity of a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification could be extended for a period corresponding to the validity of the residence card issued to the person with whom the applicant is reunited, or for five years if the person with whom the applicant is reunited is a holder of a permanent residence permit.

Detailed information about an extending the validity of this residence permit

A third-country national can appeal a refusal to issue a long-term residence permit by requesting that the Ministry of the Interior reassess his/her application within 15 days of the original decision being delivered to him/her. A special Commission at the Ministry of the Interior will examine and make a decision about the request.

Detailed information about a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification

A third-country citizen who resides in the territory of the Czech Republic based on a valid long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification is entitled to work without any special permit (i.e. he/she does not need to apply for the Employee Card, the Blue Card, for issuing the working permit, etc.). A holder of this residence permit has a free access to the labour market in the territory of the Czech Republic for
a whole period of validity of this residence permit.

Detailed information about a free entry to the Labour market

In the context of free access of a holder of this residence permit to the labour market in the territory of the Czech Republic there are no limits for changing the employment. Therefore, a third-country national who resides in the territory of the Czech Republic based on this residence permit is not obliged to report to the Ministry of the Interior any changes or apply for a working permit anyway.

A third-country national who resides in the territory of the Czech Republic based on a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification is not limited in access to education. If he/she will decide to participate in education, he/she will not be limited by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

A third-country national who is a holder of a long-term residence permit in the territory of the Czech Republic (incl.the long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification) who intends to reside in the territory for another purpose than the one that he/she was granted the permit is obliged to apply to the Ministry of the Interior for a new long-term residence permit. If he/she intends to stay in the territory of the Czech Republic for the purpose of business (i.e. if a third-country national intends to became a self-worker), it is possible to lodge the application if he/she has been living in the territory for longer than 3 years or if he/she reaches 18 years of age.

Detailed information about the change of the purpose of residence