VISA PROCESS GUIDE

There are two types of permits you can apply for:

• long-term residence permit for the purpose of "studies"
• long-term visa for the purpose of "studies"

We would recommend applying for a LT residence permit:
- it is intended primarily for foreigners from third countries who plan to stay in the Czech Republic for more than six months 
- after approval, you will receive a single-entry visa at the embassy, which entitles you to travel to the CZE and pick up the residence permit card
- after arrival to the CZE and registration at the MOI, you will receive a residence permit card
- with a residence card, some administrative tasks and life in the CZE in general may be easier

Identical elements:

• entitle you to stay for more than 90 days (3 months)
• entitle to move around the Schengen area - stay in other Schengen states must not exceed 90 days in any 180 days and must be non-remunerative
• both the long-term visa and the long-term residence permit can be extended in the Czech Republic - if the purpose of the stay is still valid

Differences:

• LT visa is for multiple entries, issued for a maximum of 1 year
• RP is first issued as a one-entry visa; then you will receive a residence permit card, issued for a maximum of 2 years (usually for one year, though)

It is always necessary to fill in the application in person!!!

LT Residence permit:
You apply at the Czech Embassy in the state of which you are a citizen or issued your current travel document or in the state where you have a long-term/permanent residence permit.

You are entitled to apply at the MOI office in the territory of the Czech republic in this case:

1. if the foreign national is a holder of a long-term visa (for more than 90 days) for any purpose, except a long-term visa of leave to remain, the purpose of seasonal work or extra work,

2. if the foreign national is a holder of a long-term residence permit for another purpose issued in the territory of the Czech Republic,

3. if the foreign national is a holder of long-term residence permit issued for the purpose of study by another EU member state (except Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark), if he/she submits the application within his legitimate residence.

LT Visa:
For a long-term visa for over 90 days, you can apply at a Czech Embassy abroad. You are obliged to submit the application only at the Czech Embassy in the state of which you are a citizen or issued your current travel document or in the state where you have a long-term/permanent residence permit. You do not have to meet these conditions if you are a citizen of a state presented in the list of countries whose nationals are entitled to submit an application for a long-term visa at any Czech Embassy whatsoever (Decree No. 429/2010 Coll., only in Czech).

You adequately complete the application form and submit it along with all the required attachments to the Embassy in person. Find the application form also here.

It is always necessary to apply in person!!! It is not acceptable to send the application by post.
You can arrange a meeting at the Embassy by yourself (according to the instructions of the specific Embassy, by email, telephone or in-person), OR we can help by so-called student mode.

You should always submit originals or notarized copies of the documents. 
The requirements for the application shall not be older than 180 days except for the travel document and the photograph of the foreign national if it corresponds to your actual appearance. 

Students who have already received their Master's degree can be nominated into the so-called Student Mode.
The project "Student Mode" is the concept of visa facilitation for students-foreigners from selected third countries who are admitted to study at Universities in the Czech Republic and at the same time are enrolled in the Student Mode.

Faculty can nominate you for this particular project if you come from selected countries. Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports decides on the enrollment to the Student Mode; if they accept it, they resend your contact details to the respected Embassy. Each month, there is a specific date we can nominate you;  it takes approx. two weeks before the Embassy receives all the contact details.

Embassy contacts you directly, usually via e-mail, and offers you a specific date for your visa appointment. You CANNOT choose a date! 

We will provide you with an Acceptance Letter (purpose of stay), Confirmation of Accommodation (proof of accommodation) and Confirmation of Scholarship. As these documents are needed in original, we will send them to you via Czech Post (to most countries, it takes 10-14 days).
If you want an express DHL shipment, you should arrange it. 

Along with the completed application form for a LT residence permit/visa, you must submit:

1. a travel document,

2. a document confirming the purpose of your stay in the territory,

3. proof of accommodation,

4. a photograph,

5. proof of funds, or document that all costs will be paid by a state authority (state organisation), legal organisation or domestic host organisation. You can also submit a document proving that your total monthly income will not be lower than the sum of subsistence minimum (3 860 CZK) and the highest amount of normative housing costs (8 577 CZK) or housing costs you actually spend.

6. upon request a document similar to an extract from the Penal Register record,
   NOTE! A criminal record is always required! You should submit a criminal record from all countries where you lived more than six months in the past three years. It usually MUST have a higher verification (apostille/super-legalisation)

7. upon request a document proving the fulfilment of conditions set out in the measure of Ministry of Health on prevention of the spread of infectious illnesses (Medical report).
   NOTE! This document is usually not required, but you should verify it with the Embassy.

You can find more info here.
IMPORTANT! All documents submitted must be made out in the Czech language or Slovak language or officially translated into Czech. Moreover, foreign public records must be supported by a higher verification (Apostille/super-legalisation).

The requirements for the application shall not be older than 180 days except for the travel document and the photograph of the foreign national if it corresponds to your actual appearance.

In the case of a positive approval of your application, the MOI office/embassy at which you applied will contact you.

NOTE! If your application is approved, you are obliged to submit proof of medical travel insurance before collecting the visa.
(not required if the foreign national subscribes to public health insurance or if the costs for health care are covered based on an international agreement or if the foreign national can demonstrate that health care is covered in another manner), and, upon request, a document on paying the insurance presented in the proof of medical travel insurance.
See more here.

Long-term residence permit
In the event of applying at an embassy, you will receive a visa for a stay of over 90 days for the purpose of receiving a residence permit, with which you can travel to the CZE and report to the MOI office within three working days to fulfil the reporting duty and provide biometric data necessary for issuing a residence card.
This visa is one entry! The address of the office which you are supposed to report at, will be given to you when collecting the visa at the Czech embassy abroad. If you do not appear in this period at the MOI office, the proceedings held on your application will be terminated, and you will be obliged to leave the territory of the Czech Republic.

After providing biometric data, it takes 2-3 weeks to issue the residence permit card. The MOI officer will tell you when to report in person at the MOI office to collect your residence permit card. 

Long-term visa
You will receive a long-term visa that is valid for multiple entries. You do not have to report to the MOI office. However, you must report to the Foreign Police (if you live in one of our dormitories, it is unnecessary - they will automatically report you).

• Please, note that we need your personal details (name, surname, date of birth, number of travel passport) always correct and consistent with the information in your passport! Otherwise, the visa documents we can provide you with won't be valid!
  
  
• The Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals sets a standard deadline of 60 days for processing an application from submitting it. Yet, in exceptional cases might take longer.
  
  
• During your stay in CZE, do not forget to report changes related to your residence (= if you move to a new address).
  If you are staying in private accommodation, you can prove it with an accommodation contract, which must comply with the following conditions!
  It is important to report this change as the MOI might need to contact you.

If you need to extend your current residence permit, let us know, we will help with the required documents.
If you want to check you have everything ready and correctly filled, come to our office and we can go through it together.

NOTE! If you had a long-term visa and now you are applying for a long-term residence permit, you MUST submit it personally! If you are only extending your current residence permit/visa, it suffices if you transmit an application to Czech Post on the last day of the statutory period.

However, we would recommend doing it personally so that the officer at MOI can check whether you have all the documents. We would also recommend making an appointment ahead to prevent long waiting. 

We would recommend submitting the application for an extension approximately 2 months before the end of your existing permit. 

You can submit the application for an extension of your residence permit 120 days (4 months) before the end of the existing permit. 
The latest day you can submit it, is the latest day of validity of your residence permit, but please, DO NOT leave it for the last minute.
If the last day of validity of a long term visa or long term residence permit is a public holiday (Saturday, Sunday, holiday), the last day you are able to submit an application is the nearest following working day.

You should also ask for a "bridging label" - a sticker extending the validity of your permit until you receive a new one (you can travel with such a sticker abroad).
Remember you should never be staying here without a valid residence permit!

Alongside the application form, you need to prove similar documents as during the first application.

• The most important document is a document confirming the purpose of the stay in the Czech Republic - we will issue you a confirmation of studies in the Czech language. Let us know in advance, please. 
  
  
• Proof of accommodation - if you are staying in dorms and have a reservation, you can ask the dorms or us to get the confirmation of accommodation. If you have private accommodation, make sure the document (e.g. accommodation agreement) meets the set requirements (find them under the link).
  
  
• proof of finance - a document confirming the availability of funds in the territory or document proving that all costs will be paid by state authority, by legal entity or by domestic host organization or you can submit document proving, that your total monthly income will not be lower than a sum of subsistence minimum (3 860 CZK) and highest amount of normative housing costs (8 577 CZK) or housing costs you actually spend
  
  
• a document on health insurance for the period of your stay in the Czech Republic, and upon request a document on having paid the insurance premium 

•  valid travel document and a photograph

More information here.

All fees are paid to the MOI CZE using stamps (kolek) at a specific value. Cash payments are only possible when obtaining a counterpart, duplicate, copy, photocopy or extract from a file on a foreign national. In other cases, due to anti-corruption measures, it is not possible to pay in cash or by banking card at an MOI office. More information and FEES here.

Stamps can be purchased at any post office.
From 30.8.2021 it is possible to buy them also in the MOI waiting room - payments in cash! You can purchase them every Monday and Wednesday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. They will be sold by a staff member of the Diocesan Charity of Brno. The stamps will be sold in the amounts of 1000 CZK, 500 CZK, 200 CZK, 100 CZK and 50 CZK.

You can quickly check the status if you know the application number.
We are aware that some applications take a longer time to be processed, but remember that the requirements for the application shall not be older than 180 days.

If the documents you submitted were issued 180 days ago or your application is in process longer than 180 days, arrange new ones!
Your application will not be approved until you submit the new documents; you might get an official letter with "výzva" (a call to action).
If you do not speak Czech, please, send us a photo of it or come to our office, we will see what the problem is and help with it.
NEVER CONSIDER THIS DOCUMENT UNIMPORTANT!
If you fail to provide the required documents by such a letter within the specified time limit, your application will almost certainly be rejected!

NOTE! You will not see any changes unless it is approved/rejected!
Be aware that if MOI requires another/new document, they will send you a letter, but the online system will not show this! It is essential that you keep the MOI informed about any residency changes.