Long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification

• a spouse of a foreign national in possession of a long-term or permanent residence permit,
• a minor child up to 18 years of age or a dependent child up to 26 years of a foreign national in possession of a long-term or permanent residence permit,
• a minor child up to 18 years of age or a dependent child up to 26 years of the spouse of a foreign national in possession of a long-term or permanent residence permit,
• a minor child adopted by a foreign national in possession of a long-term or permanent residence permit or his/her spouse in accordance with a decision taken by the competent authority, or a minor child in foster care of a foreign national in possession of a long-term or permanent residence permit or his/her spouse; or a minor child whose guardian or the spouse of the guardian is a foreign national with a long-term or permanent residence permit for the Czech Republic and the minor will be taken care of in the Czech Republic,
• a parent of the minor child who has been granted asylum; if a minor child does not have parents, then any other relative in the direct ascending line, and if such a relative does not exist a guardian of such a minor child,
• a solitary foreign national older than 65 years or, regardless of age, a foreign national who is objectively unable to provide for their own needs on account of their state of health if it concerns family reunification with a parent or a child with a long-term or permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic.

Along with the application form for a long-term residence for family reunification (green document), you should submit the following:

1. A valid travel document,
2. Proof of accommodation,
3. Two photographs; not applicable if a pictorial record has been taken of you,
4. Documentary evidence of the family relationship (if it concerns an application for a long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification with a person who has been granted asylum, the family relationship can be proven in another credible manner if submission of such a document is not possible),
5. Parental consent or consent of any other statutory representatives or guardians with the residence of a child in the Czech Republic. Parental consent or consent of any other statutory representative or guardian is not required, if it was a parent, statutory representative or guardian who submitted the application for child or with whom the child together resides in the Czech Republic, and if the foreigner demonstrates, that he is unable to submit this agreement due to reasons beyond his/her control or if the child resides in the Czech Republic pursuant to the long-term visa or long-term resident permit for other purpose;
6. Proof of finance– a document proving that the aggregate monthly household income of the 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 foreign national can credibly prove as an amount of reasonably justified costs for the accommodation of the family,
7. Document similar to an extract from the Penal Register record, issued by the state of which you are a citizen. The obligation to submit an extract from the Penal Register record does not relate to a foreign national under 15 years of age,
8. Upon request, a document similar to an extract from the Penal Register record, issued by the states in which, in the last 3 years, you have resided for longer than 6 months in its summary, or a signed affidavit in the event that this state does not issue such a document (not required from a foreign national under 15 years of age),
9. 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).

Supporting documents may not be older than 180 days with the exception of travel document, birth certificate, marriage certificate and the photograph of the foreign national if it corresponds to his/her actual appearance.

Supporting documents must be submitted in Czech. Documents in another language must also be submitted in official translation into Czech.

Foreign public documents must be legalized, i.e. equipped by an apostille or super-legalized.

The following documents must always be submitted in their originals: passport, supporting documents on purpose of stay, registry documents (birth certificate and marriage certificate), and parental consent. These originals will be returned to the applicant should he / she wish to keep them. Passport is always returned to the applicant and is submitted again when issuing the visa. Other supporting documents may be submitted as originals or officially verified copies.

Details for applications for a long-term residence permit by recognized refugees’ family members filed within three months after the asylum is granted.

Along with the application for a long-term residence for family reunification (green document), you should also submit the following:

• A valid travel document,
• Two photographs,
• Documentary evidence of the family relationship (if documentation cannot be provided, family ties can be established in an alternative and reliable way)

If the family member does not file the application within a time limit of three months after a decision on granting asylum comes into effect, proof of a regular income (e.g., salary slips, bank statements, employment contracts) must be also provided.

Applications for long-term residence permit for the purpose of family reunification are submitted to a diplomatic mission of the Czech Republic according to the consular territorial competence.

 In exceptional cases (state of health, a minor or elderly person, etc.), the diplomatic mission can be asked to process the application without personal participation. In this case, the family member sends the application (with a request for an exception to be made) by mail to the Czech Republic’s diplomatic mission in the country of which he or she is a citizen.

The diplomatic mission forwards the application to the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic for evaluation and decision. If the application is evaluated positively, the diplomatic mission where the application was filed issues a long-term visa for the purpose of collecting the long-term residence permit. The foreigner collects the permit after the arrival to the Czech Republic at the Ministry of the Interior.

If the applicant is already in the Czech Republic based on a visa for over 90 days or a long-term residence permit issued for a different purpose, the application may be filed at the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

The legal processing time of the long-term residence for the purpose of family reunification is 270 days if submitted through diplomatic missions, alternatively 60 days if the application is submitted in the Czech Republic.

An appeal can be lodged with the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic within a time limit of 15 days following the receipt of a notification that a residence permit has not been granted. The Ministry will either grant the appeal or will forward it to the Appeal Commission on Residence of Foreign Nationals, which is the appeal authority for matters concerning the residence of foreign nationals on which the Ministry of the Interior decided in the first instance.