Permanent Residence under a Residence Permit
Documents Attached to the Application for Permanent Residence Permit
Asylum-seekers Applying for Permanent Residence Permit
Recognised Asylum-Seekers Applying for Permanent Residence Permit

Permanent Residence in the Czech Republic

A foreigner is entitled to stay in the Czech Republic on a residence permit (or visa) or under a decision of a governmental authority placing the foreigner into substitute custody of either a person having been granted permanent residence or staying in the Czech Republic, or of an institution entrusted with the custody of the foreigner under the relevant decision.

 

Permanent Residence under a Residence Permit

The conditions governing the issue of a permanent residence permit is to a foreigner vary depending on the circumstances under which the foreigner applies for permanent residence, and depending on the duration of the foreigner’s legal stay in the Czech Republic.

 

The law clearly defines the cases entitling the foreigner to apply for permanent residence permit without having previously stayed in the Czech Republic. These are cases of foreigners applying for permanent residence in order to live together with a close relative – a Czech citizen (husband or wife, a minor or an unprovided child of majority, a single parent older than 70 years of age, arrogated child). A foreigner may further apply for permanent residence without having previously stayed in the Czech Republic on ”humanitarian” grounds or on other grounds worthy of special consideration (e.g. a husband/wife or a child of an individual having been granted asylum in the Czech Republic). In compliance with the above, permanent residence permit may be requested by a minor (under 18 years of age) or an unprovided child of maturity (e.g. a student) in order to live together with his/her parent – a foreigner staying in the Czech Republic under a permanent residence permit. Foreigners may further apply for a permanent residence permit without having previously stayed in the Czech Republic, if their residence is in the interest of Czech Republic’s foreign policy, which must be proved by an official document.

Any foreigner having stayed in the Czech Republic for five uninterrupted years on a long-term visa may apply for a permanent residence permit.

 

The application for permanent residence permit is filed with a Czech diplomatic mission abroad. In cases specified by the law, the application may be filed with an office of the Czech Aliens’ Police (joint household with a husband or wife – a Czech citizen, after eight or ten years of uninterrupted residence in the Czech Republic etc.).

 

Documents Attached to the Application for Permanent Residence Permit

The foreigner is obliged to attach the following documents to the application for a permanent residence permit:

 

1. a photograph

 

 

2. travel document

 

 

3. a document certifying the purpose of residence (e.g. marriage certificate, birth certificate etc.)

 

 

4. a document certifying that the applicant possesses sufficient funds to stay in the Czech Republic (i.e., a document proving the applicant’s ability to pay a monthly amount of at least the double of the official subsistence minimum, or a certificate proving that these funds will be allocated from public budgets)

 

 

5. an extract from the Czech Criminal Register and a similar document issued by authorities of the applicant’s home state and the countries of the applicant’s residence in excess of six months in the past three years

 

 

6. a document proving that the applicant has provided for accommodation in the Czech Republic.

 

 

The police should take a decision on the application filed in the Czech Republic within 60 days of its receipt. In all other cases, the decision will be taken within 180 days.

 

The residence permit is issued by the police in the form of and administrative decision. The applicant whose application has been accorded will be granted a residence permit certificate valid for the period of 10 years, issued by the police. The validity of the certificate may be repeatedly extended no later than 30 days prior to its expiry. The application for extension is filed with the Aliens Police. If you miss this deadline, you must prove to the police that this breach was due to circumstances independent of your will (e.g. admission to hospital).

If a child is born to you in the Czech Republic and if you want the child to stay with you in the Czech Republic, you must apply for a visa for over 90 days or a residence permit within 60 days of the child’s birth. You must present the child’s passport or your passport featuring a record on the child, and the child’s birth certificate. If your child is to turn fifteen, you must apply for the issue of a residence permit certificate no later than 30 days before the child’s 15^th birthday. The child’s passport and photograph must be attached to the application.

 

Filing Applications Abroad:

If a foreigner applied for a permanent residence permit outside the Czech Republic and the application was accorded, the diplomatic mission will issue a ”visa to accept residence permit” to the foreigner. This authorises the foreigner to enter and stay in the Czech Republic for three days. The foreigner must accept the residence permit within these three days.

 

The validity of the residence permit will expire in the following cases:

 

• if the foreigner acquires Czech citizenship under the conditions set out by the law

 

 

• if a court sentences the foreigner to deportation and the court decision becomes legally effective, or if the police decides to deport the foreigner and the decision becomes enforceable

 

 

• if the foreigner deceases

 

 

• The police with invalidate the residence permit in the following cases: if the foreigner grossly disturbs public order, infringes the rights and freedoms of others, if the police finds that the foreigner has no accommodation in the Czech Republic and no funds for his/her residence, if the foreigner was convicted of a severe crime, or upon the termination of marriage with a Czech citizen (if this gave rise to the issue of the permanent residence permit) in the first five years after the issue of the residence permit. However, the residence permit will not be invalidated if a child was born in the marriage.

 

 

Asylum-Seekers Applying for Permanent Residence Permit

A special group of foreigners applying for permanent residence in the Czech Republic are asylum-seekers that have not succeeded in obtaining asylum. These asylum-seekers may file an application pursuant to Section 69(a) of Act no. 326/1999 Coll., if they stay in the Czech Republic under an interim residence arrangement upon the completion of their asylum proceedings and

a) if they have stayed in the Czech Republic under a long-term visa or a long-term residence permit for at least five years without interruption (calculated as of the day the application for permanent residence was filed), while having the status of asylum-seekers or refugees or another status (under a tolerance visa under the Aliens Act); and

b) if they are not citizens of a state deemed to be a secure country of origin under the Asylum Act.

 

 

The application itself must be filed with the Department of Migration and Asylum Policy of the Czech Ministry of the Interior (”OAMP MV ČR”).

If at any time during his/her stay in the Czech Republic as an asylum-seeker, the foreign national gets married with a Czech citizen, he/she may apply for a residence permit for the purpose of family unification in compliance with Section 65 of the Aliens Act.

 

Recognised Asylum-Seekers Applying for Permanent Residence Permit

A recognised asylum-seeker is a person that has been granted asylum in the Czech Republic under Act no. 325/1999 Coll., on Asylum. Having been granted asylum, the person is automatically granted permanent residence in the Czech Republic; after five years, this person may apply for Czech citizenship.

When a recognised asylum-seeker acquires Czech citizenship, his/her asylum becomes extinct. The asylum-seeker must notify the Ministry of the Interior that he/she gained Czech citizenship. Asylum also becomes extinct when the asylum-seeker deceases or if the asylum-seeker files a written declaration renouncing the asylum (Section 18 of Act on Asylum).

 

Once a foreigner obtains asylum in the Czech Republic, he/she is registered with the ”State Integration Programme”. The aim of this programme is to help the foreigner with his/her integration in the Czech society. Within the framework of this programme, the asylum-seeker is offered classes of Czech. The classes of Czech must be offered to the asylum-seeker within 30 days. (Section 68, Section 69, Section 70 of Act no. 325/99 Coll.).

You should be informed of this programme by the social workers employed in the Accommodation Centre where you have been granted asylum. If the asylum-seeker has no flat of his/her own, he/she will be moved to the IAC – the Integration Asylum Centre, where he/she will get assistance in processing all the necessary paperwork. The issues of asylum-seekers are resolved primarily by the Advice Centre for Integration (Senovážná 2, Prague 1).