Residence Permit Types

• Short-term Residence Permit - for stays shorter than a year,
• Temporary (Long-term) Residence Permit - for stays over 1 year,
• Permanent Residence Permit - valid for 10 years,
• Czech Citizenship - you can apply after 10 years living in Czech.

A 3rd-Country National does not get a Residence Permit right away, unless special circumstances apply.

A 3rd-Country National will therefore in practise first get a C+D Visa, which will be extended, each time by 1 year or 2 years, depending on the type of Visa.

After 5 continuous years in Czech Republic you can apply for a Permanent Residence Permit.

Temporary (Long-term) Residence Permit, over 1 year

A Temporary (long-term) Residence Permit will only be issued if there is enough proof that the intended stay will be longer than 1 year, such as:

• a marriage / partnership with a CZ / EU citizen OR children with an EU nationality,
• the employer guarantees a jobcontract longer than a year (rare),
• born in Czech Republic / Czech passport, but always lived somewhere else (even more rare)

In all other cases it is easier for 3rd-Country Nationals to get an extension of the D Visa than a Temporary Residence Permit.

If you want to apply for a long-term Residence Permit (přechodní pobyt) at the Foreign Police in Czech Republic you must already have the C+D Visa or D Visa and the purpose of stay is unchanged.

3rd-Country Nationals that are married / have a partnership with an EU / CZ citizen OR have children with an EU nationality are entitled to get the Temporary Residence Permit, because by EU law they enjoy the same rights as their partner / child. This Temporary Residence Permit is valid for 5 years.

Nowadays The Foreign Police issues also D Visas for Business Purposes that are valid for a maximum of 2 years instead of the temporary Residence Permit

Permanent Residence Permit

A Permanent Residence Permit (trvalý pobyt) may be applied for on the basis of:

• humanitarian reasons - extremely rare,
• living continuously in CZ for a period of 5 years,
• being married to a CZ national for at least two years.

Nowadays the applicant also needs to pass a Czech language test (!) easy then TOEFL and IELTS, but should bee passed  within 4 times.

Probably the biggest advantage of the Permanent Residence Permit i s that the holder no longer needs to have a Work Permit or needs to register his trade licenses at Commercial Court.

The processing time for the application is up to 60 days if submitted in Czech Republic.

The validity of the 'permanent' Residence Permit is 10 years, and can be extended every time by 10 years, between 90 and 30 days before date of expiration.