Author
There are two possible residence permits that can be obtained by family members of beneficiaries of international protection: long-term residence permit for family reunification, or long-term visa for family purpose.
Long-term visa for family purposes
This type of visa is for family members of recognised refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries, according to section 30 of the Immigration Act.
There is no exact definition in the Immigration Act as to the family members eligible to apply. In practice, the same persons are considered as family members as listed below, but the law enables the MoI to grant the visa also to a foreigner not included in the list below.
Long-term residence permit for family reunification
This permit is only for family members of recognised refugees (asylum holders), according to section 42a of the Immigration Act and Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification.
The following family members are eligible to apply for it:
- Spouse
- Minor child or minor child of the spouse (including substitute family care)
- Major dependent child of recognised refugee or major dependent child of their spouse (a constantly studying child without income up to 26 years)
- Solitary parent older than 65 years (including a parent that is single, divorced, widowed, etc.).
- Parent or a major child that is unable to care for themselves due to health reasons
- Parent of a minor recognised refugee (or a different relative if the child has no parents)
- Parent of a major recognised refugee (or a different relative if the child has no parents), if they applied for asylum before achieving the age of 18 years. In this case there is a time limit for submitting the application: 3 months after the asylum was granted.
There is no waiting period before a beneficiary of international protection can apply for family reunification, beneficiaries can apply directly after obtaining international protection.
In general there is no time limit for the application, with two exceptions:
- A parent of an adult recognised refugee can apply only within 3 months after the asylum was granted
- If a family member of a recognised refugee applies for a long-term residence permit for family reunification within 3 months after asylum was granted, and the family relationship existed already before the recognised refugee entered the territory of the Czech Republic, the material requirements for the application are significantly lower. The applicant needs to submit only a travel document, photograph and a proof of the family relation.
Applicants have to fulfil material requirements, which differ according to the type of residence permit.
For a long-term residence permit for family reunification (see exception described above):
- Proof of accommodation
- Proof of financial means – regularly monthly income of the family must be higher than the basic subsistence levels of the family members (members of the family after the reunification) and the housing costs. In 2025 the basic subsistence is 4,470 CZK (approx. € 185) for an adult, the amounts for children vary between 2,480 – 4,040 CZK depending on the age. The living costs are 16,540 CZK (approx. € 680) for two persons, 18,900 CZK (approx. € 780) for three persons and 20,510 CZK (approx. € 850) for four or more persons in the family.
- Proof of family relation (e.g., birth certificate, marriage certificate ). If it is impossible to submit official documents, the applicant can prove the relationship in a different way.
- Criminal register record from the country of origin (except for children under 15 years or countries of origin that don’t issue it)
- Consent of the second parent in cases of minor children (only if the second parent is not living in the Czech Republic or not applying for family reunification as well)
- Health insurance
- Travel document (e.g., passport)
For a long-term visa for family purpose (see exception below):
- Proof of accommodation
- Proof of financial means – lump sum of 115,810 CZK (approx. € 4,750) for an adult person for one year; 78,250 CZK (approx. € 3,220) for an adult person for 6 months. For children, they shall provide proof of 50% of these amounts. This is to be proved by an account statement.
- Proof of family relation (e.g., birth certificate, marriage certificate).
- Criminal register record from the country of origin (except for children under 15 years or countries of origin that don’t issue it).
- Health insurance.
- Travel document (e.g., passport).
- Exception: spouse of a beneficiary of international protection, if the marriage existed already before the beneficiary entered the territory of Czech Republic, and a minor child or a minor child of the spouse of the beneficiary of international protection do not have to prove the financial means. If these family members don’t have a travel document, they are allowed to submit a different official document, which provides the data on their identity and citizenship.
As mentioned above, family members of recognised refugees can apply for both of the residence permits, family members of subsidiary protection beneficiaries can only apply for the long-term visa. The long-term residence permit contains advantages such as free access to the labour market and a legal claim to obtain the residence permit, if the conditions are fulfilled.
According to the information provided by the MoI, there is no statistical data on this for 2025, as this data is not being collected.
Family members of beneficiaries of international protection can also apply for asylum. If they don’t fulfil the conditions to obtain international protection, they can be granted asylum (section 13 of the Asylum act) or subsidiary protection (section 14b of the Asylum act) for the purpose of family reunification, if it is a case worthy of special consideration. In practice, close family members are usually granted international protection for the purpose of family reunification.