Application for Permanent Residence – After Five Years of Temporary Residence

A prerequisite for the issuance of a permanent residence permit is that the applicant has resided in the territory continuously for five years as of the date of the application; this period primarily includes time spent in the territory on a long-term visa and on a long-term residence permit.

The required 5-year period includes periods of the foreigner's absence from the territory during the stay, provided that individual periods of absence did not exceed 6 consecutive months and the total duration of absences did not exceed 310 days; time spent in the territory for the purpose of study counts as half.

Application

The application for a permanent residence permit must be submitted using the prescribed mandatory form (available here).

Attachments/Application Requirements

1. Travel document

2. Photograph

3. Proof of secured funds for permanent residence in the territory (financial means)

Proof of secured funds for permanent residence in the territory is defined as documentation demonstrating that the foreigner has a regular income and that the aggregate monthly income of the foreigner and the persons assessed jointly with them who reside in the territory is not lower than the sum of the subsistence minimum amounts for the foreigner and the persons assessed jointly with them, plus the sum of the maximum normative housing costs and the energy allowance (as established for the housing component of state social assistance benefits), or an amount proven by the foreigner to represent the actual, justified housing costs incurred for themselves and the persons assessed jointly with them. The foreigner's income may be proven, in particular, by an employer's confirmation of average net monthly earnings (in the case of income from employment) or by a personal income tax assessment notice (in the case of income from self-employment) for the most recent tax period. Upon request, the foreign national is also required to submit a declaration releasing the tax authority from the duty of confidentiality, covering the full scope of data; if the foreign national has submitted proof of income for a person assessed jointly with them as part of the application, they are also required, upon request, to submit that person's declaration releasing the tax authority from the duty of confidentiality.

4. A document equivalent to an extract from the Criminal Register issued by the state of which the foreign national is a citizen or where they have permanent residence, as well as by states where the foreign national has resided continuously for more than six months during the last three years, or a sworn statement in the event that such a state does not issue such a document; a foreign national applying for a permanent residence permit—typically after five years of prior residence—is required to submit a document equivalent to an extract from the Criminal Register if requested to do so.

5. Proof of arranged accommodation

6. A document proving the required knowledge of the Czech language, issued by the entity administering the Czech language proficiency examination.

7. Consent of the parents, or other legal representatives or guardians, to the child's permanent residence in the territory, if the applicant is a minor child. Consent from a parent, legal representative, or guardian is not required if the parent is the one who submitted the application on the child's behalf or if the child will be residing with that parent in the territory; furthermore, consent is not required if the foreign national proves that they are unable to submit it due to reasons beyond their control, or if the child is already residing in the territory on the basis of a long-term visa or long-term residence permit.

Place of application submission

The application is submitted at an office of the Ministry of the Interior (Department for Asylum and Migration Policy); while the law does not mandate a specific local jurisdiction for the Ministry of the Interior office, it is recommended to submit the application at the office corresponding to the applicant's place of residence.

Personal submission of the application

The application must be submitted by the applicant in person; this means it cannot be sent by mail, nor can it be submitted by an authorized representative.

Administrative fee

An administrative fee of CZK 2,500 is payable upon submission of the application (CZK 1,000 for persons under the age of 15); payment can only be made by payment card at the Ministry of the Interior office.

Timing of application submission

The foreign national must already meet the 5-year residence requirement at the time of submitting the application; therefore, the process cannot be expedited by submitting the application before the 5-year residence period has been completed.

Course of the proceedings

By law, the decision should be issued within 60 days of the application being submitted to the Ministry of the Interior; in practice, however, it commonly takes significantly longer.