Long-term visa for the purpose of study

This long-term visa should be applied for if the expected study duration in the Czech Republic exceeds three months. It is granted for six months and cannot be extended.

If a foreign national staying in the Territory on a long-term visa wishes to stay in the Territory for a period exceeding 6 months (for the purpose of study), he or she may apply for a long-term residence permit for the purpose of study following the period of the long-term visa granted for the same purpose. This application should be submitted in person no sooner that 90 days and no later than 14 days prior to the expiration of the long-term visa at the Asylum and Migration Policy Section of Ministry of the Interior assigned to the region in which the applicant is registered for residence (or in which the applicant will reside as proved by a document submitted).

A long-term visa application may be submitted at any Czech Republic representation abroad.

The application shall be disposed of within 60 days after submission.

The following are the requisites of a long-term visa application:

1. travel document (original),
2. 2 portrait photographs (unless a visual record is made),
3. document proving that accommodation has been arranged for the duration of the stay in the Territory,
4. document proving admission to study,
5. document proving the possession of funds for stay in the Territory.

The following may also be required:

• a document similar to a statement of criminal records issued by the foreign national's country as well as by the countries in which the foreign national continually stayed for a period exceeding 6 months over the last 3 years. This may be replaced by an affidavit if such a country does not issue such a document,
• medical report proving that the applicant does not suffer from a serious illness (that is, an illness as stipulated by Regulation no. 274/2004 Coll.).

If the foreign national's application has been successful, before a visa can be granted, the Czech representation must be presented with the foreign national's travel insurance document meeting the relevant conditions (this is not required if a foreign national participates in a public health insurance plan or if the health care costs are covered by an international agreement or if the foreign national can prove that the costs of his or her health care are covered in a different way) and, on request, a document proving the payment of the travel-health-insurance premium as indicated on the document.

Ad a) Travel document

• The following may serve as a travel document:
  • public document recognized as a travel document by the Czech Republic,
  • identity card of an EU citizen,
  • foreign passport valid in all the countries of the world,
  • travel identity card, or
  • travel document issued by the Czech Republic based on an international agreement,
  • EU travel document substitute.

• A public document issued in a foreign country for the purpose of travelling abroad may also be recognized as a travel document provided that, in terms of its form and language of the data, it conforms to the international usage, it is valid for the Territory, and includes
  • data on the foreign national's nationality,
  • data on the foreign national's identity,
  • a photograph of the foreign national,
  • information on the document's expiration.

• A travel document for the purpose of granting a long-term visa should not be older than 10 years, should contain at least two empty pages and its period of validity should extend beyond that of the long-term visa by at least three months.

• A travel document is deemed invalid if:
  • the period of validity as indicated in the document has expired,
  • it has been damaged so that the data it contains are illegible,
  • its integrity has been destroyed,
  • it contains incorrect data and/or unauthorised changes (such the foreign national's name or surname that is no longer true because of marriage),
  • the portrait photograph in the document does not match the holder's actual appearance, or
  • the document holder has died or has been declared dead.

Ad b) Portrait photograph

• A black-and-white or coloured photograph or any such recorded image of the holder (hereinafter a Photograph), should be glossy and comply with long-term image-stability requirements. It should have a portrait rectangular format sized 35 by 45 millimetres with straight or rounded corners with a diameter r = 3 mm +/- 0.5 mm. It should be 0.13 to 0.27 millimetres thick.

• A Photograph must present a front view of the holder's head and upper part of shoulders with the axial vertical plane of the holder's face being an extension of the vertical plane of the camera objective and the horizontal plane of the holder's face as defined by the eyes being an extension of the horizontal plane of the camera objective. The person depicted by the photograph should look straight into the camera objective.

• A Photograph should match the holder's appearance at the time of application submission. The holder should not be looking over his or her shoulder and should not have his or her head half-turned or tilted. The holder should have a neutral expression with his or her mouth shut and eyes open not covered by his or her hair.

• Between the upper edge of the holder's head and the upper edge of the Photograph, there should be a gap of at least two millimetres. The distance between the holder's eyes and chin should be at least 13 millimetres.

• The holder should be depicted by a Photograph against a white to light-blue or light-gray backdrop. There may be a continual change between these colours. On a Photograph there should be no glints hiding or substantially changing the characteristic identification signs of the person depicted such as the shape and position of the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, and the overall shape of the face. No retouching or other changes to the negative or positive of the photograph or digital processing of the appearance of the person depicted and its printout is allowed.

Ad c) Document proving that accommodation has been arranged for the duration of the stay in the Territory

For students staying at halls of residence, this is a written certificate by the owner or authorised user of the house or flat, with his authorised signature of accommodation arrangement (on page 6 you can find information on how to go about arranging accommodation at the halls of residence of Brno University of Technology).

Ad d) Document proving admission to study

A document proving admission to study should contain the exact title of the accredited degree programme that a student has been admitted to study. It should be written on an official form of the university (faculty) with an official stamp and signature.

Ad e) Document proving the possession of funds for stay in the Territory

• For the purposes of a long-term visa or long-term residence permit (with the exceptions listed below), a foreign national should prove that he or she has funds of at least 15 times the subsistence level with this amount being increased by twice the subsistence level for each whole month (excepting the first one) of expected stay in the Territory.
• A foreign national younger than 18 years of age may only prove a half of the funds required.
• If the purpose of a long-term visa or residence permit is business, a foreign national should prove the possession of funds of at least 50 times the subsistence level.
• Under Section 5, Paragraph 1 of the Subsistence Level Act, the subsistence level has been set at 2020 CZK.
• An invitation approved by the Foreign Police may also serve as a proof of possessing the above-mentioned amount of funds. 
• The possession of funds necessary for the purpose of a long-term visa or residence permit may be proved as follows:

a)    by producing a bank account statement opened by the foreign national proving that he or she may draw money from this account during his or her stay in the Territory as needed. The bank means a bank or any other financial institution all over the world, however, the foreign national must prove that he or she is authorised to draw money from the account in the Czech Republic (such as by using an internationally recognized payment card for such an account),

b)    by producing another document of the possession of funds proving that the foreign national is authorized to use money as needed or that the payment of the foreign national's costs related to his or her stay in the Territory has been secured,

c)    by producing a valid internationally recognized payment card whose usage is not excluded in the Czech Republic. However, at the request of a state authority, the foreign national is also obliged to present a bank account statement proving that the foreign national may draw money from this account during his or her stay in the Territory as needed.

As a proof of possession of funds necessary for the stay, a foreign national wishing to study in the Territory, may show a document obliging a state body or a legal entity to enable the stay of the foreign national in the Territory by providing him or her with funds equalling the subsistence level per one month of the expected stay duration or a document proving that all the costs related to his or her study will be covered by the hosting organization (school). If the obligation does not guarantee the above amount, the foreign national should present a document proving the possession of funds to cover the difference between the subsistence level and the obligation for the expected duration of the stay, however, not more than six times the subsistence level. A document proving the possession of funds for the stay may be replaced by a decision or an agreement to give the foreign national a grant received on the basis of an international agreement binding on the Czech Republic.