Persons arriving from India to Czech Republic, who are citizens of India and passport holders, will need to apply for a visa for visits that are of a short duration (of maximum 90 days), as well as for long-term stays. The Czech visa for Indians can be obtained from the Embassy of the Czech Republic in India.
In the case of Indians moving to Czech Republic for a longer period of time, or more than 90 days, a long-term visa will be needed and this will also create the obligation to apply for a temporary residence permit. Besides these document, the foreigner may also need to obtain an employment permit (most of the persons arriving here for a long period of time will engage in employment activities); our immigration lawyer in Czech Republic can help Indian citizens with advice on the procedures applicable when requesting these documents.
Table of Contents
What is the process of obtaining a Czech long-term visa?
Numerous Indians arrive to Czech Republic for employment purposes and a large majority of them are hired as highly skilled employees (there are specific employment permits created for this category of persons). The process of obtaining a Czech Republic visa in India is started by the applicant interested in obtaining the document.
The application procedure has to be initiated by the applicant, who will submit the application in person with the above mentioned institution, but not prior to booking an appointment with the local embassy representatives. Once the application for Czech Republic visa in India is made, the local representatives will forward the documents to the Czech Ministry of Interior, where the application will be analyzed and where the decision with regards to the issuance of the visa will be made.
The diplomatic mission of the Czech Republic operating in India does not have the power of decision, it will only intermediate this process. Provided that the decision of the Czech authorities is a positive one, the visa will be issued by the embassy where the application for Czech visa for Indians was made. Once the person will arrive in Czech Republic for a given purpose, the holder of the visa will be allowed to an extension of the document. This time, the application will be sent directly to the Czech Ministry of Interior.
What is the process of obtaining a Czech visa for Indians for short-term visits?
As per the requirements of the Czech immigration law, nationals of India must also obtain a visa for short-term stays, regardless of the purpose of the visit (touristic purposes, visiting family or friends, business purposes, etc.). Just like in the case of a long-term visa, the applicant must book an appointment with the Czech representatives working in India prior to the arrival in Czech Republic. In this case, one should expect the following:
• the issuance of a short-term stay Czech visa for Indians takes approximately 15 days;
• the standard duration of the visa processing time for groups of persons is of 30 days;
• in the case of group applications referring to more than 20 persons, the tour operator is the entity that must address to the Czech embassy for the issuance of the visa, if the purpose is visiting the country.
• in the case of individual applications, the visa processing time can increase to 45 days;
• the Czech embassy operating in India recommends Indians to apply for a short-term stay visa with at least 3 weeks before the departure date.
When applying for this type of visa, one should prepare an application form, the passport, two standard size photographs, information on the means of transportation, information on the accommodation in Czech Republic, a cover letter from the applicant, where he or she presents the purpose for requiring a Czech Republic visa in India, travel medical insurance and other additional documents, depending on the purpose of stay.
If the purpose of stay refers to visiting the country and if the person has the possibility of living in the private home of a friend or family member living in the Czech Republic, then he or she must add to the file information on this type of accommodation. Besides the fact that Indians arrive here for employment purposes, one should know that the tourism levels have also increased.
For example, in 2017, Czech Republic received 85,680 Indian tourists, which accounted for a massive increase compared to the previous year, as the rate of Indian visitors increased by 27%. This means that all the persons who have arrived here applied for a Czech Republic visa in India, issued for tourism purposes. You can contact our immigration lawyer in Czech Republic for advice on how to obtain a visa for employment in this country.
If you arrive for employment, please mind that there can be visas which will allow you to apply for permanent residency, and then, for Czech citizenship, if you plan to remain here.
If you are born from a parent who at the moment of your birth, was a Czech national, you are entitled to apply for citizenship by descent.
For this, you will have to show documents that attest this family tie relationship.
If you qualify only of the naturalization process, you must know that if you are married to a Czech national, the procedure can take a shorter period of time that the standard procedure (10 years).
For instance, in this case, one can apply for permanent residence in Czech Republic after only 2 years of stay (compared to the standard 5 years, applicable to most of the foreign nationals).