WHEN APPLYING FOR A SCHENGEN VISA AS A FAMILY MEMBER OF AN EU CITIZEN, SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING:

• filled-out form „Application for a Schengen visa“

• valid travel document

• photograph

original or certified copy of the Czech marriage certificate and a valid marriage certificate from Libya containing all the necessary details

a copy of the data page of the passport or a double-sided copy of the identity card of a Czech citizen of whom the applicant is a family member. The copy must be accompanied by consent to the copy (date, place, signature of the holder of the personal document) and sent to the applicant. - Scanned copies are not accepted.

a return flight reservation/ticket to the Czech Republic

in case the EU/CZ citizen is located/lives outside the Czech Republic - proof that the EU/CZ citizen is accompanying you on your trip to the Czech Republic

The application processing time is 14 days since submission. It can be extended for up to 45 days in well-founded instances.

Applications are lodged free-of-charge.

 

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EXAMINING THE APPLICATION

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs draws the applicants´ attention to the fact that the decisions on granting a Schengen visa to a family member of the EU citizen are not taken automatically. Diplomatic missions of the Czech Republic conduct application examination to establish whether one of the refusal reasons set out in Section 20.5 of the Act No 326/1999 Coll., on Residence of Foreign Nationals in the Czech Republic, has been fulfilled:

a) the applicant presents a counterfeited or falsified travel document,

b) there is a reasonable suspicion that the applicant suffers from a serious disease,

c) there is a substantiated risk that the applicant, during his/her stay in the Czech Republic, might endanger the security of the state or seriously disrupt public order,

d) the applicant has been entered into the Information System of the Schengen area Contracting States and a competent authority, which initiated inclusion of a family member of the EU citizen into such records confirms that there is still a substantiated risk that he/she might, during his/her stay in the territory of a Schengen area Contracting State, endanger the security of, or disrupt public order in this state,

e) the applicant violated the Act on Residence of Foreign Nationals with the aim to obtain a visa, in particular if he/she entered into a marriage or declared paternity just for the purpose of acquiring a visa,

f) the applicant has acted fraudulently with the aim to obtain a visa for stay on the territory (for example by presenting fake documents to support the visa application or providing false information during an interview),

g) the application examination establishes that the applicant no longer is a family member of the EU citizen or that he/she will not accompany or join him/her.

Marriages of convenience are characterized as follows, in accordance with the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council no. COM (2014) 604 final, along with the Handbook on addressing the issue of alleged marriages of convenience between EU citizens and non-EU nationals in the context of EU law on free movement of EU citizens:

(1) „standard“ marriage of convenience – both spouses enter marriage for the sole purpose to violate EU law,

(The MFA points out particularly Section 341 of the Act No 40/2009 Coll., Penal Code, which contains a provision that facilitating unauthorized stay on the territory of the Czech Republic constitute a crime.)

(2) marriage by deception – marriage whereby the EU citizen is deceived by a third-country national by promise of proper and durable family life (such marriage is typically, although not necessarily, preceded by a brief internet or holiday encounter),

(3) forced marriage – often related to human trafficking,

(4) bogus marriage – contrary to marriage of convenience, such marriage is not illegal, but is linked to forged or misused documents.

Family members of EU citizens whose visa has been refused can appeal this decision by requesting a review of the visa refusal.

If this appeal is rejected, a family member can apply for a legal administrative review by a regional court.

The request for legal administrative review should be delivered to the regional court no more than 30 days after receipt of the appeal rejection letter and should be delivered to the regional court in the district where the family member would register his/her arrival, i.e. where he/she would reside  (www.justice.cz). The address of the intended residence in CZE must be clearly evident from the visa application.

The above information pertains to Schengen visa applications that family members of EU citizens lodge at diplomatic missions.

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Information on the application procedure for permanent residence permit of a family member is available on the website of the Ministry of the Interior.

 

Legal sources:

○  Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States

○  Act No 326/1999 Coll., on Residence of Foreign Nationals in the Czech Republic and Amending Certain Acts (available in Czech)

○ Regulation (EU) No 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (codification)

○ Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code)

Useful links:

Ministry of the Interior – EU citizens and their family members