Family Members of Citizens of the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland

Obligations and rules for entry and stay on the territory of the Czech Republic 

Entry to the territory of the Czech Republic

The definition of a family member of a citizen of the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland is established in Section 15a of the Foreign Nationals Act. (Read more about definition of family member).

The state borders of the Czech Republic, which are internal borders within the Schengen area, can be crossed at any point without a border check on persons, irrespective of their nationality.

Border checks are performed only at external Schengen borders, i.e. at international airports in the Czech Republic on flights originating in or ending in countries outside of the Schengen area. The border check consists of a so-called minimum check, the purpose of which is to establish identity on the basis of submitted travel documents and documents confirming a family relationship with a citizen of the EU or any of the aforementioned countries. The document check includes verification that the document has not be altered or forged, whereby technical devices can be used and relevant databases searched in order to find information exclusively on stolen, misappropriated, lost and invalid documents.

If a family member of a citizen of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland does not have a travel document and cannot obtain one, at the time of the border check the police will allow him/her to prove identity and the fact that he/she is a family member of a citizen of the EU or one of the aforementioned countries by means of another document.

The obligation to submit a travel document does not apply to persons younger than 15 years of age if their data are recorded in the travel document of an accompanying person.

If they are subject to a visa requirement (refer toCouncil Regulation No 539/2001, as amended), family members of a citizen of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland are in principle required to possess an entry visa. They do not require a visa for stays of up to three months if they hold a valid residence card of a family member of a EU citizen issued by a EU Member State or a valid residence permit issued by Schengen Member State.

It is possible to grant a visa to family members who accompany or join EU citizen, respectively whose EU citizen resides in the Czech Republic, at a border crossing point according to § 20 of the Foreign Nationals Act. In these cases, the police grant the visa and place it in the travel document.

In order for family members to enter the territory of the Czech Republic and the Schengen area, they should not be persons for whom an alert has been issued in the SIS (Schengen Information System) for the purposes of refusing entry due to the fact that they represent a genuine, immediate, and sufficiently serious threat to public order or the security of any of the Schengen States. The existence of an ongoing threat must be confirmed at each time that entry is denied.

At the time that a family member crosses an external border, i.e. at the time of entry to and exit from the Schengen area, a stamp will be placed in the family member’s travel document unless a residence permit (temporary or permanent) or card issued by a Member State of the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland is presented.

The rules for crossing external borders are specified in detail by the Schengen Borders Code (pdf, 1,86 MB).

Department of Asylum and Migration Policy, 24^th March 2011

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