Travelling within the EU/Schengen

 Česky

Family member of an EU citizen – non-EU citizen

You can travel to other Schengen/EU states with a valid passport. If you are subject to visa requirements due to your nationality, you will also require a visa for your journey, which can be substituted by one of the following documents during your stay in the Czech Republic:

If you are the holder of a valid residence permit for a family member of an EU citizen or a valid residence card for a family member of an EU citizen issued in the CR and a valid travel document, you can travel:

• to other Schengen zone countries and spend up to in their territory up to 90 days in any 180-day period. It is not necessary to accompany or follow an EU Citizen.

• to EU countries outside of the Schengen zone and spend in their territory up to 90 days in any 180-day period under the condition that you accompany or follow an EU citizen. If you are travelling alone and are subject to visa requirements, you will need a visa.

If you are the holder of a valid permanent residence permit issued in the CR and a valid travel document, you can travel to other Schengen zone countries and reside in their territories for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

If you do not hold any of the abovementioned documents and you do not accompany or follow an EU citizen on your travels to EU countries outside of the Schengen zone, the concessions for persons enjoying the Community rights to free movement do not relate to you and your stay in the EU / Schengen territory is governed by the general visa rules for your country of origin.

The rule, which allows short-term stay for a maximum of 90 days in any 180-day period replaced the so called “3/6 rule”, which was based on the principle of the date of first entry. The new “90 days in any 180-day period rule” does not use the principle of the date of first entry and works with a rolling 180-day period instead. The date of entry shall be considered as the first day of stay and the day of exit shall be considered as the last day of stay. The 180 days represent a rolling referential period, which is thus always determined e.g. at the moment of entry check, when it is reviewed, whether the traveller during 180 days immediately preceding the date of entry did not already exhaust the allowed 90 days in the 180-day period.

Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic would like to draw your attention to the practice of the administrative bodies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who allow entry to family members of EU citizens only on the condition that they hold the so called EEA Residence Permit, that being the case even if the family member of an EU citizen holds a residence card. MOI CR recommends to contact the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in order to verify the conditions of entry for family members of EU citizens, holders of residence card.

In case you applied for temporary  or permanent residence permit  as family member of EU citizen and you were issued the confirmation of your permission to stay on the territory in the form of long term visa sticker (affixed in you travel passport) you are allowed not only to stay on the territory of the Czech republic  but also to travel during its validity to other states  of Schengen space. Validitiy of this long term visa sticker however ceases as soon as  the decision on the application for  temporary or permanent residence permit becomes final.

21st December 2015