Previously, the practice allowed for a change of purpose of residence within less than three years, as an application for an employment card or a blue card was regarded as submitting a new application in the Czech Republic, not as a change in the purpose of residence. This procedure was based on the interpretation of the law where special provisions (Section 42g (5), Act No. 326/1999 Coll., on the Residence of Foreigners on the Territory of the Czech Republic and on Amendments to Certain Acts) took precedence over the general provisions (Section 45 and Section 42 (1)). For example, if Section 42g (5) states that “an application for issuing an employee card is submitted at the embassy. During the residence in the territory on a visa for a residence over 90 days or on a long-term residence permit for another purpose, the foreign national may apply for issuing an employee card to the Ministry,” then this is considered a special provision in relation to the general regulation of changes of purposes of residence referred to in Section 45 and to the general regulation in Section 42 (1), which otherwise first requires a transition from a long-term visa to a long-term residence permit for the same purpose.

A new interpretation following the intervention of the Regional Court

The approach of the Ministry of the Interior changed after the Regional Court in Liberec commented this year on applying Section 45 of the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals to long-term residences for the purpose of family reunification. The court, in its decision (60 A 1/2024-31), confirmed the argument about the priority of the conditions established here for changing the purpose of residence from family reunification according to Section 42a to another purpose. Based on this decision, the Ministry of the Interior adjusted its practice and no longer allows submitting an application for an employment card or a blue card in the Czech Republic in cases where the foreign national has not been residing based on long-term residence in the territory for more than three years.

How to proceed now?

If the holder of a permit for family reunification wishes to change the purpose of residence, they must apply through the embassy of the Czech Republic, either in the country of origin or at any embassy, including the visa centre in Dresden, provided that the foreign national has the right to do so according to their nationality. It is essential to note that long-term residence in the Czech Republic for the purpose of family reunification does not establish local jurisdiction of the foreign national to the visa centre in Dresden, as the Czech Republic does not fall within the territorial jurisdiction of that visa centre or any embassy.

It is also important to understand that the so-called fiction of residence, in other words the situation where a foreign national resides in the territory Legally but without a physical residence permit or visa, does not result from an application submitted to the embassy. To maintain the fiction of residence, the proceedings on the new application must be finally concluded before the expiry of the current residence permit or during the Period of legal fiction of residence, when application for its extension was submitted.

The actual residence for the purpose of family reunification remains valid after submitting an application for an employment card or a blue card at the embassy.