Visa interview for the Czech Republic

1. What to expect...

Applying for a long-term visa often includes a short interview. This makes many of our prospective students uncomfortable, which is quite understandable. Having gone through a major bureaucratic procedure for the first time in your life, you have to deal with a face-to-face conversation with a consular officer.

We will give you an idea of what topics could come up during this interview. We hope to help you relax and overcome your fears.

Remember the basic rules of politeness: greet and smile.

Simply and clearly explain that you would like to apply for a long-term visa for the purpose of studying at the preparatory courses of the Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies of Charles University.

You will have a rather large number of documents with you. Ask the consular officer which is more convenient for them: to receive all the documents at once or to have them handed over one by one.

It is the consular officer's duty to make sure that your identity matches the documents and to verify that they are complete and correct. The consulate does not decide if the visa is granted to you or not.

Speak calmly and clearly when answering questions.

The questions you will be asked are quite standard. They can be divided into the following categories:

2. Question topic: general

1. Can you specify the difference between a long-term residence permit and a long-term visa (if you are applying for long-term residence)?

2. What do you do in your country?

3. What is your last completed level of education?

4. Why have you chosen to study in the Czech Republic?

   Don't be afraid to list the real and obvious reasons: the prestige, quality and relatively low cost of higher education; the large amount of information on the internet, etc. You are not the only one to go to the Czech Republic for these reasons.

5. Have you considered studying in any other country? Which universities' programs have you considered?

6. Do the educational institutions in your country have similar courses to the one you want to study in the Czech Republic? If so, why are you not applying to study there?

7. When did you decide to go to study in the Czech Republic? Why?

8. Where and when have you visited the EU? What did you do there?

9. What are you planning to do if you don't receive the visa?

10. Do you speak any foreign languages? Why don't you want to use your language skills to continue your studies?

3. Question topic: Our preparation programmes and study

1. How did you find out about the courses you are attending?

   You answered this question in the application form: recommendations from friends/acquaintances, YouTube, social media, advertising, etc.

2. Can you tell us about the enrolment process? How did you sign up for the course?

   If you've forgotten how you did it, refresh your memory with our detailed step-by-step guide.

3. Which staff member did you communicate with regarding the courses and in which language?

   Remember the name of the academic assistant you communicated with by email, almost certainly in English.

4. How much is the course fee? Is there a non-refundable part of the payment? How much of the price have you already paid?

   The COMPLEX programme costs €5940, the FAST and FLEXI programmes cost €4430. Don’t forget that you have paid the full amount of the course. If you cancel the course, the non-refundable amount is €120 plus 2% of the remaining amount.

5. What is the address where the course will be held?

   
   

   City	Prague	Prague	Poděbrady
   Street	José Martího	Voršilská	Jiřího náměstí
   House number	407/2	144	1/8
   ZIP code	162 00	110 00	290 01
   Country code	CZE	CZE	CZE

6. When does the course start and finish?

   The preparatory course usually starts on the first Monday in September. In 2023, it is September 7. The course finishes with exams at the end of June. However, it is always a good idea to check the Academic Year Schedule on our website.

7. How many hours a week will you study?

   35 hours. From morning till noon you will study Czech and in the afternoon you will study the specialised subjects of your field.

8. What specialized subjects will you study?

   
   

   SUBJECTS
   Ekonomics	Humanities and arts	Medical and natural sciences	Technical and IT
   Introduction to economics Economics texts Mathematics English	Modern history Art history Verbal thinking Socio-cultural seminar	General biology Biology for doctors Chemistry Physics	Mathematics Physics Computer science English

9. What are you going to do in the summer?

   You shouldn't expect to have a proper holiday in the Czech Republic during your first summer. You'll need to take entrance exams, enrol at university, register for a dorm and apply for a visa extension. You might be able to go home for a few weeks, but there is no guarantee of it.

10. Will there be an exam at the end of the course? What is this exam like?

    In addition to the exams in the specialized subjects, you will take a standardized exam in Czech, which determines your level of language proficiency (B1/B2/C1). The Czech exam tests all 4 language skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking.

4. Question topic: Travel

1. Tell us how you will get from your home to the study centre in the Czech Republic.

   You have already partially described your mode of travel in your application. There you have indicated both the mode of transport and the border crossing where you will enter the Czech Republic. However, you must decide for yourself which way you will travel from this point. You can order a transfer. To do this, you need to write to your study centre consultant at least 10 days before your arrival so that they can arrange the transfer for you. Another option is to check the instructions the assistant will send you a month before the course starts.

2. Tell us how you plan to get from your accommodation to the place of study every day.

   If you are staying in the ILPS CU dormitory, you will get to school by public transport or on foot. If you are staying elsewhere, we recommend that you open Google maps and explore the surrounding area and take a virtual walk around the neighbourhood where you will live for about a year.

5. Question topic: Accommodation and housing costs

1. Where will you stay during the course? What is the address of the dormitory? What are the conditions at this dormitory? How many people share a room? What is the cost of the accommodation?

   
   

   Dormitory	Krystal	Hostivař	Hvězda	Poděbrady
   City	Prague 6	Prague 10	Prague 6	Poděbrady
   Street	José Martího	Weilova	Zvoníčkova	Jana Opletala
   House number	407/2	1144/2	5	77
   ZIP code	162 00	102 00	162 08	290 01
   Country code	CZE	CZE	CZE	CZE
   	more information	more information	more information	more information

2. How much do you think you will spend in a month in the Czech Republic?

   You can learn how expensive life in the Czech Republic is in the article First Year in the Czech Republic: How Much Money Do You Need? Part Two: After Arrival in our blog.

3. Who will financially support you during the course in the Czech Republic?

   Please note that you are not allowed to work while studying in the preparatory courses of ILPS CU so you can only rely on your savings and/or your parents' help.

6. Question topic: Nostrification

1. How do you intend to have your report card, high school or university diploma recognized?

   For more information on the recognition process, see the Nostrification section.

2. How is the nostrification done? Who takes care of it?

   Please note that we will help you with the processing of your documents, this is included in the price of the course.

7. University education

You can find all the information you need about your future studies at your university by entering the name of your field of study, the word "admissions" and the address of the university's website (in the format site:fhs.cuni.cz). Open this page in Google Chrome and translate it.

1. What level of Czech is required to enter your faculty?

   You can find this information in our table of universities that accept the CCE exam.

2. Specify the deadline for applying to universities.

3. How do you fill out a university admissions application?

4. How much does a university admissions application cost?

5. What university are you planning to apply to after completing your studies at ILPS CU? What will be your field of study?

6. What is this field of study about? What exactly will you study? What do graduates of this specialization do?

7. Do you know how many people are applying for your field of study? Why do you think you will be accepted into the programme?

8. How long does your university programme take?

   Learn more about the higher education system in our blog articles:

   • Bachelor’s Degree in the Czech Republic

   • Medical degree in the Czech Republic

9. What are the dates of the entrance exams?

10. What subjects will you study in the winter semester of your first year at university?

    In the search query, combine the name of your field of study, the words "curriculum" and the address of the university's website (in the format site:fhs.cuni.cz).

11. Do you know the grading system in the Czech Republic?

    It varies depending on which faculty you study at. You get grades either in the format of A, B, C, D, F (where A is the highest grade) or as in school 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, where 1 is the highest grade and 5 is the complete opposite.

12. How many credits do you need to earn to receive a diploma?

13. What other requirements must be met to receive a diploma?

8. Question topic: Plans for the future

Of course, at this point it is hard know what will happen in 4 to 6 years when you finish your studies. However, you might be asked questions similar to the following.

1. What do you plan to do after graduation?

   
   

2. Do you plan to stay in the Czech Republic and live and work here?

   You don't have to make anything up. If the future is uncertain, describe it this way: distant and involving several obvious possibilities.

9. Question topic: Czech Republic

It is expected that you have studied a little about the Czech Republic in preparation for your trip. Although you still cannot know the answers to all the questions.

1. Do you know the name of the President of the Czech Republic?

2. What is the name of the capital of the Czech Republic and what do you know about it?

3. What other big cities in the Czech Republic do you know and what do you know about them?

4. Which countries share borders with the Czech Republic?

10. Difficult questions

These questions are not meant to test your knowledge, but rather to find out what your true intentions are. If you are asked one of the questions below or something similar, respond as you wish: smile for a funny question, think for a difficult one. And if you don't have an answer, say it straight out.

1. What will you do if you fail to learn Czech or fail the entrance exam?

   That will be a big blow. I'll be very sad and go home.

2. What flooring is used in the classrooms of your future study centre?

   Haha! I didn't think that was important information. I'll definitely have a look when I get there.

3. Don't you think you gave a very strange answer to that question? Shall I write it down?

   Yes, write it down.