A long-term residence permit is extended on application, and the application has a window: no later than the last day of validity, no earlier than 120 days before it. Anyone who applies in time may stay in the country until a decision is made, even if that takes a year. This is called the residence fiction. Anyone who applies a day late is applying as someone residing in the country without authorisation, and that changes everything.
What the fiction is and is not
The fiction keeps the old permit valid until the decision on the new application becomes final. You may work in the position for which the card was issued, you may be here. But the Supreme Administrative Court says repeatedly that the fiction "operates only as a fiction should": it allows you to stay until the decision, it is not a real residence permit. No further application for a different type of residence can be built on it, it cannot be chained, and if the original application is refused, the time spent under the fiction does not count towards the five years for permanent residence.
If reasons beyond your control prevented you from applying in time, you can apply within 5 working days after those reasons cease. You must state the reasons when applying and prove them when asked.
Why applications are refused
- Documents not supplied after a request, typically income, insurance, accommodation. The court upheld a refusal of an applicant who twice supplied turnover figures, but not income.
- Not fulfilling the purpose of residence: study without studying, business without doing business.
- Another serious obstacle, untrue information, listing in the register of undesirable persons.
For most grounds the authority must weigh the proportionality of the impact on private and family life. The courts set aside decisions where the authority dismissed that in a single sentence.
Defence
An appeal to the Commission for Decision-Making in Matters of Residence of Foreign Nationals within 15 days, then a court action within 30 days. A missed deadline for the court action cannot be excused. In the appeal you can add what was missing, but not change what you are applying for. Write to us with what arrived, when you received it and when your validity ends. From those three dates, it can be said how much time there is.
What this rests on
No advice on this page is an opinion. Each one has a section of the law and a court decision behind it. Click through, the full text is on Europaius.
Statute
- § 47 zák. o pobytu cizincůdeadline for the extension application: before validity expires, no earlier than 120 days in advance; 5 working days after an obstacle ceases; fiction of validity until the decision is final
- § 44a zák. o pobytu cizincůextension of the validity of a long-term residence permit
- § 46 zák. o pobytu cizincůgrounds for not issuing a long-term residence permit, reference to the grounds for a long-term visa
- § 56 zák. o pobytu cizincůgrounds for refusal: failure to attend an interview, failure to supply documents, untrue information, listing in the register of undesirable persons and others
- § 170b zák. o pobytu cizincůappeal to the Commission for Decision-Making in Matters of Residence of Foreign Nationals
- § 172 zák. o pobytu cizincůcourt action within 30 days; a missed deadline cannot be excused
Case law
- 10 Azs 414/2020 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 29. 12. 2020)the fiction operates only as it should: it allows a lawful stay until the application is decided, it is not a real residence permit
- 6 Azs 130/2024 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 13. 5. 2024)no further applications can be decided on the basis of the fiction; the opposite reading would lead to endless chaining of the fiction and make it impossible to expel anyone
- 5 Azs 190/2023 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 2. 8. 2023)the time spent under the fiction after an application that was refused does not count towards continuous residence for permanent residence
- 5 Azs 62/2023 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 12. 4. 2023)after two requests the applicant supplied turnover figures and tax records, not total monthly income; the refusal of the application stood
- 4 Azs 257/2022 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 14. 10. 2022)the authority must assess the proportionality of the impact on family life genuinely, not formalistically; the Commission's decision set aside
A different situation?
- Employee card: refusal, expiry, change of job
- Permanent residence: application, refusal, revocation
- An administrative expulsion has arrived
- Citizenship: conditions, refusal, security grounds