Administrative expulsion is not a punishment for a crime. It is a decision by the police that you are here without authorisation, worked without a permit, or repeatedly broke the rules, and that you must therefore leave and may not return to the entire Schengen area for a certain period. A year, three, for serious grounds up to ten. The decision is handed to you in person, often right at the police station, and that starts the shortest deadline in the whole of immigration law.
Ten days
An appeal against administrative expulsion is filed within 10 days of delivery. For a foreign national under 18, 15 days. The appeal always has suspensive effect, so until it is decided the expulsion cannot be carried out. The Supreme Administrative Court upheld the dismissal of an appeal that arrived five days after the deadline, and also rejected the objection of a woman who, on the last day, sent only an empty appeal and claimed she had not understood the instructions.
Against the decision on the appeal there is a court action, again within 10 days, also with suspensive effect. Neither deadline can be excused if missed.
Proportionality
Expulsion cannot be ordered if its consequence would be a disproportionate interference with private or family life. The law lists what is weighed: the seriousness of the conduct, length of residence, age, health, family, social and cultural ties, economic circumstances, ties to the country of origin. In April 2026 the Supreme Administrative Court set aside the expulsion of a Belarusian man because both the court and the police had been satisfied that he had no family here and did not speak Czech, and had not examined at all what years of residence had done to him. The fact that relatives live in the country of origin is not enough on its own.
For repeated breaches of the rules, the court reminds us that expulsion must be a proportionate response to specific conduct, not a blanket punishment for several fines.
Detention
After opening expulsion proceedings the police may detain the foreign national if there is a risk that they would obstruct enforcement or flee, and milder measures are insufficient. The decision on detention is the first step in the proceedings, there is no appeal against it, but a court action can be filed, which the court decides on a priority basis. This is exactly where a lawyer is needed most and is hardest to reach. If someone close to you is detained, write to us with where they are being held and since when. The rest can be found out.
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
- § 119 zák. o pobytu cizincůadministrative expulsion from temporary residence: grounds and an entry ban of up to 10 years
- § 119a zák. o pobytu cizincůexpulsion cannot be ordered if it would be a disproportionate interference with private or family life
- § 170 zák. o pobytu cizincůappeal within 10 days, for those under 18 within 15 days; the appeal always has suspensive effect
- § 172 zák. o pobytu cizincůcourt action against expulsion within 10 days, with suspensive effect; a missed deadline cannot be excused
- § 124 zák. o pobytu cizincůdetention of a foreign national for the purpose of expulsion; the decision is the first step, no appeal is admissible
- § 120a zák. o pobytu cizincůbinding opinion of the Ministry on whether departure is possible
Case law
- 7 Azs 82/2026 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 30. 4. 2026)the proportionality assessment was incomplete: besides family, length of residence, social ties and economic circumstances must be weighed; family in the country of origin alone is not enough; expulsion set aside
- 7 Azs 14/2019 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 15. 1. 2019)decision delivered on 21 July, the ten-day deadline expired on 31 July, appeal filed on 5 August: late, the dismissal stood
- 6 Azs 28/2020 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 25. 2. 2020)on the last day of the deadline only an empty appeal was filed; the objection that the applicant did not understand the instructions came only in the court action and failed
- 3 Azs 5/2020 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 3. 1. 2020)both the appeal and the court action against expulsion have suspensive effect; when deciding on suspensive effect the court weighs the harm to the foreign national against the public interest
- 4 Azs 177/2025 (Nejvyšší správní soud, 12. 8. 2025)expulsion for repeated breaches of the rules only where it is a proportionate response to specific conduct; assessed individually, not as a blanket measure
A different situation?
- Employee card: refusal, expiry, change of job
- Long-term residence: extension, refusal, fiction
- Permanent residence: application, refusal, revocation
- Citizenship: conditions, refusal, security grounds