A foreign national is entitled to apply for the extension of his/her stay on the territory of the Czech Republic on a visa or extension of his/her visa validity not earlier than 120 days and no later than 14 days (in the case of short-stay visas not earlier than 30 days and no later than 3 days) prior to the expiration of the permitted stay on the territory or expiration of visa validity.

If a foreign national was prevented from submitting the application for reasons beyond his/her control, that foreign national may file the application within three working days after such reasons cease to exist; his/her visa is deemed to be valid until this entitlement ceases to exists.

• The conditions for extending the validity and length of stay permitted on the basis of a short-stay visa (i.e. visa for stay up to 90 days) are stipulated by § 29 of the Alien Act.
• The conditions for extending the stay permitted on the basis of a long-stay visa (i.e. visa for stay over 90 days) are stipulated by § 35 of the Alien Act.

In this context it must be stated that a foreign national is obliged to leave the territory of the Czech Republic on the last day of visa validity at the latest. By not meeting this obligation, a foreign national is committing a minor offence stipulated by § 157 par. 1 letter m of the Alien Act, for which a fine up to CZK 5,000 may be imposed.

It shall be stressed that such behaviour is as a general rule a reason for commencing proceedings on administrative expulsion from the Czech Republic. By taking the decision, a foreign national is given a period of time within which he/she has to leave the Czech Republic (for this purpose, he/she is issued an exit order – “výjezdní příkaz”) and his entry into the Czech Republic – and possibly also other Schengen States – may be limited for up to 3 years.