Certificate of fiction of residence for a third-country national

Main information

As a third-country national, if you submit a legitimate application for a residence permit or an extension of a residence permit/visa within the given time limit, in most cases your stay in the Czech Republic is considered legal during the whole administrative proceedings until the decision on the application becomes final.

The Ministry of the Interior will certify your right to stay in the territory after the application has been submitted with a visa label, which will be marked in your travel document in the form of a visa for a stay of more than 90 days, with a validity period corresponding to the expected duration of the application proceedings.

The validity of the document or certificate certifying the right to stay in the territory expires when the decision on the application becomes final.

This applies to you if

You are a third-country national and:

• in the given time limit and in line with the law, you apply for an extension of your long-term residence permit’s or visa’s validity, or you apply for a new long-term residence permit for another purpose, and at the same time
• the validity of your current biometric card or visa expires, and at the same time
• the decision on the application has not become final yet.

When to use this service

No earlier than 30 days before your residence permit expires, if you have applied for an extension of your long-term residence or visa or for a new long-term residence permit for another purpose.

Service settlement

What you need if you are using this service

• Travel document

Where and how to solve this service

In order to certify the fiction of residence (to mark the visa label), you must visit a Ministry of the Interior office in person.

Contacts to the offices can be found on the Information Portal for Foreigners. 

Additional information

What is the benefit of this service

You can prove that you are legally staying in the territory until a decision is taken on your application for an extension of your long-term residence permit or visa, or for a new long-term residence permit for another purpose.

The visa label is also used for travel purposes. You can travel within the Schengen area with a valid travel document and visa label. It also serves as a certificate of eligibility to return to the Czech Republic from countries outside the Schengen area.