"In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic the state of emergency was declared in the Czech Republic from March 13th, 2020 and will probably end on May 17th, 2020.

Foreign nationals, who were in the Czech Republic legally at the time of the declaration of the state of emergency, were allowed to stay in the Czech Republic for the duration of the state of emergency, even if their residence permit expired.

After the end of the state of emergency, foreign nationals will not be sanctioned for staying in the Czech Republic without a valid residence permit for another 60 days. At this time, they do not even have to deal with the expired validity of the stay at the offices of the Ministry of the Interior or the Police of the Czech Republic. However, they are obliged to leave the Czech Republic during these 60 days.

In order to ensure a smooth return of foreign nationals to the country of origin, the legality of their stay will be certified during border control by the special stamp in the travel document at the time of departure from the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic informed all states about this procedure.

To facilitate smooth return this certificate of legality of stay in the form of the stamp in the travel document will be introduced from Monday, May 4th, 2020.

Warning:

The validity of this measure is limited in time and applies only to persons who were legally residing in the Czech Republic at the time of the declaration of the state of emergency. Foreign nationals who want to continue their legal stay in the Czech Republic and their long-term visa or long-term residence permit expires must apply for its extension.

Author: Tomáš Petyovský, Petyovský & Partner

This article was taken from the website of Czech Ministry of Interior - link