Tom Davisson is not ready to leave Prague, but local authorities tell him it's time to go.

By Dan Fitzgerald

Czech authorities have order five students enrolled in NYU’s study-abroad program in Prague to pack their bags and go home early.

The five students faced deportation after their visas expired in April. A sixth, Samuel Greenberg, escaped a deportation order when he received a visa extension from Spain, where he studied last autumn

Like Greenberg, the other five students were studying abroad last semester and did not apply for student visas in their home country as required by Czech law.

Citizens of the United States and many other countries may travel to the Czech Republic and stay as tourists for up to 90 days. Such travelers are on their honor to leave the country again within that time. NYU’s Prague program lasts 118 days.

The Czech government, at the request of NYU in Prague, granted the students 15-day visa extensions from April 20.

One of the five, senior Tom Davisson, was studying in Argentina last semester. He was not planning on leaving the Czech Republic before his visa extension ran out May 5. “If the police were to check my passport, I could be detained and deported,” he said.

If the students overstay their visa extensions, they face a six-month ban on entry to the Schengen Area, a territory of 25 European countries which share a common visa policy.

Students at NYU in Prague have had a tough time with Czech visas this semester owing to a change in bureaucracy. On January 1, the Czech government transferred the administration of visas from the Foreigners Police to the Ministry of the Interior. A backlog of visa applications resulted, leaving many students with incomplete paperwork when it came time to fly to Prague.

Five students enrolled in the Prague program applied for their visas in Berlin in mid-February, without success. A sixth, a Canadian, went to Bratislava, where authorities rejected her application outright.

One of the students going home early, Paige Hexton, came to Prague in January after a semester in Paris. Hexton blames NYU’s study-abroad office for sending students to Prague without visas and without knowing for certain that they could get visas after they arrived.

“I contacted NYU in New York from Paris several times, asking if there was a precedent of students studying abroad for two consecutive semesters, and was assured that it would be no problem,” Hexton said.

NYU in Prague has vowed to help the students rebook their plane tickets and reimburse them for the charges. NYU will also refund them the cost of one week’s housing. The students have the option of taking their finals early or in New York.

“The whole thing seems to be an unfortunate problem with timing,” said Jiří Pehe, director of NYU’s Prague program. “It is also a lesson for NYU: Students who do not come directly from the U.S. but from other NYU sites abroad need to find ways to apply for their visas.”