Dual Citizenship Hungary – Slovakia

We would like to provide you with information regarding the possibility of acquiring dual citizenship for your child. Since 1961, Decree No. 37/1961 of the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been in effect, concerning the Convention between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Hungarian People’s Republic on the regulation of certain citizenship matters, which remains valid to this day (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention”).

According to Article 2 of the Convention: “Persons to whom this Convention applies, who reside in the territory of one of the contracting parties and wish to choose the citizenship of the other contracting party, shall submit a written declaration to the representative authority of that other contracting party.”

If you reside in Hungary and wish your child to acquire Slovak citizenship, a declaration must be made pursuant to Article 8, paragraph 1: “In cases where dual citizenship arises for children after the deadline set in Article 2 has passed, the choice of citizenship of one of the contracting parties shall be decided by agreement of the parents, communicated to the competent registrar (or to the representative authority in the territory of a third state) through a joint declaration within one year of the child’s birth.” If you choose Slovak citizenship for your child, this declaration must be made either at the Slovak diplomatic mission or at a registry office (matrika).

We also point out Article 6, paragraph 3: “If no such agreement is reached, the child shall be a citizen of the contracting party on whose territory he or she has permanent residence on the day of birth.” Therefore, if you want your child to acquire Slovak citizenship, this declaration must be made.

After making the declaration of choosing Slovak citizenship, your child acquires Slovak citizenship. However, under § 9 of the Slovak Citizenship Act, “A Slovak citizen shall not lose Slovak citizenship under paragraph 16 if they acquired foreign citizenship by virtue of marriage with a foreign spouse during their marriage, or if the foreign citizenship was acquired by birth, adoption, or if it was acquired by a minor child.” This means that if your child acquires Slovak citizenship by declaration and also obtains Hungarian citizenship by birth, he or she may retain both citizenships. Whether your child acquires Hungarian citizenship by birth is governed by Hungarian law, which may also contain restrictions on dual citizenship. Therefore, we recommend contacting the Hungarian authorities to verify the situation from their side as well.

However, it is generally assumed that if you live in Hungary, the child automatically acquires Hungarian citizenship by birth. Therefore, we recommend that you make the declaration to the Slovak registry office for choosing Slovak citizenship within 1 year of the child’s birth. The competent registry office is the one in the area of your last permanent residence in Slovakia. By following this procedure, your child is most likely to acquire both Slovak and Hungarian citizenships.

We would like to provide you with information regarding the possibility of acquiring dual citizenship for your children, who were born in 2002 and 2003 in Budapest, Hungary. Based on the provided details, they most likely acquired Hungarian citizenship by birth.

According to § 5(1)(a) of Act No. 40/1993 Coll. on Slovak Citizenship (the “Slovak Citizenship Act”) in effect at the time of your daughters’ birth: “A child acquires Slovak citizenship if at least one of the parents is a citizen of the Slovak Republic.” Thus, children born at that time could generally acquire Slovak citizenship by birth.

However, legal arrangements between Slovakia and Hungary are special. Since 1961, Decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs No. 37/1961 (the “Decree”) has been in effect concerning the Convention between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Hungarian People’s Republic on regulating certain matters of citizenship (the “Convention”), which remains valid. The Convention’s goal is: “to eliminate cases of dual citizenship by requiring the individuals concerned to voluntarily choose the citizenship of one of the contracting states.”

You (the father) are a citizen of the Slovak Republic, and their mother is a Hungarian citizen. According to Slovak law, your daughters may have acquired Slovak citizenship by birth, and likely Hungarian citizenship under Hungarian law as well. However, dual citizenship between Slovakia and Hungary has been restricted by the Convention since 1961.

Under Article 8(1) of the Decree: “In cases where, after the deadline set in Article 2 (1 year after the Convention came into force), a child acquires dual citizenship, the choice of citizenship of one of the contracting parties is decided by mutual parental agreement, submitted to the competent registrar or, abroad, to the diplomatic mission, within one year of the child’s birth.”

If no such agreement is made, Article 8(2) states: “The child becomes a citizen of the state where they had permanent residence on the day of birth. If the child was born in a third country, the child becomes a citizen of the state where the parents had permanent residence before moving abroad.” According to the information you provided, your daughters only gained permanent residence in Slovakia in recent years. Presumably, they previously resided in Hungary. Therefore, if you did not make a formal declaration of citizenship with the mother within one year of birth, your daughters are considered Hungarian citizens only. Otherwise, they would be Slovak citizens only.

The Convention allows only one citizenship — either Hungarian or Slovak. Parents must decide within one year of the child’s birth. If they do not, the child automatically becomes a citizen of the country where they had permanent residence at birth. The two states exchange lists of these decisions. Even though Slovak law allows dual citizenship, § 17(1) of the Slovak Citizenship Act states: “If an international treaty binding for the Slovak Republic regulates certain citizenship matters differently than this Act, the treaty shall prevail.” Therefore, the Convention takes precedence, and only one citizenship is allowed by parental choice.

If you did make a declaration choosing Slovak citizenship, your daughters would have acquired it by birth, and this would be recorded in the register. In that case, they could now apply for a certificate of Slovak citizenship. This has been confirmed by the District Office in Bratislava – Department of Citizenship.

According to § 7(4) of the Slovak Citizenship Act effective from April 1, 2022: “An applicant whose former Czechoslovak citizenship ceased or who lost Czechoslovak citizenship due to long-term absence pursuant to §§ 31 and 32 of Article L of 1879 on the acquisition and loss of Hungarian citizenship, or by marriage pursuant to § 34 of Article L of 1879, or pursuant to § 2 of Act No. 102/1947 Coll. on the acquisition and loss of Czechoslovak citizenship by marriage, or pursuant to § 5 of Act No. 194/1949 Coll. on the acquisition and loss of Czechoslovak citizenship, or pursuant to § 13(1) of Slovak National Council Act No. 206/1968 Coll., or pursuant to international treaties, may be granted Slovak citizenship without meeting the condition under paragraph 1(a).” According to telephone information provided by the Ministry of Interior, former citizens of the Slovak Republic who lost Slovak citizenship due to an international treaty — specifically, the Convention — may apply for Slovak citizenship under this provision. The Ministry also confirmed that, theoretically, your daughters had both citizenships from birth, and after the one-year period, they lost Slovak citizenship (if no choice was made). For this reason, they may apply to reacquire Slovak citizenship as former citizens.

The Ministry of Interior also confirmed that Hungarian citizens who acquire Slovak citizenship are not required to renounce their Hungarian citizenship. No certificate of release from Hungary is requested. This was also confirmed by the District Office in Bratislava.