AKMV Marriage to a foreigner in Slovakia
QUESTION
Hello, I am a citizen of the Slovak Republic with permanent residence in Eastern Slovakia and temporary residence in Bratislava. I have a fiancée originating from Serbia. My fiancée does not hold a Certificate of a Slovak Living Abroad (she does not have Slovak ethnicity). In her home country (Serbia), she studied at primary and secondary school in the Slovak language; during her studies, she completed educational exchange stays in Slovakia. She also completed her university education here in Slovakia, specifically in Nitra. Currently, she works in Bratislava. Her spoken and written Slovak is at a very high level. Her temporary residence is also in Bratislava.
In the course of this year, we want to enter into a joint marriage union. After the wedding, we both plan to stay and live in Bratislava or the surrounding area. I read information on your website about what is needed and what documents we need to get married. My fiancée has already been through a few residency procedures, and since we have been together, I also have knowledge of how it works, especially at the Foreign Police. We would like to avoid complicating things with them. We are most interested in how to coordinate this timing-wise; we want to have the wedding at the registry office in Bratislava. We know that my fiancée must report every change to the Foreign Police. Since her surname will change after the wedding, she must go home to arrange all documents (passport, etc…), and at the same time, her residence address will change since we will be living together.
It is a lot of things that need to be arranged, and we would like to know how much time we have for this, or by when we must notify the police of the change and simultaneously apply for permanent residence for my fiancée, then-wife, as she will be entitled to it. Also, regarding documents, we know that they usually do not want to recognize documents older than 3 months. What needs to be arranged first? Can she go home after the wedding and wait for new documents (passport, ID card, etc.), or should she first report this change to the Foreign police and only then start arranging new documents due to the surname change?
ANSWER:
The obligations of third-country nationals are listed in Section 111 of Act No. 404/2011 Coll. on the Residence of Foreigners. It follows from this section that all fundamental changes must be reported to the Foreign Police within a period that begins to run from the day the change occurred. The deadlines are as follows:
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a foreigner must report to the police department a change of name, surname, personal status, nationality, and data in the travel document within five working days from the day the change occurred; the same applies to the replacement of a travel document
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a foreigner must apply within five working days for the issuance of a new residence document if the records in it do not correspond to reality, i.e., a change in the data listed therein has occurred
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notify the police department if they will be staying within the territory of the Slovak Republic outside the place of granted residence continuously for more than 30 days
Therefore, if your fiancée changes her surname due to marriage, or the address where she will reside in the SR, she reports this to the Foreign Police within five working days from the day the change occurred and simultaneously applies for a new residence card if any data on it has changed. A foreigner thus notifies the Foreign Police of changes only after they have occurred, not in advance. When the marriage takes place, your then-wife can apply for permanent residence in the territory of the SR. The Foreign Police will decide on the permanent residence within 90 days.
JUDr. Veronika Michalíková, MBA QUESTION
Hello, I have a question regarding the wedding. Can I have a wedding at the office even in the case that I do not have a permanent address? I am a citizen of the SR, I have Slovak nationality, I live in the territory of the SR, specifically Gabčíkovo, Dunajská Streda district, but I do not have a permanent address. My fiancé is a foreigner and we would like to get married.
How does it affect the wedding if I only have a temporary address? What does he, as a foreigner, need for the wedding and how should we proceed? His work visa is ending now; can we still get married? Or does he need to extend his stay in the SR? And if so, how to proceed further with that?
ANSWER:
You can conclude a marriage even outside of your place of permanent residence. It is necessary to request this from the registry office in the district where one of the fiancés has permanent residence or temporary residence.
Before concluding the marriage, it is necessary to submit the appropriate documents at least 7 days before the wedding:
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application for the conclusion of marriage
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birth certificate
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document of state citizenship
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confirmation of residence
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death certificate of a deceased spouse, or also the marriage certificate of the terminated marriage if it concerns a widower or widow, or a final judgment of divorce if it concerns a divorced person, or a final judgment declaring the marriage invalid
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document of personal identification number (rodné číslo)
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a document that can prove identity
A foreigner who wants to conclude a marriage in the territory of the Slovak Republic must submit, no later than 14 days before the wedding:
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birth certificate
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document of personal status (not older than 6 months)
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document of state citizenship
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document of residence
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death certificate of a deceased spouse or another public document confirming that the marriage was terminated, if it concerns a widowed foreigner
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a final judgment of divorce or another public document confirming that the marriage is legally divorced, if it concerns a divorced foreigner
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a document that can prove identity
In the case of a state citizen of the Slovak Republic who has permanent residence abroad, it is necessary to submit for a wedding with a foreigner:
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confirmation of residence issued by the relevant office abroad
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document of state citizenship, which can be replaced by a valid travel passport
All documents that were issued abroad must be officially certified with an “apostille” or superlegalized, and translated into Slovak by a translator registered in the list of experts, interpreters, and translators maintained by the Ministry of Justice of the SR.
Since your fiancé’s temporary residence granted for the purpose of employment is ending, it is necessary that he submits the application for the extension of the work permit at the earliest 90 and at the latest 30 days, or 20 days (in the case of seasonal employment), before the expiration of the granted work permit on the official form and, at the same time, at the earliest 20 working days after reporting the job vacancy to the locally relevant labor office. The office may repeatedly extend his temporary residence, but always only for a maximum of 2 years.
The administrative fee for concluding a marriage with a foreigner is €66.
JUDr. Veronika Michalíková, MBA