Obtaining Slovak citizenship by descent / ancestry

Question:

I would like to obtain my grandparents’ certified birth certificates in Slovakia as part of a dual citizenship application based on descent. I am a US citizen but my grandfather was born in 1891, and emigrated to the United States in 1913. My grandmother was born in 1907 and emigrated to the United States in 1921.

Answer:

We can request a birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate or census sheet.

If the ancestor emigrated before 1921, you must submit proof that he/she had Czechoslovak citizenship. As the first population census was only in 1921, it would be ideal to have a passport or other official document issued in Czechoslovakia, in which the citizenship is stated. The ancestor’s birth certificate does not declare Czechoslovak citizenship.

For more information see here: Slovak citizenship by descent

Question:

I was born in 1970 in Australia. My mother was born in Ilava and was a citizen of Czechoslovakia, but my father was an Australian citizen. Can I apply for Slovak citizenship?

Answer:

Since January 1, 1969, Act No. 206/1968 Coll. on the Acquisition and Loss of Citizenship of the Slovak Socialist Republic has been in effect in Slovakia. According to Section 8, Paragraph 4 of this law, a child born to one foreign parent automatically acquires Slovak citizenship at birth if the other parent is a Slovak citizen. Based on this provision, you may have acquired Slovak citizenship by birth. Therefore, we recommend first applying for a certificate of Slovak citizenship, as this process is simpler.

If the certificate is not granted, you can then apply for citizenship based on ancestry. For more information on the procedure, required documents, and timeframes for issuing the certificate, please visit our page:

Certificate of Slovak Citizenship

Our law firm can assist you in preparing and submitting your application. Feel free to contact us for further information or assistance.

Otázka

I am from Australia. I would like assistance and a price outline to get help with applying for citizenship by descent. (Great grandparents)

Odpoveď:

Dear Madam,

we are a law firm in Slovakia, we provide legal services in the area of citizenship law.

Here are some basic information:

According to § 7 par. 2 of the Act (effective from April 1, 2022): “An applicant who has a residence permit in the territory of the Slovak Republic may be granted citizenship of the Slovak Republic without fulfilling the condition specified in paragraph 1 letter a) (i.e. continuous permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic for at least eight years immediately preceding the submission of the application for the granting of citizenship of the Slovak Republic), unless this Act provides otherwise, if

  1. j) he / she was not a citizen of the Slovak Republic and at least one of his parents, grandparents or great-grandparents was a Czechoslovak citizen born in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

As it is stated above:

  • the applicant must have a registered residence in Slovakia – the ancestor can together with the application for citizenship asks for the permanent residence permit in Slovakia 
  • applicant has never been a citizen of Slovakia
  • the applicant must be a descendant of a Slovak – either a parent, a grandparent or a great-grandparent this parent, grandparent or great-grandparent were born at the territory of the Slovak Republic.

Proof of knowledge of the Slovak language will not be necessary in this case.

If you are interested in our services, please send us the following data:

  • the person who is interested in acquiring Slovak citizenship (you), in the following scope:
  • name and surname,
  • date of birth,
  • place of birth,
  • nationality,
  • other relevant facts about you (previous citizenship, emigration, deprivation of citizenship…) and
  • both of your parents and your grandparents and great-grandparents on the side of a parent who has Slovak roots, to the extent of:
  • first and last name,
  • date of birth,
  • place of birth,
  • nationality,
  • date of immigration,
  • other relevant facts about them (previous nationality, emigration, deprivation of nationality…),
  • at the same time, please indicate their mutual family relations (e.g. John X. is the father of Paul X.), or provide us with a simple family tree.

If you have any documents proving that your ancestors were born on the territory of the Slovak Republic or that they were Czechoslovak citizens, or documents proving that they acquired foreign citizenship, please send them in the form of a scan. These are in particular birth certificates, naturalization documents, census sheets, marriage certificates, death certificates, passports, extracts from the registry office, etc. On the papers must be written “CzechoSlovak citizenship”. It is not necessary to provide these documents if you do not have them, but they may be very helpful to us.

 

Please send us email to our email address: office@akmv.sk and we will provide you with more information or we will schedule a video call to discuss your situation. 

 

More information can be seen here: Slovak citizenship by descent