AKMV 
Retention of Slovak Citizenship if I Acquire Another One
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If you are interested in legal services, do not hesitate to contact us at office@akmv.sk.
QUESTION
I am Slovak. I live and work in Canada. I have been here for 4 years and 7 months. For almost the entire time, I have been employed by a Canadian company, and I have always maintained a valid Canadian status, meaning valid visas. During these nearly 5 years, I have visited Slovakia and other countries several times (several weeks to 1-month vacations), but I was always employed in Canada and worked for my employer.
My problem concerns citizenship… Last month, I was able to acquire Canadian citizenship. The entire process went very quickly, and even though it was supposed to take over 18 months, the process of acquiring citizenship only took a little over 4 months.
Yesterday, I read online that for a Slovak to have dual citizenship recognized, they must have lived in the country for at least 5 years before acquiring the other citizenship. The problem is that I don’t have a full 5 years. However, I want to stay in Canada and currently do not plan to return to Slovakia.
I would like to ask for your advice… I would prefer not to lose my Slovak citizenship just because I was able to acquire Canadian citizenship quickly, or because I was lucky that the Canadian authorities processed it quickly. However, I understand that I did not meet the 5-year condition. I also don’t know how exactly this is calculated. Is there a way to officially maintain dual citizenship in my case? Without hiding it from the Slovak authorities. Is it possible to apply for an exemption? What are the chances that they will revoke my Slovak citizenship?
ANSWER:
As of April 2022, a Slovak citizen will not lose their Slovak citizenship if they acquired foreign citizenship from a country where they had legal residence, registered residence, or other documented residence for at least five years at the time of acquiring the foreign citizenship.
More in our article here: Acquisition of citizenship of another state without losing Slovak citizenship (dual citizenship) or in the article How to keep Slovak citizenship after acquiring citizenship of another state
In your case, we would need to assess whether you meet the conditions. We recommend discussing your options with our colleague who specializes in this issue. We would be happy to assist you, as we handle this matter in practice. Please do not hesitate to contact us at office@akmv.sk.
We will explain to you how the five years is calculated and whether this condition applies to your case.
If not, she will suggest another approach (most likely reacquiring Slovak citizenship for former citizens). More information here: I Acquired Foreign Citizenship and Want to Get Back Slovak Citizenship. The legal deadline for the decision on acquiring citizenship is 24 months. If it concerns former Slovak citizens, we have encountered cases with our clients where the process took about 6 months. Of course, it depends on the ministry, and we cannot guarantee this timeframe.
QUESTION
Hello, I would like to inquire if there is a possibility to retroactively legalize a second citizenship – specifically U.S. citizenship – alongside Slovak citizenship. This concerns a case where the American citizenship was acquired several years ago, but Slovak authorities were not informed of this fact. Is it possible to resolve this situation retroactively through administrative means?
ANSWER:
Thank you for your question.
Following the factual situation you have provided, we would like to explain the legal regulations regarding this issue in several areas.
In general, a Slovak citizen loses Slovak citizenship on the day they voluntarily acquire foreign citizenship by an explicit expression of will, such as an application, declaration, or other action aimed at acquiring foreign citizenship.
However, there are exceptions where the loss of citizenship does not occur. These are the following situations:
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If a Slovak citizen acquired foreign citizenship through marriage to a foreign national during the course of their marriage.
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If the foreign citizenship was acquired by birth,
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adoption,
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or by a minor child,
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if a Slovak citizen acquired foreign citizenship from a country where they had legal, registered, or otherwise documented residence for at least five years at the time of acquiring foreign citizenship; the residency requirement is considered met if the Slovak citizen actually resided in the foreign country for that period.
If you meet any of the above conditions, you should not lose your Slovak citizenship.
The above regulations apply as of April 1, 2022, which means that if you acquired U.S. citizenship after this date, you should retain your Slovak citizenship.
If you lost Slovak citizenship by acquiring foreign citizenship between July 17, 2010, and March 31, 2022, under Section 7(7) of the Citizenship Act, you may be granted Slovak citizenship again without meeting the requirement for continuous residence in Slovakia for at least 8 years, if you had legal residence in the foreign country for at least five years before acquiring the foreign citizenship and can provide documentary proof of these facts.
Acquiring foreign citizenship is also associated with the obligation to notify the Ministry of the Interior within 90 days of acquiring it. “Anyone who fails to notify the loss of Slovak citizenship or the acquisition of foreign citizenship immediately commits an offense. A fine of up to €330 may be imposed for such an offense.”
In your case, if you acquired U.S. citizenship between July 17, 2010, and March 31, 2022, you would need to retroactively submit a Notification of Acquisition of Foreign Citizenship to the Ministry and then proceed with the process of reacquiring Slovak citizenship. In this process, you would need to prove your actual presence in the U.S. for 5 years prior to acquiring U.S. citizenship.
If you acquired U.S. citizenship after April 1, 2022, you would again need to retroactively submit a Notification of Acquisition of Foreign Citizenship. If you meet at least one of the above conditions (in your case, marriage or 5 years of residence), you should not lose Slovak citizenship.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at our email address recepcia@akmv.sk or by phone at +421 915 046 749.