Temporary Residence of a Foreigner for the Purpose of Study

A foreigner (third-country national) may obtain temporary residence for the purpose of study in the Slovak Republic if:

• a) Is a full-time student at a secondary school and is under 20 years of age on the date of submitting the application for temporary residence; if they are enrolled in post-secondary, qualification, specialization, or higher vocational studies, they must be under 23 years of age on the date of submitting the application for temporary residence,
• b) Is a university student, 
• c) Is participating in a language or professional preparation course for university studies, which is organized and conducted by a university in the Slovak Republic.

Together with the application form, it is necessary to submit:

1. a valid passport,

2. a document proving the purpose of residence, i.e. confirmation from the competent state authority or school of admission to study, or confirmation from an organisation administratively ensuring programmes approved by the Government of the Slovak Republic or EU programmes,

3. a criminal record extract (except for secondary school pupils),

4. confirmation of accommodation secured in the territory of the Slovak Republic (except for university students).

All documents submitted to the Foreign Police must always be in the original or in an officially certified copy, not older than 90 days.

If the documents are in a language other than Slovak or Czech, an officially certified translation into Slovak is required. Please note that if the translation was prepared abroad, it must be confirmed by the competent Slovak embassy in that country.

All foreign documents must also be apostilled or superlegalised.

No fee is charged for submitting an application for temporary residence for the purpose of study. It is necessary to pay the fee for the issuance and delivery of the residence permit document.

The Foreign Police has 30 days to decide on the residence permit.

Temporary residence for the purpose of study is granted for the expected duration of the study, but for a maximum period of 6 years.

During the first 90 days from the beginning of residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic, temporary residence is not required in certain cases. The condition is that the foreigner (a third-country national) meets the conditions of residence under Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 establishing a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code), and at the same time has fulfilled the obligation under § 111 para. 2 letter a) – to notify, within three working days from entry into the territory of the Slovak Republic, the beginning, place and expected duration of stay, if he or she was granted a Schengen visa or a national visa, or if no visa is required, unless this obligation rests with the accommodation provider.

A foreigner – a third-country national who has been granted temporary residence for the purpose of study by the Police Department – may engage in business activities during the period of temporary residence without the need to apply for a change of the purpose of residence.

The school where the foreigner is studying is obliged to notify the Police Department in writing within 10 working days of the commencement of studies, interruption of studies, termination of studies, expulsion from studies, or successful completion of studies of a third-country national who has been granted temporary residence for the purpose of study.

Likewise, a language school attended by a foreigner – a third-country national who has been granted a national visa under § 15 para. 1 letter b) – is obliged to notify the Ministry of Interior in writing within three working days of the aforementioned facts, as stated in the previous sentence.