Loss of Slovak citizenship due to acquisition of citizenship of another state

Many “Slovaks” have lost their Slovak citizenship and don’t even know it. They usually find out only when they go to exchange their old identity card or passport for a new one.

The loss of the SR state citizenship directly by law through the acquisition of foreign state citizenship does not occur in the event that a national of the Slovak Republic acquired foreign state citizenship:

With effect from April 2022, a citizen will not lose Slovak citizenship even if he acquired the foreign citizenship of a state in which he had a permitted residence, registered residence or otherwise registered 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 loss of SR citizenship (dual citizenship) or in the article How to retain Slovak citizenship after acquiring citizenship of another state.

From 1 April 2022, the loss of the state citizenship of the Slovak Republic will not occur if the national of the Slovak Republic acquired the foreign citizenship of a state in which he had a permitted residence, registered residence or otherwise registered residence for at least five years at the time of acquiring the foreign citizenship, the residence condition is considered fulfilled if the national of the Slovak Republic actually stayed on the territory of the foreign state during this period.

A national of the Slovak Republic is obliged to notify the ministry in writing of the acquisition of foreign citizenship according to the previous sentence within 90 days of its acquisition, and is obliged to submit to this notification documentary evidence proving the acquisition of foreign citizenship and the length of stay in the state of acquisition of citizenship as of the date of its acquisition; the ministry will also request other documents, if necessary to prove the residence of the national of the Slovak Republic on the territory of the foreign state.

If, after receiving the notification, it is proven that the residence condition is not fulfilled, the ministry shall send a written notification of the loss of the state citizenship of the Slovak Republic and of the entry of a record of its loss in the Central Register of Acquisition and Loss of the State Citizenship of the Slovak Republic and in the register of inhabitants of the Slovak Republic to the person who notified the acquisition of foreign citizenship.

The Citizenship Act stipulates the obligation to notify the district office in the regional seat of the loss of SR citizenship without delay; failure to comply with this obligation constitutes a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of EUR 3,319.

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According to telephone information from the District Office Bratislava, there is no guideline for the district offices according to which the district offices would assess whether the notification was carried out within a period that can be considered immediate. District offices take into account that the preparation of the notification of the loss of SR citizenship along with all submitted documents, including official translations and higher verification, requires a certain amount of time.

The notification is made on the form “Notification of loss of SR state citizenship”. In addition to the completed form, the following must also be submitted to the district office in the regional seat:

The mentioned documents must be submitted in the original or in certified photocopies, while documents issued abroad must be officially translated and provided with an apostille or superlegalized. The notification of loss of SR state citizenship can also be carried out by post or through an authorized representative, while the signature on the power of attorney must be officially certified.

Read also: Voluntary loss of Slovak state citizenship

In this context, we point out that if the travel document is not handed over, the travel document is considered stolen.

Failure to hand over the invalid travel document without delay after the document became invalid is an offence for which a fine of up to EUR 33 may be imposed.

Authorities do not conduct ex offo investigation for the purpose of ascertaining whether a citizen has acquired the citizenship of another state and thereby lost Slovak citizenship. However, this fact may be revealed in proceedings before public administration bodies.

By losing the holder’s state citizenship, the identity card also becomes invalid in accordance with the provision of Section 10 par. 1 letter a) of Act No. 224/2006 Coll. on identity cards and on the amendment and supplementation of certain acts. A holder whose identity card is invalid due to the loss of state citizenship is obliged to hand it over without delay to the district directorate of the police force or to a diplomatic mission. An identity card that is not handed over is considered stolen. Failure to hand over the identity card is an offence, the commission of which may be sanctioned by a fine of up to EUR 33.

The handing over of documents must be preceded by the registration of the loss of the SR state citizenship of the document holder in the state administration system, so before handing over the documents, we recommend verifying this fact at the district office in the regional seat where the notification of the loss of state citizenship was submitted. The documents can be handed over in person, through another person (a power of attorney is not required), and invalid documents can also be sent by post. Documents can be handed over within the Slovak Republic at any District Directorate of the Police Force. The District Directorate of the Police Force will issue a confirmation of the handing over of the documents.

The adoption of the Regulation of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic of January 9, 2015, on the granting of the state citizenship of the Slovak Republic for special reasons, enabled former citizens of the Slovak Republic to be granted SR state citizenship due to being in the interest of the Slovak Republic, and thus without the need to fulfill the condition of 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 SR state citizenship.

After announcing the loss of SR state citizenship, a former citizen of the SR can submit an application for the granting of SR state citizenship to the district office in the regional seat, a diplomatic mission, or a consular office of the SR. The application is submitted in person on the form “Application for the granting of citizenship of the Slovak Republic” together with the form “Questionnaire for the applicant for the granting of citizenship of the Slovak Republic.”

In the application, in addition to the general requirements, it is necessary to state that the application is submitted for special reasons and that the special reason is the fact that the applicant is a former citizen of the SR.

The following must be attached to the application:

Further documents depending on which relate to the applicant:

The applicant may be asked to submit additional documents, in addition to the above, if necessary. The mentioned documents must be submitted in the original or in certified photocopies, while documents issued abroad must be officially translated and provided with an apostille or superlegalized.

The District Office where the application was submitted will forward the application for further proceedings to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, Public Administration Section, and the application will subsequently be submitted to the Minister of the Interior. When deciding on the application, the Minister also takes into account the facts that were the reason for the loss of SR state citizenship and the manner and conditions of the acquisition of foreign state citizenship, especially the existence of a permitted, evidenced, or registered residence in the foreign state at the time of the acquisition of foreign state citizenship.

There is no legal right to the granting of SR state citizenship, however, according to telephone information from the District Office Bratislava, in practice, state citizenship is generally granted to former citizens of the SR.

You can read more about this topic in our article: How to retain Slovak citizenship after acquiring citizenship of another state.

In connection with the reacquisition of SR state citizenship, we note that retaining SR state citizenship and at the same time foreign state citizenship is only possible if the legal regulation of the foreign state, whose citizenship is to be retained together with SR state citizenship, allows it, and thus that the acquisition of SR state citizenship will not result in the loss of the state citizenship of the foreign state.

Read also: Acquisition of Slovak citizenship by descendants and other changes

One of the conditions for reacquiring the state citizenship of the SR is to have a granted residence in the territory of the SR. In practice, we have encountered cases where former SR citizens (in our case, UK citizens) were granted permanent residence for 5 years pursuant to Section 45a Par. 1 letter b) of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners for reasons worthy of special consideration. They submitted the application for residence at the diplomatic mission of the SR together with the application for the reacquisition of Slovak citizenship.

Since the Slovak travel document of a former citizen of the Slovak Republic becomes invalid on the day of the loss of SR state citizenship (i.e., on the day of acquisition of foreign state citizenship), it is necessary to apply the procedure required by the legal regulation of the residence of foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic for citizens of the state whose citizenship the former Slovak citizen acquired when residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

More detailed information on obtaining temporary residence for the purpose of employment can be found on our website (Temporary residence for the purpose of employment). In the case of third-country nationals, however, the police department has 90 days to decide on granting residence. Submitting an application for temporary residence for the purpose of employment is preceded by the obligation to obtain the consent of the labor office – confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant job: Employment of a foreigner in the SR and temporary residence for the purpose of employment.