AKMV 
Parliament is currently discussing an amendment to the Act on State Citizenship, with the proposed effective date being July 15, 2026. The main objective of the changes is to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and simplify individual processes.
The aim of the proposal is primarily to simplify the process of granting state citizenship to the descendants of former Czechoslovak citizens living abroad and to modernize procedures for proving state citizenship. The proposed legislation is part of broader legislative changes also related to the amendment of Act No. 404/2011 Coll. on the Residence of Foreigners.
State citizenship by descent – residence requirement
The most significant change in the proposal is the planned removal of the permitted residence requirement on the territory of the Slovak Republic when granting state citizenship to descendants of former Czechoslovak citizens.
According to current legislation:
“An applicant who has a permitted residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic may be granted state citizenship of the Slovak Republic without fulfilling the condition specified in paragraph 1(a), unless this Act provides otherwise, if they were not a state citizen of the Slovak Republic and at least one of their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents was a Czechoslovak state citizen born in the territory of the Slovak Republic.” – provision of Section 7, paragraph 2, letter j) of the Act on State Citizenship.
If the amendment is approved, the aforementioned residence requirement is to be omitted, as according to the explanatory memorandum “there is no reason to condition the granting of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic on a permitted residence, as it represents an unnecessary administrative burden for both the applicants and the state authorities acting in the matter.”
In terms of the systematic structure of the Act on State Citizenship, the above-cited provision of Section 7, paragraph 2, letter j) will be deleted in this form and will constitute a new separate paragraph 8.
In Section 7, a new paragraph 8 is inserted after paragraph 7, which reads: “(8) Without fulfilling the condition under paragraph 1(a), state citizenship of the Slovak Republic may be granted to an applicant who was not a state citizen of the Slovak Republic and at least one of whose parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents was a Czechoslovak state citizen born in the territory of the Slovak Republic.”.
The existing paragraph 8 is renumbered as paragraph 9.
The current version of the Act does not specify in detail which documents must be submitted to prove eligibility for Slovak citizenship by descent. Although the planned amendment addresses the issue of documents required for a citizenship application to prove eligibility, it does so only indirectly. The provision of Section 8, paragraph 3 contains a list of documents that must be submitted with the application. However, the current legislation does not reflect applications for citizenship by descent. The amendment introduces a new letter k) to this paragraph, which reads:
k) a deed or document by which the applicant proves that their parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak state citizen born in the territory of the Slovak Republic, if the application for granting state citizenship of the Slovak Republic is submitted pursuant to Section 7, paragraph 8.”.
It can again be noted that the legislator has not further specified the range of accepted documents. More information in this area can be found in our posts: Slovak Citizenship by Descent / Ancestors, and Slovak Citizenship by Ancestors (Grandparents / Great-grandparents).
Notice of acquisition of foreign citizenship and loss of citizenship
In the case of notification of the acquisition of foreign citizenship, or the loss of Slovak citizenship, the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic is the competent authority for decision-making.
Provision of Section 9, paragraph 17: “The loss of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic under paragraph 16 shall not occur if a state citizen of the Slovak Republic acquired the foreign state citizenship of a spouse during a joint marriage, or if the foreign state citizenship was acquired by birth, adoption, or if it was acquired by a minor child. A state citizen of the Slovak Republic is obliged to notify the Ministry in writing of the acquisition of foreign state citizenship under the previous sentence within 90 days of its acquisition and is obliged to submit with this notification documents in physical form proving the acquisition of foreign state citizenship and other documents proving that the loss of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic under the previous sentence did not occur, in particular a birth certificate, marriage certificate, and a final decision on the adoption of a child.“
Provision of Section 9, paragraph 18: “The loss of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic under paragraph 16 shall also not occur if a state citizen of the Slovak Republic acquired the foreign state citizenship of a state in which they had a permitted residence, registered residence, or otherwise recorded residence for at least five years at the time of acquiring the foreign state citizenship; the residence condition is considered fulfilled if the state citizen of the Slovak Republic actually resided in the territory of the foreign state during this period. A state citizen of the Slovak Republic is obliged to notify the Ministry in writing of the acquisition of foreign state citizenship under the previous sentence within 90 days of its acquisition and is obliged to submit with this notification documents in physical form proving the acquisition of foreign state citizenship and the length of residence in the state of acquisition of citizenship as of the date of its acquisition; the Ministry shall also request additional documents if they are necessary to prove the residence of the state citizen of the Slovak Republic in the territory of the foreign state. If, after receiving the notification under the previous sentence, it is proven that the residence condition under the first sentence is not met, the Ministry shall send the person who notified the acquisition of foreign state citizenship a written notification regarding the loss of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic pursuant to paragraph 1, letter b), and regarding the recording of its loss in the Central Registry of Acquisition and Loss of State Citizenship of the Slovak Republic and in the Register of Residents of the Slovak Republic.“
The planned amendment shifts the competence of the Ministry in the cases specified above to the district offices.
“In Section 9, paragraphs 17 and 18, throughout the entire text, the word “Ministry” in all grammatical forms is replaced by the words “district office at the seat of the region” in the appropriate grammatical form.
In Section 9, paragraph 18, the following sentence is added at the end: “The district office at the seat of the region shall record the acquisition of foreign state citizenship in the information systems according to the previous sentence while maintaining the state citizenship of the Slovak Republic pursuant to paragraph 17 and this paragraph.”
According to the explanatory memorandum, “it is more efficient to delegate this recording agenda from the central state administration body to these regional state administration bodies, which can communicate more operationally with natural persons as well as with the diplomatic missions of the Slovak Republic.“
Proving state citizenship with a naturalization certificate
According to current legislation, it is not possible to prove Slovak state citizenship with a naturalization certificate. Pursuant to the provision of Section 9, paragraph 1, state citizenship of the Slovak Republic is proven by
- a) a valid certificate of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic,
- b) a valid identity card,
- c) a valid passport, or
- d) a valid confirmation of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic.
The amendment will introduce a new letter e), according to which it will be possible to prove state citizenship also with a naturalization certificate, within a period of 90 days from the date of its receipt.
“In Section 9a, paragraph 1, letter d), the period at the end is replaced by the word ‘or’ and paragraph 1 is supplemented by letter e), which reads:
‘e) a deed of grant of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic; state citizenship of the Slovak Republic may be proven in this manner only within a period of 90 days from the date of its receipt pursuant to Section 8a, paragraph 10.’.”
If the amendment is adopted, it would remove the current additional administrative step consisting of the need to issue a certificate of Slovak state citizenship.
Changes in the application for a certificate at the embassy
Pursuant to Section 9a(2), “A Certificate of Citizenship of the Slovak Republic is issued by the competent district office in the regional capital upon submission of a written application for a Certificate of Citizenship of the Slovak Republic, which must be submitted in person at the district office in the regional capital, a diplomatic mission, or a consular office of the Slovak Republic.”
The amendment introduces the option to submit this application electronically or by mail.
“In Section 9a(2), the period at the end is replaced with a semicolon, and the following words are added: ‘An application may also be submitted electronically or by mail to a diplomatic mission or consular office of the Slovak Republic.’
“Section 9a is amended by adding paragraph 13, which reads:
“(13) In the case of an application by a natural person abroad for the issuance of a certificate of Slovak citizenship, the diplomatic mission or consular office of the Slovak Republic shall send the application for the issuance of a certificate of Slovak citizenship electronically to the district office in the regional capital. The district office in the regional capital shall send the issued document to the diplomatic mission or consular office of the Slovak Republic electronically. A document issued in this manner is valid for six months from the date of issuance and is not issued to the applicant. A certificate of Slovak citizenship on the form specified in paragraph 6 is issued to the applicant only if the applicant expressly requests it when submitting the application.”
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