Recognition of Marriage with a Foreigner in Slovakia (Registration of Marriage in the Special Registry)

Did you, as a Slovak citizen, marry a person of another nationality abroad? If so, don’t forget to register the marriage in Slovakia with the special registry and request the issuance of a Slovak marriage certificate.

A Slovak marriage certificate will also be required when applying for permanent residence for 5 years in Slovakia, which the spouse of a Slovak citizen is entitled to.

As a point of interest, note that the special registry also records marriages of Slovak citizens who were married abroad; therefore, some provisions of this article also apply to such registrations.

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The registration in the special registry and the issuance of a marriage certificate are governed by the provisions of § 23 of Act No. 154/1994 Coll. on Registries and § 35 of Decree No. 302/1994 Coll., which implements certain provisions of the Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on Registries.

The process of recognizing a marriage in Slovakia and issuing a Slovak marriage certificate involves proceedings before two authorities – the registry office and the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. However, instead of the registry office, the application may also be submitted at a Slovak diplomatic mission abroad.

The first step is therefore to contact the registry office in the place of permanent residence of the Slovak spouse, or, if none, the spouse’s last place of residence in Slovakia.

At the registry office, a record of the marriage will be drawn up before an official. This record includes various details—not only about the time and place of the marriage, bride and groom, but also about their parents and witnesses. It is therefore necessary to gather all the required information in advance. The record is completed by one of the spouses. The data in the record must correspond exactly with that in the foreign marriage certificate, including the chosen surname of the wife and its form (e.g., with the suffix “-ová”).

In addition to the record of marriage, the following documents must be submitted to the registry office:

In some cases, the registry office may require submission of birth certificates or other documents. It is advisable to verify the specific requirements in advance with the competent registry office.

Please note that foreign-issued documents must be apostilled or superlegalized and translated into Slovak by an official Slovak translator.

We recommend making notarized copies of the submitted documents so the original documents can remain with the spouses.

The record of marriage must be submitted in person or through an authorized representative at one of the designated authorities. The signature on the power of attorney must be notarized.

To provide more efficient services to Slovak citizens living abroad, it is possible to obtain a Slovak marriage certificate through a Slovak diplomatic mission. The Slovensko.sk public administration portal offers the service: Submitting Applications for the Registration of a Vital Event Abroad – Record of Marriage.

Through this service, the applicant books an appointment at the relevant embassy, and further communication with public authorities takes place via their electronic mailbox, significantly speeding up the process.

This service is for booking an appointment only. The application must be submitted in person at the reserved date. The completed Slovak marriage certificate will be sent directly by the special registry to the diplomatic mission where the application was submitted, and the applicant will collect it there.

Although the statutory period is 3 months, in practice the registration and issuance of the Slovak marriage certificate typically take around 4–6 weeks.
According to the law:
“Registration in the special registry shall be carried out no later than three months from the date the application is received by the special registry. In justified cases, this period may be extended by up to three months. The applicant shall be informed in writing of the extension and the reasons for it.”

The fee for registering a marriage in the special registry and issuing a Slovak marriage certificate is €15.

Every Slovak marriage certificate will also state the surname of any future children, with the suffix “-ová” for a daughter. Later, when a daughter is born, it is still possible to decide not to use this suffix in her surname.

Conditions and procedures for issuing ID cards, passports, and driver’s licenses are regulated by:

A change of surname renders these documents (ID card, driver’s license, passport) invalid because the personal data becomes incorrect. Under the respective laws:

The change of surname results in the invalidation of the documents, and citizens are obliged to replace them. The citizen must personally appear at any document office in Slovakia, or at a Slovak diplomatic mission if abroad. They must undergo facial image and signature capture, enter their BOK (security personal code) for the ID card, and provide fingerprints for the passport. The application is processed on-site and cannot be filled out in advance or delegated.

Therefore, it is not possible to authorize another person to apply for new documents.
The documents may be collected by a close relative without a power of attorney or by another person with a notarized power of attorney. (Source: minv.sk)