AKMV 
Do you want to acquire Slovak citizenship for your spouse?
Contact us at recepcia@akmv.sk or by phone at +421 915 046 749.
SR state citizenship may be granted pursuant to the provision of Section 7 of the Citizenship Act to an applicant with a permitted residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic who has entered into marriage with a national of the Slovak Republic after the wedding, provided that this marriage continues and they live in this marriage in a common household in the territory of the Slovak Republic for at least five years immediately preceding the submission of the application for the granting of SR state citizenship.
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Read also:
Loss of Slovak citizenship due to acquisition of citizenship of another state
Permanent residence permit for 5 years in Slovakia
You can read about the granting of state citizenship in other cases in our article:
In the stated case, the Citizenship Act requires for the granting of SR state citizenship the fulfillment of the following conditions:
- good repute, while a person who has been legally convicted for an intentional criminal offense and five years have not elapsed since the expungement of the conviction, whose criminal prosecution for an intentional criminal offense was legally conditionally suspended and five years have not elapsed since the expiration of the probationary period, whose criminal prosecution for an intentional criminal offense was stopped by a court decision on the approval of a settlement or a prosecutor’s decision on the approval of a settlement and five years have not elapsed since the legal validity of this decision is not considered to be of good repute; it is proven by an extract from the criminal register from the home country, valid for 6 months, an extract from the criminal register (max. 6 months old) from the country of which he was or is a state citizen and from the country where he had a permitted residence in the last 15 years is provided
- the applicant has not been sentenced to the penalty of expulsion by a court
- no criminal proceedings are led against the applicant
- no extradition proceedings or proceedings for the execution of a European arrest warrant are led against the applicant
- no administrative expulsion proceedings are led against the applicant
- no proceedings for the withdrawal of asylum are led against the applicant and
- the applicant has demonstrated command of the Slovak language in word and in writing and general knowledge about the Slovak Republic
- the applicant fulfills the obligations resulting from the provisions of legal regulations regulating the residence of foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic, public health insurance, social insurance, old-age pension saving, taxes, levies, fees, employment of foreigners and other obligations resulting for foreigners from the legal order of the Slovak Republic
Application for the granting of SR state citizenship
The application for the granting of SR state citizenship is submitted to the district office in the regional seat, a diplomatic mission, or a consular office of the SR 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.”
The following must be attached to the application:
- brief curriculum vitae
- identity document
- birth certificate – original or certified photocopy with apostille / superlegalisation with an official translation (by a Slovak translator) into Slovak
- document on personal status (marriage certificate, final judgment or confirmation of divorce, spouse’s death certificate, if the applicant is married, divorced, or widowed)
- document on the last permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic or a solemn declaration of this residence (document on residence in the territory of the SR)
- document on good repute not older than six months (extract from the criminal register of every state of which the applicant is or has been a state citizen, and an extract from the criminal register of every state in which the applicant had a permitted residence in the last 15 years before submitting the application for the granting of SR state citizenship, or another document on good repute issued by the relevant authorities of these states)
Further documents depending on which relate to the applicant (the documents that do not relate to the applicant will not be submitted by the applicant and will be replaced by a solemn declaration stating the reasons for non-submission):
- confirmation from the tax office, customs office, and municipality about the payment of taxes and fees
- extract from the commercial register or extract from the trade register
- employer’s confirmation of employment and a copy of the employment contract
- confirmation from the health insurance company about the payment of public health insurance premiums and the duration of the insurance relationship
- employer’s confirmation about the payment of income tax and the payment of public health insurance, social insurance, and old-age pension saving premiums
- confirmation of study
- confirmation of receiving a pension
- confirmation of registration as a job applicant
- confirmation of a source of income sufficient to finance the stay of the applicant and persons close to him/her in the territory of the Slovak Republic, if he/she is voluntarily unemployed
The applicant may be asked to submit additional documents, in addition to the above, if necessary.
The applicant may also submit in support of his/her application:
- The birth certificate of his/her child, confirmation of attendance at a kindergarten / school in the territory of the SR
- Document on study at a school in Slovakia, if he/she studied, or of his/her spouse, child
- If the applicant has another connection, obligations in Slovakia, supporting documents are also submitted (e.g., documents for a mortgage on real estate, title deed with real estate in his/her name, documents for the spouse – for her work, business)
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 superlegalised.
The District Office where the application was submitted will send the application for further proceedings to the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. There is no legal right to the granting of SR state citizenship.
Practical problems
Given that the Citizenship Act stipulates several conditions for the granting of SR state citizenship and their fulfillment is relatively thoroughly verified, not all applications are successful.
Household in the territory of the Slovak Republic
A person who applies for the granting of state citizenship must meet several conditions. The basic one in the case of a person who is the spouse of a Slovak is that they have entered into marriage with a national of the Slovak Republic, this marriage lasts and they live in this marriage in a common household in the territory of the Slovak Republic for at least five years immediately preceding the submission of the application for the granting of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic.
For the acquisition of SR state citizenship, it is often problematic precisely to meet the condition of the applicant living in a common household with the Slovak spouse in the territory of the Slovak Republic. It is already clear from the grammatical interpretation of the provision of § 7 par. 2 letter a) of the Citizenship Act that the condition is not met by an applicant who stays with his spouse abroad. However, it may not be completely unambiguous from the wording of the law whether the applicant must also stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic in the period from the submission of the application for the granting of state citizenship until the legally valid end of the proceedings. A clear answer to the outlined problem is provided by the decision-making practice of the Supreme Court of the SR, which, for example, in the Judgment of 26.10.2016, ref. no. 2Sžo/107/2014 states it is necessary for a person applying for SR state citizenship to continuously stay in the territory of the SR in a common household with family members, up until the final decision on the matter of granting SR state citizenship. Only under these conditions is it possible to objectively assess the degree of integration of the applicant into society, the effective functioning of the marital bond and family cohabitation, as well as his work habits and overall contribution to society. These attributes cannot be fulfilled if the applicant and his family members stay abroad, even for a short period.
It follows from the above that the applicant for the granting of SR state citizenship should stay in the territory of the SR together in a common household with the Slovak spouse for at least five years before submitting the application and also from the submission of the application until the decision on the application.
Read also: Permanent residence for a spouse for 5 years
Knowledge of the Slovak language
The command of the Slovak language in word and in writing is also a problematic condition. The command of the Slovak language is verified upon submission of the application – when filling out the applicant’s questionnaire, which is submitted together with the application. Subsequently, the command of the Slovak language is verified by a three-member commission appointed by the head of the district office in the regional seat (or by the ambassador or consul, if the application is submitted to a diplomatic or consular office). The examination before the commission usually takes place within two weeks of submitting the application.
The verification of knowledge of the Slovak language consists of three parts. First, an interview takes place, during which the applicant is asked general questions about his person, his family members or other close persons, about his relationship to the Slovak Republic, and also general questions concerning the history, geography, and socio-political development of the SR. The second part of the verification of knowledge of the Slovak language consists in reading aloud a randomly selected article from the press in the Slovak language, which contains at least 500 words. The last part is writing the content of the read article, for which the applicant has a time limit of 30 minutes.
You can read more in this article: Slovak citizenship for a spouse
Deadline for granting citizenship
The statutory deadline for the decision is 24 months.
Fee for granting state citizenship
Fees in the area of granting state citizenship are regulated by the Act on Administrative Fees. A fee of EUR 700 is paid for the granting of state citizenship of the Slovak Republic to a person over 18 years of age; the fee is paid only after the action is performed.
Foreigners who have been granted asylum, resettlers from Ukraine from the Chernobyl area, foreigners over 65 years of age, disability pensioners, persons with severe health disabilities, and foreigners who lost the state citizenship of the Slovak Republic after January 1, 1993, are exempt from fees according to this item.
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic or the diplomatic mission of the Slovak Republic may reduce or waive the fee according to this item for a person who a) is a person without state affiliation, or b) has a valid certificate proving the status of a Slovak living abroad, for a special reason, which is the fact that this person has significantly contributed to the Slovak Republic or to the community of Slovaks living abroad from which he comes, in the economic, scientific, technical, cultural, social or sports field, or the fact that this person has demonstrably and long-term engaged in favor of the community of Slovaks living abroad; the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic or the diplomatic mission of the Slovak Republic will assess this fact after the prior opinion of the Office for Slovaks Living Abroad.
Medical examination of foreigners after granting residence for the foreign police / medical assessment for foreigners
Medical examination of foreigners Zlaté Moravce even without an appointment.
Medical examination of foreigners Bratislava and 12 other cities is provided by Medical control s.r.o.
Phone.: 0948 350 123
