The Slovak Republic has implemented a new act on the residence of foreigners, which introduces several major amendments to the Slovak immigration process.

According to the rules, it is no longer possible for a non-EU foreigner to submit and incomplete residence permit application. Prior to the change applicants could submit their residence permit request with a partial set of documents and later revisit the office in order to submit what was missing. This is no longer an option, and all foreign police offices in Slovakia are only accepting residence permit applications if all documents are submitted at once.

However, in order to make it easier to obtain all required documents in time for a simultaneous submission, the list of requirements has been shortened and for example a Slovak criminal record certificate is no longer required.  For visa nationals, it is now possible to submit a residence permit application even after arrival to the Slovak Republic, whereas up to December 31, 2011 this was only an option for visa-free citizens or for visa citizens who had valid residence permit in any of the Schengen area countries.‎

Family members of residence permit holders benefit from the legislation changes. Family members of residence permit holders who wish to take up employment shortly after arrival to Slovakia, are no longer required  to repeat the immigration process in order to change their status to “employment.” Instead, they may apply for a work permit based on their original residence permit issued for the purpose of family reunification.

A positive change implemented by the legislation is also associated with decreased work permit processing time for foreigners arriving to Slovakia on assignment. The labor office is to issue a work permit within only 15 calendar days, as opposed to the standard 30.

Move One is closely monitoring the changes and will provide updates as necessary.

Our articles are for informational purposes only. Should you have any further questions regarding matters related to business immigration to Slovakia, please feel free to contact your global Move One immigration specialist, or send an e-mail to immigration@moveoneinc.com .

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