Changes in the Act on the Residence of Foreigners related to the crisis situation caused by the COVID-19 disease
- Last Updated: 13 September 2023
The Slovak parliament has approved an amendment to the Act on the Residence of Foreigners, which is dealing with issues emerging in connection with the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
Note: a crisis situation is to be understood as an extraordinary situation or a state of emergency declared in connection to the COVID-19 disease.
IMPORTANT: The state of emergency declared on 25 November 2021 ended on 22 February 2022. The revocation of extraordinary situation declared on 11 March 2020 in relation to COVID-19 is effective from 15th September 2023 onwards.
Persons without a granted residence in Slovakia
If you entered Slovakia legally (e.g. with a visa or within a visa-free regime) and you are not granted residency, you are authorised to stay in Slovakia until one month after the revocation of a crisis situation.
Persons with a granted residence in Slovakia
Should the validity of your temporary, permanent or tolerated residence expire during the crisis situation or within one month of the situation being revoked, your residence will not expire. Its validity will be extended until two months after the revocation of a crisis situation.
If you are granted a temporary residence or a permanent residence for five years and you are abroad during the crisis situation, you can submit your application for the renewal of your temporary residence or your application for a permanent residence for unlimited time at the Slovak diplomatic or consular mission (embassy/consulate general) abroad.
If you cannot submit your residence or renewal application during the crisis situation, the Foreign Police will be able to accept required documents even if older than 90 days, provided that they were not older than 90 days during the crisis situation and you did not leave Slovakia before the submission of your application.
Persons with a temporary residence for the purpose of business who will be submitting their renewal applications next year will not be obliged to meet the requirement of minimum income/profit for this year if they submit an affidavit stating that their business activities have been affected by the crisis situation.
Deadlines
The following deadlines, after the elapse of which the Foreign Police can normally start the process of cancelling your temporary residence, are extended by the period of crisis situation:
- 60 days since the termination of your employment, if you are granted a temporary residence for the purpose of employment
- 30 days since successful completion of final exams, if you are granted a temporary residence for the purpose of studies
- 30 days since successful completion of university studies, if you are granted a temporary residence for the purpose of studies or for the purpose of special activities (activities resulting from a government/EU programme).
During the crisis situation, deadlines for the following actions are suspended:
- submission of a document on health insurance (standard deadline: 30 days from receiving a temporary residence card)
- submission of a medical report confirming that you do not suffer from any disease endangering public health (standard deadline: 30 days from receiving a temporary residence card or permanent residence card for five years; or 30 days from submitting a Blue Card application at the Foreign Police or from submitting an application for a permanent residence for unlimited time for a child of a person with a granted permanent residence for unlimited time)
- reporting the change of name, surname, marital status, citizenship, data in your passport, exchange of passport and change of address in Slovakia (standard deadline: 5 business days)
- reporting the loss, theft or damage of a passport or a residence card (standard deadline: 5 business days since you learnt about the loss, theft or damage)
- reporting that a reason for which your residence was granted ceased to exist (standard deadline: 3 business days)
- leaving Slovakia (standard deadline: last day of legal stay or 30 days from the day when a decision on declining a residence/renewal application or cancellation of a residence became enforceable)
- applying for a new residence card, in case of the change of the data in it or in case of loss, theft or damage (standard deadline: 5 business days)
- notifying changes of data in the document “Additional data on employment” (standard deadline: 5 business days)
- submission of an employment contract, if the applicant for an EU Blue Card submitted only a promise of employment when applying (standard deadline: 30 days from receiving a residence card)
- notification of a beginning and termination of a period of unemployment of an EU Blue Card holder (standard deadline: 5 business days)
- notification of a change of employer of an EU Blue Card holder (standard deadline: 5 business days before starting new employment).
The 180-day period during which a foreigner normally has to enter Slovakia once being granted temporary or permanent residence does not run during a crisis situation.
Ministry of Interior may pardon missing other deadlines if the deadline expired during the crisis situation.
Duties
Until the revocation of a crisis situation you are not obliged to:
- leave Slovakia within seven days of losing the reason for being allowed to remain, if the reason for remaining was a provision of institutional emergency healthcare or a quarantine measure
- ensure the departure of a baby born in Slovakia or an EU Member State within 90 days of being born, if the parent did not apply for a residence for the baby
- leave Slovakia within the deadline set in the decision on administrative expulsion.
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