Obtaining Slovak citizenship by descent / ancestry

We can request a birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate or census sheet.

If the ancestor emigrated before 1921, you must submit proof that he/she had Czechoslovak citizenship. As the first population census was only in 1921, it would be ideal to have a passport or other official document issued in Czechoslovakia, in which the citizenship is stated. The ancestor’s birth certificate does not declare Czechoslovak citizenship.

Since January 1, 1969, Act No. 206/1968 Coll. on the Acquisition and Loss of Citizenship of the Slovak Socialist Republic has been in effect in Slovakia. According to Section 8, Paragraph 4 of this law, a child born to one foreign parent automatically acquires Slovak citizenship at birth if the other parent is a Slovak citizen. Based on this provision, you may have acquired Slovak citizenship by birth. Therefore, we recommend first applying for a certificate of Slovak citizenship, as this process is simpler.

If the certificate is not granted, you can then apply for citizenship based on ancestry. For more information on the procedure, required documents, and timeframes for issuing the certificate, please visit our page:

Certificate of Slovak Citizenship

Our law firm can assist you in preparing and submitting your application. Feel free to contact us for further information or assistance.

Dear Madam,

we are a law firm in Slovakia, we provide legal services in the area of citizenship law.

Here are some basic information:

According to § 7 par. 2 of the Act (effective from April 1, 2022): “An applicant who has a residence permit in the territory of the Slovak Republic may be granted citizenship of the Slovak Republic without fulfilling the condition specified in paragraph 1 letter a) (i.e. continuous permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic for at least eight years immediately preceding the submission of the application for the granting of citizenship of the Slovak Republic), unless this Act provides otherwise, if

1. j) he / she was not a citizen of the Slovak Republic and at least one of his parents, grandparents or great-grandparents was a Czechoslovak citizen born in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

As it is stated above:

• the applicant must have a registered residence in Slovakia – the ancestor can together with the application for citizenship asks for the permanent residence permit in Slovakia 
• applicant has never been a citizen of Slovakia
• the applicant must be a descendant of a Slovak – either a parent, a grandparent or a great-grandparent this parent, grandparent or great-grandparent were born at the territory of the Slovak Republic.

Proof of knowledge of the Slovak language will not be necessary in this case.

If you are interested in our services, please send us the following data:

• the person who is interested in acquiring Slovak citizenship (you), in the following scope:
• name and surname,
• date of birth,
• place of birth,
• nationality,
• other relevant facts about you (previous citizenship, emigration, deprivation of citizenship…) and
• both of your parents and your grandparents and great-grandparents on the side of a parent who has Slovak roots, to the extent of:
• first and last name,
• date of birth,
• place of birth,
• nationality,
• date of immigration,
• other relevant facts about them (previous nationality, emigration, deprivation of nationality…),
• at the same time, please indicate their mutual family relations (e.g. John X. is the father of Paul X.), or provide us with a simple family tree.

If you have any documents proving that your ancestors were born on the territory of the Slovak Republic or that they were Czechoslovak citizens, or documents proving that they acquired foreign citizenship, please send them in the form of a scan. These are in particular birth certificates, naturalization documents, census sheets, marriage certificates, death certificates, passports, extracts from the registry office, etc. On the papers must be written “CzechoSlovak citizenship”. It is not necessary to provide these documents if you do not have them, but they may be very helpful to us.

Please send us email to our email address: office@akmv.sk and we will provide you with more information or we will schedule a video call to discuss your situation. 

More information can be seen here: Slovak citizenship by descent

Since your daughter received a denial regarding the Certificate of Citizenship, which determines whether an individual is or is not a Slovak citizen, she may apply for citizenship under Section 7, Paragraph 2, Letter j of Act No. 40/1993 on Slovak Citizenship. For this, she will primarily need the following documents.

As of April 1, 2022, it is possible to apply for Slovak citizenship based on descent if a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak citizen born in the territory of today’s Slovak Republic.

To submit the application for Slovak citizenship, the following documents are required:

Application for Residence Permit in the Slovak Republic:

• Completed residence permit application – attached; 2 photos (3.5 x 3 cm),

• Proof of accommodation (if you do not have this document, simply indicate a village/town in the application),

• Valid passport,

• Birth certificate (verified by Global Affairs Canada, apostilled by the Slovak Embassy, and translated by an official Slovak translator),

• Documents on the applicant’s personal status (marriage certificate, final divorce decree, death certificate of spouse) – verified by Global Affairs Canada, apostilled by the Slovak Embassy, and translated by an official Slovak translator.

• Documents proving that the parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak citizen born in the territory of the Slovak Republic. (The applicant for Slovak citizenship must provide birth certificates to prove a bloodline to the ancestor – grandparent/great-grandparent who was a Czechoslovak citizen, along with proof of Czechoslovak citizenship for that ancestor.)

• If children are included in the application, consent from the other parent is required for granting residence to the child (“Súhlas rodiča s udelením pobytu”).

Application for Slovak Citizenship:

• Completed Slovak citizenship application,
• Completed questionnaire,
• Detailed and structured CV,
• Valid passport,
• Birth certificate (verified by Global Affairs Canada, apostilled by the Slovak Embassy, and translated by an official Slovak translator),
• Documents on the applicant’s personal status (marriage certificate, final divorce decree, death certificate of spouse) – verified by Global Affairs Canada, apostilled by the Slovak Embassy, and translated by an official Slovak translator,
• Documents proving that the parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak citizen born in the territory of the Slovak Republic. (The applicant for Slovak citizenship must provide birth certificates to prove a bloodline to the ancestor – grandparent/great-grandparent who was a Czechoslovak citizen, along with proof of Czechoslovak citizenship for that ancestor.)
• RCMP Criminal Record Check (federal level) and/or Criminal Registry Extract from each country where you are or were a citizen, and a Criminal Registry Extract from each country where you resided for more than 180 days consecutively in the last 15 years before submitting the application (the document must not be older than six months, verified by Global Affairs Canada, apostilled by the Slovak Embassy, and translated by an official Slovak translator),
• If children are included in the application, consent from the other parent is required for granting citizenship to the child (“Súhlas rodiča s udelením štátneho občianstva”),
• Certificate proving the status of a Slovak Living Abroad (if applicable),
• Other important documents (e.g., name change) – verified by Global Affairs Canada, apostilled by the Slovak Embassy, and translated by an official Slovak translator.

Certificates and Confirmations Regarding Taxes and Insurance Payments:

• Confirmation from the tax office, customs office, and municipality regarding the payment of taxes and other fees,
• Employment confirmation issued by your employer and a copy of the employment contract,
• Confirmation of public health insurance payments and coverage period,
• Confirmation of income tax payments, public health insurance payments, social insurance payments, and retirement pension contributions, issued by your employer,
• Confirmation of study,
• Confirmation of pension income.

The applicant may replace the last six listed documents with an affidavit if obtaining these documents is difficult.

All official documents issued in Canada (except the last six confirmations) must be verified by Global Affairs Canada, apostilled by the Slovak Embassy, and translated by an official Slovak translator.

All documents (except the last six confirmations) in languages other than Slovak or Czech must be officially translated into Slovak by a translator registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic.

The Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic has a 24-month period for processing the application (though in practice, it generally takes less time).

Once the citizenship certificate is obtained, we will inform you about the next steps.

The application for citizenship must be submitted in person, and the appointment should be arranged in advance by phone. (source: mzv)