Residence permit in Slovakia by investment

Question:

I want to migrate to Slovakia with an investment visa type, I want to rent a cofee shop there, but don’t know from where should start and how, I am an Iraqi girl who lives in Iran, I know that it takes a long time from Iran between 26-32 months to receive this kind of visa. 

From here I just need to apply for myself with my documents like passport banks accounts ability photo and so on, but I need help in Slovakia as I don’t know the language also I need a recommendations. 

Do I need to hire someone to work with me or not I mean is it obligatory or not, if is it obligatory to hire an employer then can I have another job and  work for others? If I say my mother can work with me? 

How I can bring my old blind mother with myself at the same time? Can I say she has a share in the same shop and apply for her for a long term visa? 

Is it a good idea to have a coffee shop or there are some better ways and jobs? 

Is it right that for receiving a permanent residence we need to learn the Slovakian language? 

How much is the shops rent cost me? What is the fee and salary in case I need to hire someone? 

Is it true that per year we should pay 3500 euro  to the government as a tax? And if yes it will be 7000 euro for me and mom or  the 3500 euro will divide between us as we want to rule the same Job? 

How about a cheapest apartment rent price? How much it cost and where are the cheapest area for renting a both apartment and the shop?

Answer:

In your case, you will have to submit the application in Tehran, at the Slovak Embassy. At first, please ask for the appointment time for the interview and for the submission of the documents for the purpose of doing business. In Tehran, the waiting times for the interview are currently almost 2 years. 

The procedure is following

  • Request the interview time at the Slovak Embassy
  • Preparation of the necessary documents for the company registration
  • Our Law Office will manage the trade license registration, LLC or other type of other type of company
  • We will send you the documents back to your address by courier
  • Interview at the Slovak Embassy and submission of the documents
  • The client will then wait for the decision of the Foreign police (the decision of the foreign police take about 4 months, this period can be longer – this depends on the circumstances in the case)
  • If the residence permit is granted, then the client will apply for the “D” type visa for entering Slovakia
  • Personal visit at the Foreign police in Slovakia, making fingerprints
  • After the personal visit at the Foreing police, the client will receive a residence permit card
  • Arranging the medical control, Insurance 

For the permanent residence permit application, you don´t need to speak Slovak. Our Law Office will guide you through the whole process and when visiting the foreign police, our colleagues will be personally with you. 

Hiring a Slovak employees is not obligatory, however if you are willing to run a coffee shop and you speak only English, hiring Slovakian citizen will surely help and make sense. 

If your mother is blind, the question is what kind of work she can do for you? If she has no one in Iraq who can take care of her and she is dependent on you, in that case you can apply for a residence permit for the family reunion. 

Please contact a real estate agent regarding the prices and fees for the coffee shop rentals. We recommend you to contact also the tax advisor first. 

If you will registrate a Slovak LLC, you have to prove a net profit (after taxes) for the past year in the amount of at least sixty times the subsistence minimum – which is currently at least the amount of around 12.400 EUR. If you are both representatives at the same company, this amount remains the same for both of you. The income tax is 21% from this amount (in this case around 2.600 EUR). 

Question

I am searching for a lawyer who can support my sister and her family to immigrate to Europe. They have two kids one about 23 and the other one 32 years old. They all hold Iranian citizenship. They are searching for a possible immigration solution that can allow them to come all together.

In order to summarize their current situation, I should say that my sister 56 years old and has a bachelor’s degree in obstetrics with several years of experience. Her husband is 58 years old. He has served in military for 30 years and he has been active in different businesses in Iran since he was retired. Also, he is an international Taekwondo trainer and he is part of Iran Taewondo Federation management board. He can speak English, German, Turkish, Kurdish and Farsi.

I beleive that there should a possibility for them to make a Business Immigration case in Slovakia. Here are my questions:

  • Do they only need to found and register a company in Slovakia without running the business? If yes, do they need to pay anual tax in order to extend their Visa for the next years?
  • Can they include their kids in the same Visa application as they are over 18 years old? If not, what options are available for the kids?
  • Does this Slovak Visa lead to Schengen permanent residency?
  • Does this Slovak Visa allow them to open a business in Austria too?
  • Would they need to be present in Slovakia in order to apply for the Visa in the first place or your firm does the whole procedure on their behalf?

Answer

If they are willing to apply for the residence permit for the purpose of business, they have to run a real business and pay taxes. If they are just interested to get to the Schengen area, this is a crime according to the Slovak Law. They can apply for the residence permit all together, the wife and kids will submit the application for the purpose of the family reunion. 

After 5 years of temporary residency, they can apply for the permanent residence for 5 years. Regarding opening a company in Austria, please contact an Austrian lawyer. Our Law Office can prepare all documents – their personal presence is not needed, they can sign the documents at the Slovak Embassy in Tehran. After the residence permit is granted, they have to visit Slovakia personally. 

Question

Hello, here is our situation, our priorities and what we want. Our main goal is to start our six-years-old daughter in primary school in Slovakia in September 2019. In order for her to go to primary school in Slovakia, we must obtain a residence permit in Slovakia as her parents. We believe that the most practical and correct way to get a residence permit for us in Slovakia is to establish a suitable company there. We can easily carry our existing business in Turkey to Slovakia and get involved in Slovak commercial system.

My wife  writes global and regional analyzes, reports and makes forecasts on steel markets. And  I am Industrial Engineer and worked as a project manager Siemens-Istanbul for nearly 20 years.

When we consider our experiences so far, it seems appropriate to establish a service-oriented company.

And at this point, here are our questions that need to be clarified:

  • Who should be company owner(s) and director(s)? Just my wife, just me or both of us for both positions?  If it should be one person only, my wife has the priority

  • I have received different information regarding the nationality of the company manager. According to some, he/she must be EU citizen, but some others say OECD country citizenship is enough too. You know Turkey is an OECD country. The question is: Which is correct information?

  • And in which position do we have to apply for a residence permit in Slovakia?  Company owner or manager?

  • Should the business area of the company be services only or should we add some activities related to buy and sell goods? Or what else do you think?

  • We should not forget that we need to get residence permit first, and increase the duration of this residence permit in the future.

  • How will we submit and show the connection of the applicant (General Manager?)  

  • We are currently doing business for British and Turkish companies in the iron and steel industry. We will transfer these works in Slovakia as soon as the company is established there. Should we be a company that exports services from Slovakia or should we be a company that serves iron steel producers in Slovakia or both? In terms of contributing to the economy of Slovakia, is only the company turnover important, regardless of where you do business? Or profit? Or VAT? Or….?

  • VAT is another issue to be solved. We know that VAT in services exports is 0%. If the Slovak domestic market or import/export of goods is added to our business plan, is it necessary to establish a company with VAT?   

These are our questions for now. As I mentioned at the beginning, please answer these questions considering that we want to have the highest chance of getting a residence permit. Most of the companies that we interviewed say that they will establish a company and get a visa and they want a total price for this without going into details. Then we have doubts. Have we told them exactly what we want? Did the company understand us correctly? Can we trust on this company? Is this company really an expert on these issues? 

Answer

Only the first director of the company can apply for the residence permit. You can be both the directors in LLC. If there will be only one first director, wife / husband can still apply for the residence permit for the purpose of the family reunion. 

The first director of a Slovak LLC can be EU citizen or citizen of the OECD country. As Turkey is in OECD and you are turkish Citizen, we can establish the company without any problems. 

Purchase of goods for re-sale to final consumers (retail) or other trade operators (wholesale) and also the intermediation activities in the area of trade, services and manufacturing are unregulated trades which means that our Law Office will not require any special documents from your side.

After the company is registrated, you can registrate your company for VAT at the tax authority in Slovakia, our tax advisor will help you in this matter.

If you are willing to increase the duration of your residence permit, in general you have to run a real business and live in Slovakia for at least half of the year. If you will registrate a Slovak LLC, you have to prove a net profit (after taxes) for the past year in the amount of at least sixty times the subsistence minimum – which is currently at least the amount of around 12.400 EUR.

According to a Sovak Law, all these services can be done only by a Law Office. However there are many agencies on the market offering these services without the necessary education. They are unfortunately providing poor services and wrong information which can lead to the rejection of the residence permit or other problems in the future. The Slovak Bar Association together with the Police is now controlling these illegal agencies and are taking actions to stop their activities.