Temporary Residence for Nationals Born in Slovakia

In August our son was born. He has Slovak birth certificate given by the local responsible office (matrika) and rodne cislo. We wish to apply for the residence permit also for him. However we have been informed that there are 90 days from the day of birth for the application to Cudzinecka policia.
 
The blocking point for application is that our son does not have a passport yet. We have been waiting for an appointment in the Consulate in our country to apply for passport since beginning of September, but the queue moves really slow. I do expect that we will manage to enter to the consulate at the beginning of November earliest. And, if we apply successfully for the passport, it will take another couple of months for the passport to be ready.
 
So it seems that either we will have to apply for the residence permit late or apply without passport and bring it once it is issued by the Consulate. But we do not know if it will be accepted by the Police.
 
We would need legal advise on how to proceed in this case and would appreciate to have it as soon as possible upon your availability.
 
Thank you very much in advance.

Granting Temporary Residence for Nationals of Third Countries Born in the Territory of the Slovak Republic

 

According to Section 62 (1) (a) of Act No. 404/2011 Coll. on the Residence of Foreigners (hereinafter referred to as the „Act on the Residence of Foreigners”): “If a national of a third country is born in the territory of the Slovak Republic or a Member State, and his / her parent has been granted residence under this Act, the parent of the national of a third country born in the territory of the Slovak Republic or a Member State may apply to the police authority for residence. The police authority shall grant this child temporary residence according to Section 27, provided that the parents hold temporary residence under this Act.”

 

According to Section 27 (1) (a) of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners: „Temporary residence for the purpose of family reunification shall be granted by the police authority if there are no grounds for rejecting the application according to Section 33 (6), to a national of a third country who is a family member of a national of a third country with temporary or permanent residence.” In connection with Section 27 (2) (b) of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners: “A family member of a national of a third country according to Paragraph 1, Letter a) is considered to be an unmarried child under 18 years of age of the national of a third country and their spouse.”

 

Travel Document of a minor

 

Documents required for the application according to Section 62 (2) of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners:

 

  • A valid travel passport of the child or a valid travel passport of the parent in which the child is registered,
  • The birth certificate of the child born in the territory of a Member State,
  • A colour photography of the child measuring 3 x 3.5 cm showing their current appearance,
  • Proof of financial means for the child’s residence,
  • Proof of accommodation for the child.

 

According to Section 62 (6) (c) of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners: „The police authority shall reject the application according to Paragraph 1 if the parent has not submitted the documents according to (2).”

 

The Foreign Police in Trnava informed us that: „The child must either have their own passport or the parent’s passport in which they are registered.“

 

The Directorate of Border and Foreign Police in Bratislava stated: „You can submit the application anywhere. It does not need to be complete.“

 

This was confirmed by the Foreign Police in Žilina: „An application for a child born on the territory of the Slovak Republic can be accepted even without a travel document, but the document must be submitted at the time of the proceedings. In the reservation system, write the travel document number of the parent. If neither parent has residence in the Slovak Republic, consent from the other parent is required.”

 

The Foreign Police in Bratislava informed us by phone that when submitting an application, it is necessary to provide the child’s passport, and it cannot be submitted without the passport.

 

According to phone information provided by the Foreign Police in Trenčín, the application can be submitted without a travel passport using the Slovak birth certificate, and during the proceedings, the travel passport will be provided. When reserving a date, the passport number of one of the parents can be entered in the passport number column. In the generated printed application, the parent’s passport number will then be crossed out or rewritten.

 

According to the internal regulation – Attachment to the Directive of the Director of the Office of Border and Foreign Police No. 13/2019: Methodology for Ensuring Procedures in Matters of the Residence of Foreigners in the Territory of the Slovak Republic: Section V: Birth of a National of a Third Country on the Territory of the Slovak Republic or Another Member State (hereinafter referred to as the „Methodology”):

 

Article 4 (2) of Methodology: „If a national of a third country does not submit the child’s travel passport or the travel document in which the child is registered, the police officer shall accept the application for residence and suspend the proceedings.”

 

Article 5 (1) (a): „If the police officer finds that not all required documents are attached to the application for residence or there is another reason to suspend the proceedings, they shall draw up a written decision to suspend the proceedings regarding the application for residence, instructing the participant to remedy the deficiencies in the submission within a specified time. They will also inform them that if they do not remedy the deficiencies within the specified time, the proceedings will be terminated.”

 

Article 5 (3) (a): „If the applicant does not remedy the deficiencies in the submission within the specified time, the police officer shall immediately draw up a written decision on the discontinuance of the application for residence.”

 

Reservation of an appointment for submitting the application

An application for temporary residence can be submitted at any Foreign Police department. This information was confirmed to us by the Office of Border and Foreign Police: „To submit an application for temporary residence, you need to reserve a date at any Foreign Police office. If there is no available date, you have the option to request an exception for submitting the application; you can find the contacts on the minv.sk website in the foreigners section.”

 

Information regarding the reservation system was also provided by the Directorate of Border and Foreign Police in Bratislava: „Since the reservation system is transitioning to a new regime and both the reservation system and personnel capacities are currently quite limited, we ask for your patience. New dates must be monitored regularly, as they come online automatically. You must reserve only through the reservation system of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. Due to high public interest in the reservation system, it happens that the system is temporarily overloaded, and the electronic service is unavailable. If you are unable to find an available date when making a reservation, it is not a technical error of the system; it is necessary to check for a date the next day, as new dates are updated continuously.”

 

Obligation to depart after the 90-day deadline from birth

 

The legal obligation for the child’s departure is governed by Section 63 (3) of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners: „If a parent of a national of a third country born on the territory of the Slovak Republic or a Member State does not apply for a residence permit under this Act, they are obliged to ensure the child’s departure within 90 days of birth, unless serious reasons prevent it.”

 

According to information provided by the Office of Border and Foreign Police: „The child does not have to depart after the 90-day deadline.” This information was also confirmed to us by phone by the Foreign Police in Bratislava, as they are aware that it is not possible to meet the 90-day deadline.

 

According to the Methodology: „Notice: If the parent of such a national has not ensured his/her departure from the territory of the Slovak Republic within 90 days of his/her birth and after the expiry of this period he/she comes to apply for residence, the OCP PZ will further deal with the residence of the third-country national born in the territory of the Slovak Republic or a Member State in accordance with the provisions of Section 62 of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners..”

We kindly request information regarding the birth of a child in the territory of Slovakia to two third-country nationals who are married. The father of the child holds a residence permit in Slovakia, while the mother is staying in Slovakia under temporary protection.

What are their obligations and options in terms of registering the child with the Foreign Police? What are the deadlines and procedures involved? What documents are required for this process?

Residence conditions for foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic are governed by Act No. 404/2011 Coll. on the Residence of Foreign Nationals and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals”).

In your case, the parents may apply either for residence or for temporary protection for the child.

If a third-country national child is born in the territory of the Slovak Republic and one of the parents holds a valid residence permit in Slovakia, the parent may apply to the Foreign Police for the child’s residence. The police department shall grant the child:

a) Temporary residence under Section 27 of the Act, if both parents hold temporary residence,
b) Temporary residence under Section 27, if the parent holds long-term residence under Section 52,
c) Permanent residence under Section 43, if the parent holds permanent residence under Section 43,
d) Permanent residence under Section 46, if the parent holds permanent residence under Section 46.

The parent must submit the following documents with the application:

a) A valid travel document of the child or the parent’s valid passport containing the child’s entry,
b) The child’s birth certificate,
c) Two recent photographs of the child (3 x 3.5 cm),
d) Proof of financial coverage for the child’s stay,
e) Proof of accommodation for the child.

Accommodation can be proven under Section 122 of the Act by submitting one of the following:

  • A solemn declaration of property ownership by the foreigner,

  • A lease agreement with the property owner or user, and a document proving the right to use the property (in the case of a lease with a user),

  • Confirmation from an accommodation facility,

  • A solemn declaration by a natural or legal person confirming the provision of accommodation and a document proving the right to use the property (in the case of a declaration by the user).

A valid travel document for the child is mandatory when submitting the residence application. Without it, the application will not be accepted, and no exemption from this requirement can be granted.

In the case of temporary protection for a child born in the territory of the Slovak Republic, you must contact the Migration Office of the Slovak Republic.

Contact details for the Migration Office can be found here:
https://www.minv.sk/?kontakty_migracny_urad

Legal reference:

  • (3) If a parent does not apply for residence for a third-country national child born in the Slovak Republic or another EU Member State, they must ensure the child’s departure within 90 days of birth unless serious reasons prevent this.

  • (4) The Foreign Police shall decide on the application within 30 days of receiving it. The child is considered legally residing until a final decision is made.

  • (5) If the application is approved, a written decision is not issued; instead, the parent receives written confirmation stating the date of residence approval.

  • (6) The application will be rejected if:
    a) False or altered documents are submitted or false/misleading information is provided,
    b) Data in the travel document is inaccurate,
    c) Required documents under Section 2 are not submitted.

  • (7) Termination or cancellation of the granted residence shall follow the provisions applicable to the specific type of residence.

If the mother is under temporary protection, the child may also be granted temporary protection. To initiate the procedure, the birth of the child must be reported to the Migration Office by the mother. This includes sending the child’s birth certificate.
(Source: Procedural Department, Migration Office)

I would like to kindly ask for information regarding the granting of temporary residence for a child (not yet born) for the purpose of family reunification:

  • Is it necessary to submit the application to the foreign police at the child’s place of residence, or is there an exception in this case?

  • Is it possible to reserve an appointment even if the child does not yet have a travel document or has not yet been born? Since the law requires the application to be submitted within 90 days of birth, we are currently experiencing issues with the reservation system.

  • The Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals, in Section 62(1)(a), states that the police department grants the child “temporary residence under Section 27, if the parents have been granted temporary residence under this Act.” Is it necessary for both parents to have temporary residence, or is it sufficient if only one parent holds temporary residence?

You can submit the application anywhere. It does not have to be complete. It is sufficient if one parent has been granted temporary residence – in this case, the mother. However, the other parent must provide written consent confirming that the child is abroad.
(Source: RHCP)

Hello,
We are expecting a child and would like to submit an application for temporary residence for the purpose of family reunification. To which foreign police department can we submit this application?

Hello,

Since this will be the first application for residence, you can submit it at any foreign police department.

Hello, can we submit an application for temporary residence for family reunification for our child who does not have a passport yet?

Hello,

According to Act No. 404/2011 on the Residence of Foreigners, §62 paragraph 2 letter a), the application must be accompanied by: “a valid travel document of the child or a valid travel document of the parent in which the child is registered.”

Based on information provided by the Foreigners’ Police: “An application for a child born on the territory of the Slovak Republic can be accepted even without a travel document, but the document must be submitted during the proceedings.”