SLOVAKIA – New Act on Stay of Aliens Brings Significant Change

What Are The Changes?

The major changes ushered in by the new law are as follows:

• Incomplete applications for temporary residence permits will no longer be accepted. Previously, it was possible to make an initial request and then submit additional documents later on.
• However, the list of documents required is now shorter than it was, and in particular, a Slovak police clearance certificate is no longer required
• Post-arrival change of status applications may now be submitted for all nationalities. Previously, this was only possible for nationalities who were visa exempt to enter Slovakia and the wider Schengen area.
• The labour office is now required to issue a decision on work permit applications for foreign nationals on assignment within 15 calendar days. Previously, decisions were required within 30 calendar days.
• Accompanying dependent family members who wish to take up employment in Slovakia can now apply for a work permit based on their dependent residence permit, rather than having to start a completely new immigration process.
• Appeal procedures for applicants whose entry visa application has been rejected are introduced, in line with the European Community Visa Code
• The law makes it clear that unmarried partners of EU nationals will qualify as dependents, provided a relationship akin to marriage can be proven
• Dependents in Slovakia with temporary residence permits as a result of the family reunification process (and who are over the age of 18) are now permitted to establish their own businesses in Slovakia
• The EU Blue Card is introduced (see here, p98, for a recent Peregrine article on the EU Blue Card and its implications).

Action Items

• Note all the changes listed above, and communicate to your HR teams in Slovakia