Citizenship by ancestry is soon becoming available in Slovakia, making about 1.5 million Slovak descendants around the world eligible for Slovak citizenship. Learn how to determine if you qualify, and what benefits you can expect.
Slovakia is located in the heart of Europe, and is a member if the European Union (its currency is also EUR). Slovak citizens can live and work freely anywhere in the 27 member countries of the EU, and can travel visa-free in the Schengen zone and to 182 countries worldwide.
Currently more than 1.5 million Slovak descendants live all around the world, with about 800,000 descendants only in the U.S.A. If you have Slovak ancestors, you can soon get easy access to Slovak citizenship and all the privileges that go with it.
The Slovak Parliament has recently passed its new Citizenship Act. Once signed, Slovakia will enter the ranks of countries that make citizenship accessible to descendants of their previous citizens who now live in other countries. Just like in several other European countries, citizenship by descent will be available going back three generations. You will be eligible for Slovak citizenship if your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were born in the territory of current Slovakia and were citizens of Slovakia – or its predecessor, Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia was created in 1918, separating from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the end of World War I. It existed until 1 January 1993, when it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
If you want to apply for Slovak citizenship based on your descent from a Slovak or Czechoslovak citizen, you will be required to present documents (preferably passports or birth certificates) that link you to your ancestors and to Slovakia – or at least the currently Slovak territories of former Czechoslovakia.
There is no requirement for speaking Slovak or demonstrating knowledge of the Slovak culture, which can be a relief for descendants who have lost contact with their roots and want to renew it just now. Moreover, some families coming from currently Slovak territories might not have been of Slovak ethnicity, but their descendants still qualify for citizenship.
At the same time, descendants of ethnic Slovaks who never lived in the territory of current Slovakia unfortunately do not qualify for citizenship by descent. However, they can apply for a certificate for Slovaks Living Abroad, which offers a right to Slovak residency and eligibility for citizenship after only 3 years of residency (instead of the regular 8 years).
It is important to add that only Slovak residents can apply for Slovak citizenship. To amend that situation, eligible Slovak descendants can apply for residency and citizenship at the same time. Once you become a Slovak resident, you become fully eligible for citizenship.
With Slovakia offering the option for fast-track citizenship to descendants of Slovak or Czechoslovak citizens, more than 1.5 million Slovak descendants around the world get the chance to take advantage of EU citizenship. Are you eligible? Let us know if we can be of assistance – just fill in the form below.
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