How to get Slovak citizenship: every route, compared

There are six ways to become a Slovak citizen, and for people with Slovak roots abroad one of them stands out. If a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak citizen born in what is now Slovakia, you can be granted Slovak citizenship from abroad, with no language test, no residence in Slovakia and a €30 fee. Since 15 July 2026 that route no longer needs a Slovak residence permit either. Everyone else gets in through a Slovak parent, a former citizenship, the Slovak Living Abroad certificate, marriage, or ordinary naturalisation, and all of those except the parent route mean living in Slovakia first.

This page compares the routes and walks through the ancestry grant step by step. For the country-level background (records, the 1993 split, the dual-citizenship trap) see our Slovak citizenship by descent guide.

Every route at a glance

Section numbers are from Act No. 40/1993 Coll. on State Citizenship as in force from 15 July 2026; fees are item 20 of the Administrative Fees Act. Applicants over 65 pay no grant fee. On every grant route the Ministry of Interior has up to 24 months to decide.

Route 1: you had a Slovak parent

Under § 5 of the citizenship act, a child with at least one parent who was a Slovak citizen at the time of the birth is Slovak by birth, wherever the child was born. Nothing is granted: you already are a citizen. The practical job is to get your foreign birth recorded in the Slovak special registry (osobitná matrika), usually through a Slovak embassy or consulate, and then apply for a Slovak passport.

One check before you start: a Slovak citizen who voluntarily took another citizenship as an adult may have lost Slovak citizenship (see the dual-citizenship section below). If your parent naturalised abroad before you were born, find out whether they were still Slovak at your birth.

Route 2: the ancestry grant for descendants of Czechoslovak citizens (§ 7(8))

This is the route most people mean by “Slovak citizenship by ancestry”. Section 7(8) lets the Ministry of Interior grant citizenship, without the usual residence condition, to an applicant who has never been a Slovak citizen and who has at least one parent, grandparent or great-grandparent who was a Czechoslovak citizen born in the territory of today’s Slovakia.

• Both tests matter. The ancestor must have been born inside present-day Slovakia and have held Czechoslovak citizenship. A Czechoslovak grandparent born in Bohemia or Moravia points you to the Czech route instead (see Czech citizenship by declaration).
• Three generations, no further. The ancestor can be a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent; a great-great-grandparent doesn’t count.
• No language test. The language and general-knowledge exam in § 7(1)(h) does not apply to § 7(8) applicants.
• No residence, and no residence permit since 15 July 2026. The rule was added in 2022 as § 7(2)(j), which required a Slovak residence permit. Act No. 128/2026 moved it to § 7(8) and dropped that step, so much of the advice still online is out of date.
• The other conditions still apply. A clean criminal record, no pending expulsion, extradition or prosecution, and no threat to public order or security.

How to apply under § 7(8), step by step

1. Prove the ancestor. You need the ancestor’s birth record from a Slovak registry or parish book, and a document showing Czechoslovak citizenship: an interwar Czechoslovak passport, a citizenship or domicile certificate, or a Slovak archive record. A birthplace alone is not proof of citizenship. Parish registers for much of Slovakia are reachable through the routes in our church records guide.
2. Link every generation. Birth certificates for each person between the ancestor and you, and marriage certificates wherever the line runs through a mother or a surname changes. Our document chain guide shows how to lay this out.
3. Collect the documents the act lists for every applicant. Section 8(3) asks for a detailed structured CV, a valid identity document with a current photo, your birth certificate, a marriage or divorce document if relevant, and criminal-record extracts no older than six months from every country you are or were a citizen of and every country where you had permitted residence in the last 15 years. For Americans that usually means an FBI check.
4. Apostille and translate. Foreign public documents need an apostille and an official Slovak translation; see our guide to certified translations.
5. File in person. Section 8(1) says the application is filed personally at a Slovak embassy or consulate, or at a district office in a regional capital inside Slovakia. Someone else can’t file it for you. The Ministry of Interior then decides the case.
6. Wait for the decision. The Ministry must decide within 24 months and can ask you for more documents. The €30 fee is charged only after citizenship is granted.
7. Receive the certificate. You become Slovak when you take over the certificate of citizenship, and you can then apply for a Slovak passport.

Route 3: former Czechoslovak and Slovak citizens

Paragraphs 4 to 7 of § 7 cover people who themselves held Czechoslovak or Slovak citizenship and lost it, for example through old Hungarian or Czechoslovak rules on long absence or marriage, by release, or under international treaties. They can be granted citizenship without the residence condition and without the language test. The fee is €30, and people who lost Slovak citizenship after 1 January 1993 pay nothing. Paragraph 7 goes further for one group: someone who lost Slovak citizenship by taking a foreign one between 17 July 2010 and 31 March 2022, after at least five years of residence in that country, shall be granted it back on request, with paper proof of that residence.

This route is about the applicant’s own lost citizenship, so it mostly helps older relatives. If a living parent or grandparent regains citizenship this way, check whether that changes your own position.

Route 4: the Slovak Living Abroad certificate

If your ancestor doesn’t pass the § 7(8) test, typically because they emigrated from the Kingdom of Hungary before Czechoslovakia existed, the certificate is the usual way in. It recognises Slovak nationality in you or a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent. On its own it is not citizenship. A certificate holder can be granted citizenship under § 7(3) after three years of continuous residence in Slovakia, with no language test and a €560 fee. The eligibility rules, documents and residence benefits are all in our Slovak Living Abroad certificate guide.

Route 5: marriage to a Slovak citizen

Marriage shortens the residence requirement but doesn’t remove it. Under § 7(2)(a), a spouse can be granted citizenship if they:

• have permitted residence in Slovakia;
• are married to a Slovak citizen and the marriage still exists; and
• have lived with their spouse in a shared household in Slovakia for at least five years immediately before applying.

The Slovak language and general-knowledge test applies (unless an age or other exemption in § 7(1)(h) fits), and so do the criminal-record and other § 7(1) conditions. The fee is €1,000. Marrying a Slovak while you both live abroad does not, on its own, give you a route to citizenship.

Route 6: naturalisation after living in Slovakia

The standard route under § 7(1) needs at least eight years of continuous permanent residence in Slovakia immediately before the application. The Ministry looks at whether you actually lived there during that time and at the reasons for any absences. You must also:

• pass the test of spoken and written Slovak and general knowledge about Slovakia;
• have a clean criminal record and no pending expulsion, extradition or criminal proceedings;
• have met your obligations on residence, health and social insurance, taxes and fees in Slovakia; and
• not be a threat to public order or security.

The test is waived for applicants over 65, those under 14 when applying, current or former Czech citizens, and people who passed a Slovak maturita, a state Slovak-language exam or a state exam in a Slovak-taught university programme within the last ten years. The fee for an adult is €1,000. Shorter periods apply to a few other groups, such as recognised refugees and stateless people, which are beyond this guide.

Which route should you try first?

1. Was a parent Slovak when you were born? Then you are already Slovak. Register the birth.
2. Was a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent a Czechoslovak citizen born in today’s Slovakia? Apply under § 7(8) from where you live.
3. Did the ancestor leave before 1918, or only have Slovak nationality on record? Look at the Slovak Living Abroad certificate, and be ready to spend three years in Slovakia. If the family came from Upper Hungary, Hungary’s simplified naturalization may also be worth a look.
4. Was the ancestor born in Bohemia or Moravia? Read the Czech declaration guide and, for great-grandchildren, Czech citizenship for great-grandchildren.
5. No ancestry at all? Marriage (five years together in Slovakia) or naturalisation (eight years of permanent residence).

Not sure which line to use? The free eligibility checker asks two or three questions about your Slovak ancestor and points you to the right route.

Dual citizenship: what changes once you are Slovak

None of the routes above asks you to give up the citizenship you already hold. The catch is later. Under § 9(16), a Slovak citizen who voluntarily acquires a foreign citizenship loses Slovak citizenship on that day, unless the new citizenship came through marriage during the marriage, by birth or adoption, or after at least five years of permitted or registered residence in that country. In those exception cases you must notify the authorities within 90 days. Whether your other country lets you keep its citizenship is a question for that country; our dual citizenship by descent guide compares the rules.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Act No. 40/1993 Coll. on State Citizenship, version in force from 15 July 2026 (Slov-Lex) (§ 5, § 7(1) to (9), § 8(1) and (3), § 8a, § 9(16))
• Act No. 145/1995 Coll. on Administrative Fees, version in force from 1 September 2026 (Slov-Lex) (item 20: fees for granting citizenship and the exemption for people over 65)
• Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic: state citizenship

Checked against these sources on 29 October 2026. The law texts were read in the consolidated Slov-Lex versions, which Slov-Lex publishes for information; the binding text is the official gazette. Embassies set their own appointment and payment arrangements, so ask yours before you file. Only the Ministry of Interior can decide your case.