Country guide · Slovakia

Does Slovakia allow dual citizenship with the USA?

Citizenship-by-Descent.com·Last reviewed November 2026

Educational information only — not legal advice. Always verify with the relevant authority, consulate or registry office.

Yes, if you already hold the other citizenship. Americans claiming Slovak citizenship by descent keep their US citizenship, and a child born with both can hold both. What Slovakia restricts is the opposite order. Since 17 July 2010, a Slovak citizen who voluntarily acquires a foreign citizenship loses Slovak citizenship on that same day, without any decision being needed. The exceptions cover marriage, birth, adoption, minors and, since 1 April 2022, at least five years’ residence in the new country. They come with a 90-day duty to notify Slovak authorities.

The short answer

  • American granted Slovak citizenship by descent: you keep US citizenship.
  • Born to a Slovak parent, with US citizenship from birth: you hold both, but the foreign citizenship must be notified within 90 days.
  • Slovak citizen who naturalises in the US after five years’ residence there: you keep Slovak citizenship if you notify within 90 days.
  • Slovak citizen who naturalises in the US with less than five years’ residence: you lose Slovak citizenship that day, unless you are acquiring your spouse’s citizenship.
  • Slovak who lost citizenship this way between 2010 and 2022, with five years’ residence: you can get it back.

How the rule developed

  1. Until 16 July 2010. Section 9(1) of Act No. 40/1993 said Slovak citizenship could be lost only by release at your own request.
  2. 17 July 2010. Act No. 250/2010 added loss by acquiring a foreign citizenship through an express act of will. It had two exceptions: acquiring your spouse’s citizenship during the marriage, and acquiring a citizenship by birth.
  3. 17 September 2014. Thirty members of parliament challenged the rule at the Constitutional Court, relying partly on Article 5(2) of the Constitution, which bars removing citizenship against a person’s will. The motion failed for procedural reasons: neither the rapporteur’s draft nor the counter-proposals won a majority of the judges (PL. ÚS 11/2012). So the rule stayed in force, but the court never decided that it was constitutional.
  4. 1 April 2022. Act No. 72/2022 rewrote the exceptions, adding adoption, minors and five years’ residence, along with the duty to notify. It gave former citizens with five years’ residence a way back, and opened a route for descendants.
  5. 15 July 2026. Act No. 128/2026 moved the descendant route to Section 7(8), which dropped the need for a Slovak residence permit, and moved these notices from the Ministry of Interior to district offices in regional capitals.

When you lose Slovak citizenship

Under Section 9(16), a Slovak citizen loses citizenship on the day they voluntarily acquire a foreign citizenship through an express act of will, meaning an application, a declaration or another step aimed at getting it. Three things follow:

  • It is automatic. Citizenship ends on the day you acquire the new one. The notice you later receive records this; it doesn’t cause it.
  • You must report it. Anyone who loses citizenship this way must tell the district office in a regional capital immediately in writing, with paper proof of the foreign citizenship (Section 9(19)).
  • Jobs tied to citizenship end. Unless a special law says otherwise, a civil service post or similar role that requires Slovak citizenship ends that day, as does security clearance (Sections 9(21) and 9(22)).

The only other way to lose citizenship is release at your own request. You must show you have another citizenship or a promise of one, and you can’t be released while facing prosecution or with certain unpaid debts. The office has up to six months to decide, and citizenship ends on the day you collect the release document (Section 9(2), (3), (9) and (11)).

The exceptions

Marriage, birth, adoption and minors (Section 9(17))

You don’t lose Slovak citizenship if:

  • you acquired your spouse’s foreign citizenship during the marriage;
  • the foreign citizenship came by birth;
  • it came by adoption; or
  • it was acquired by a minor child.

The marriage exception covers only your spouse’s citizenship. Marrying an American and then naturalising in Canada doesn’t qualify. Its reach is also being tested. Slovak authorities refused to apply it to a Slovak man who became a British citizen through his husband, because Slovak law doesn’t recognise same-sex marriage. The Constitutional Court decided on 1 July 2026 to ask the EU Court of Justice whether EU law allows this, and sent the reference on 12 August 2026 (case C-925/26). Its press release says the core issue is whether the ministry could apply the loss without weighing the circumstances, including the consequences for the man’s EU citizenship.

Five years’ residence (Section 9(18))

You also keep Slovak citizenship if, when you acquire the foreign citizenship, you have had permitted, registered or otherwise recorded residence in that country for at least five years. The condition counts as met only if you actually stayed there during that time. A Slovak who holds a residence right in the US but mostly lives elsewhere is at risk. The five years must be in the country whose citizenship you are taking, and you can be asked for further evidence.

If the office finds after your notice that the condition wasn’t met, it sends you written notice that you have lost Slovak citizenship and records the loss in the central register and the population register.

The 90-day notice

Both exceptions come with the same duty. You must tell the district office in a regional capital in writing within 90 days of acquiring the foreign citizenship, with paper documents:

  • Under Section 9(17): proof of the foreign citizenship and of why citizenship wasn’t lost, especially a birth certificate, marriage certificate or final adoption decision.
  • Under Section 9(18): proof of the foreign citizenship and of how long you had lived in that country on the day you acquired it.

Parents or guardians do this for a minor (Section 16a), so Slovak parents of a child born with US citizenship should act within 90 days of the birth. The Ministry of Interior’s citizenship page has a notice form. If you have never lived in Slovakia, Section 16 makes the District Office Bratislava the competent office for Section 8, 9 and 9a matters. Failing to notify is an offence with a fine of up to €330 (Section 9b). The Act doesn’t make citizenship depend on the notice.

What descendants claiming Slovak citizenship need to know

There are two very different positions, and the loss rule affects them differently.

  • Citizenship from a parent (Section 5). A child is Slovak by birth if at least one parent is a Slovak citizen. So check your parent’s status on the day you were born. If your parent voluntarily took a foreign citizenship on or after 17 July 2010, with no exception, before your birth, they weren’t Slovak and nothing passed to you.
  • The grant for descendants (Section 7(8)). This is for people who have never been Slovak citizens, with a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent who was a Czechoslovak citizen born in the territory of today’s Slovakia. It is a discretionary grant: citizenship “may” be granted. You need no residence in Slovakia and no language test, though the other conditions in Section 7(1), such as good character, still apply. You apply in person at a Slovak embassy or consulate, or a district office in a regional capital, and the Ministry has up to 24 months to decide.

Nothing in Section 7 or 8 asks you to give up US citizenship. And because you already hold it when you become Slovak, on the wording of Section 9(16) you haven’t acquired it as a Slovak citizen, so the loss rule doesn’t apply. But it applies from the day you become Slovak. If you plan to add another citizenship later, such as Canadian or Irish, you need to fit an exception, or take that citizenship before the Slovak one.

For the steps, see how to get Slovak citizenship and our Slovak citizenship by descent guide. The Slovak Living Abroad certificate is a separate status.

If you or your family lost Slovak citizenship

  • Lost by naturalising, 17 July 2010 to 31 March 2022, with five years’ residence (Section 7(7)). Citizenship “is granted”, without the usual eight years’ residence in Slovakia, if you had at least five years’ residence in that country when you acquired its citizenship and actually lived there. You also need paper documents to prove it. No language test applies.
  • Lost by naturalising with less than five years’ residence. Section 7(7) doesn’t help, and Section 7(8) is closed because you have been a Slovak citizen. The Act has no special route for you, so the ordinary conditions in Section 7 apply. Ask the Ministry of Interior or an embassy.
  • Released at your own request. Former citizens released under the Act are granted citizenship if they prove they haven’t been given another citizenship (Section 7(6)). Otherwise, Section 7(2)(i) allows a grant if you hold a residence permit in Slovakia.
  • Children and grandchildren of someone who lost it. They may qualify on their own account under Section 7(8), if they have never been Slovak citizens and the family line reaches a Czechoslovak citizen born in today’s Slovakia.

After the grant

  • The oath. Taking the citizen’s oath is a condition of acquiring citizenship, and it happens when you collect the document (Section 8a).
  • Proof of citizenship. Your grant document works as proof for only 90 days after you collect it (Section 9a(1)(e)). Apply for a citizenship certificate, ID card or passport in that time.

The US side

The US government recognises dual nationality and permits Americans to hold other nationalities, though it says it doesn’t encourage it. You must enter and leave the United States on a US passport, with limited exceptions. See our guide to European citizenship by descent for Americans.

Practical steps

  1. Before you naturalise anywhere as a Slovak, count your years of residence there and collect proof of them, such as permits, leases, tax records and travel history.
  2. Mark the 90 days from the day you acquire the citizenship, and send paper documents.
  3. Parents: if your child is born with a foreign citizenship, send the notice with the birth certificate.
  4. If you naturalised abroad between 2010 and 2022, check whether you had five years’ residence. If so, Section 7(7) is open to you.
  5. Descendants: build your document chain and check the apostille rules. Foreign documents need certified Slovak translations (Section 16a(3)).

To check whether you have a claim, use our free citizenship by descent checker. For other countries, see dual citizenship by descent, country by country. Slovakia’s neighbour works differently; see Czech dual citizenship.

Frequently asked questions

Does Slovakia allow dual citizenship with the USA?

Yes, for US citizenship you already hold when you become Slovak, or that you were born with. The limit runs the other way: a Slovak citizen who voluntarily applies for and acquires US citizenship loses Slovak citizenship that day, unless they have lived in the US for at least five years, acquire it as the spouse of an American during the marriage, or acquire it as a minor.

Do I have to give up US citizenship to get Slovak citizenship by descent?

No. Neither the Section 7(8) grant for descendants nor citizenship through a Slovak parent asks you to renounce another citizenship. The list of conditions in Section 7 doesn’t include it, and the documents listed in Section 8 don’t include proof of giving up a foreign citizenship. You stay a US citizen, and the US government permits Americans to hold other nationalities.

Will I lose Slovak citizenship if I become a US citizen after five years in America?

No, if you have had permitted, registered or otherwise recorded residence in the US for at least five years when you naturalise, and you really were there during that time. You must then notify a district office in a regional capital in writing within 90 days, with paper proof of the new citizenship and the length of your stay.

What happens if I miss the 90-day notice?

The Act treats it as an offence, and you can be fined up to €330. It doesn’t say that missing the notice ends your citizenship. Citizenship is lost only if the exception didn’t apply. If the office later finds that you didn’t meet the residence condition, it sends you written notice of the loss.

I lost Slovak citizenship by naturalising abroad after 2010. Can I get it back?

If you lost it between 17 July 2010 and 31 March 2022, and you had at least five years’ residence in that country when you naturalised, yes: Section 7(7) says citizenship is granted, with no eight-year residence in Slovakia. Without the five years, Section 7(7) doesn’t help, and the descendant route in Section 7(8) is closed to people who have been Slovak citizens.

My Slovak parent naturalised in the US. Am I Slovak?

It depends on the date. You are Slovak by birth only if a parent was a Slovak citizen when you were born. If your parent lost citizenship on or after 17 July 2010 before your birth, nothing passed to you. But if a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak citizen born in today’s Slovakia, you can apply for the Section 7(8) grant instead.

Does the marriage exception work for same-sex couples?

That is now before the EU Court of Justice. Slovak authorities refused to apply it to a Slovak man who became British through his husband, because Slovak law doesn’t recognise same-sex marriage. On 12 August 2026 Slovakia’s Constitutional Court asked the EU court whether EU law allows that. The case, C-925/26, was pending on 6 November 2026.

Official sources

Checked against these sources on 6 November 2026. The Slov-Lex text is informative; the binding text is the PDF in the Collection of Laws. The Slovak Foreign Ministry’s consular pages refused automated access, so its guidance wasn’t used. Only the Ministry of Interior and district offices can decide your case; confirm with them or a Slovak embassy before you naturalise anywhere.