How to Get Slovak Citizenship by Descent: Documents, Fees, Oath

You can claim Slovak citizenship by descent if you have a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent who held Czechoslovak citizenship and was born on the territory of present-day Slovakia. Since an April 1, 2022 amendment to the Slovak Citizenship Act (Act No. 40/1993), the pathway reaches three generations back, requires no Slovak language ability, and requires no residence in the country. What it does require is a complete document chain, an in-person appointment at a Slovak embassy or consulate, a simultaneous permanent residency application, and patience: the Ministry of Interior has up to 24 months by law to decide.

Who Qualifies

Your qualifying ancestor has to meet both conditions, not just one. They held Czechoslovak citizenship, and they were born in what is now Slovakia. Being born in the region isn’t enough if they never held Czechoslovak citizenship, and holding Czechoslovak citizenship isn’t enough if they were born in what is now the Czech Republic or another part of the former state.¹ The relevant citizenship window runs from Czechoslovakia’s founding in 1918 through 1989. Your ancestor doesn’t have to have stayed in Slovakia or survived to any particular date; what matters is the paper trail.²

If Your Ancestor Left Before 1918

A common problem: your ancestor emigrated during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before Czechoslovakia existed. Austro-Hungarian citizenship on its own does not qualify.³ When Czechoslovakia was formed on October 28, 1918, people who held continuous domiciliary rights (legal residence tied to a municipality) in the territory as of January 1, 1910 automatically became Czechoslovak citizens. An ancestor who emigrated before that date and gave up those rights likely never became a Czechoslovak citizen. Proving what happened with domiciliary rights a century ago is difficult, and this is where many pre-1918 emigrant applications fall apart. Expect archival research before you can even judge whether an application is viable.

The Documents You Need

The application has two parallel document sets: paperwork about you, and paperwork proving your lineage back to the qualifying ancestor.

Your personal documents:

Valid passport, original or certified copy.
Your birth certificate, apostilled and translated into Slovak.
Marriage certificate, divorce decree, or spouse’s death certificate as applicable, each apostilled and translated.
A criminal record check from every country where you hold or have held citizenship, and from every country where you have lived more than 180 consecutive days in the past 15 years. Each check must be less than six months old at submission.¹
A brief CV covering date of birth, education, and employment history.
The application form and questionnaire, both in Slovak.³

Your lineage chain has to be unbroken from you back to the qualifying ancestor. That means birth, marriage, and death certificates for every generation in between. If your great-grandparent is the qualifying ancestor, you need their birth certificate showing birth in Slovak territory, their marriage certificate, documentation of their Czechoslovak citizenship, and then the birth and marriage certificates connecting each generation down to you. Because the lineage documents are routed to a different department than the residence permit application, prepare a second complete copy of the lineage set.³

Preparing the Documents

Every document issued outside Slovakia has to be apostilled if the issuing country is part of the Hague Apostille Convention, or superlegalized if it is not.¹ In the United States, apostilles are issued by the Secretary of State in the state where the document was issued, typically $10 to $20 per document. Every non-Slovak document also needs a certified Slovak translation, which typically runs around $39 per page.

For the criminal record, US applicants use an FBI Identity History Summary, which costs $18 and can be requested electronically.⁴ The FBI check then needs its own apostille from the US Department of State (it is a federal document) and a Slovak translation. Any additional country you lived in during the past 15 years adds another check with its own apostille and translation.

Budget realistically. If you are tracing a great-grandparent across four generations of vital records, plus apostilles, translations, and criminal records, the preparation alone can run into several hundred dollars before you pay any citizenship fee.

Where to Submit and What Happens There

You submit in person at a Slovak embassy or consulate in your country of residence, or at a District Office in Slovakia. An appointment is required, and you must present all originals for verification at that appointment.³

Appointment backlogs are a real factor. Some Slovak posts, especially Washington, D.C., have struggled to keep up with demand since the 2022 amendment, and wait times for a slot can stretch to several months. Check availability at your nearest embassy early so you can time your document preparation around it. Criminal records especially can expire while you wait.

The Simultaneous Residence Permit

Part of the process is a permanent residency application filed at the same appointment. The embassy processes the residency application first, typically within 90 days.² Once your residency permit is issued, it is forwarded to the Ministry of Interior, which then begins processing the citizenship application.³ This is an administrative step, not a commitment to move to Slovakia. You are applying for the legal status.

Fees

The fees on the Slovak Consulate’s schedule updated in March 2026 are:

Adult applicant: €30 (approximately $36 USD).
Child 15 and under: €140 (approximately $166 USD).
Child 15 to 18: €220 (approximately $260 USD).⁵

The fee is collected when your application is approved, not at submission. Children 14 and older must submit their own separate application rather than being included on a parent’s, and they need their own criminal record check.²

How Long It Takes

The Ministry of Interior has up to 24 months by law to decide.² In practice the Ministry’s decision stage often takes less than that, but the full timeline adds up across phases: gathering documents (weeks to months), waiting for an embassy appointment (potentially several more months at busier posts), the 90-day residency processing, then the Ministry’s review. Slovak authorities may contact you for additional information during processing, and responding promptly avoids further delay.

After Approval: Oath, Birth Registry, Passport

If the Ministry approves, the final step to actually become a Slovak citizen is the Oath of Allegiance, taken at the embassy or consulate where you applied, before the ambassador or consul. Children under 14 are exempt.² Watch one deadline: if you do not collect your citizenship certificate within six months of receiving the written invitation, the Ministry discontinues the proceeding.

After the oath you receive the Certificate of State Citizenship of the Slovak Republic. That is your proof of citizenship, but two more steps stand between you and a Slovak passport.

Registering Your Birth in the Slovak Special Registry

Because you were born outside Slovakia, your birth has to be entered into the Slovak Special Registry before you can get a Slovak birth certificate. You submit an application to the embassy with your apostilled and translated foreign birth certificate, your new citizenship certificate, and your parents’ marriage certificate or relevant court documents.⁶ The Special Registry issues the Slovak birth certificate, which the embassy forwards to you. No specific timeline is published for this step.

Applying for the Passport

With the Slovak birth certificate, you can apply for a Slovak passport at the embassy or consulate. The adult passport fee is €60 (approximately $71 USD).⁵ The passport carries the practical benefits of Slovak and EU citizenship, including the right to live and work in any EU member state.

Dual Citizenship: A Trap to Know About

Slovakia permits dual citizenship in this context, and acquiring Slovak citizenship by descent does not require you to give up your existing nationality. But there is a rule that catches people later. A Slovak citizen who voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country automatically loses Slovak citizenship on the date they applied for that foreign citizenship.¹

The exceptions are narrow. You keep Slovak citizenship if you acquired the foreign citizenship through marriage to a foreign citizen (while the marriage lasts), if you acquired it at birth, or if you acquired it before July 17, 2010. Outside those exceptions the loss is automatic. If you obtain Slovak citizenship and later naturalize in a third country, you would lose your Slovak citizenship.

For US citizens specifically, acquiring Slovak citizenship does not by itself jeopardize US nationality. Under federal law, a US citizen loses nationality only by voluntarily performing an expatriating act with the specific intention of relinquishing US citizenship.⁷ Citizens of other countries should check their own government’s dual nationality rules before applying.

One Tax Item for US Citizens

Acquiring Slovak citizenship itself does not create new US tax obligations; the United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of other citizenships held, and the US-Slovakia tax treaty provides a credit for taxes paid to Slovakia to avoid double taxation.⁸ The practical trap is opening a Slovak bank account, which some applicants do in connection with the residence permit. If your foreign financial accounts exceed $10,000 in aggregate value at any point during the year, you must file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) with the Treasury Department by April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.⁹ The requirement applies whether or not the account earns income, and penalties for missing it are steep.

1
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. Slovak Citizenship
2
Veľvyslanectvo Slovenskej republiky v Ottawe. Slovak Citizenship by Descent
3
Generálny konzulát Slovenskej republiky v Sydney. Slovak Citizenship by Descent
4
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks FAQs
5
Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in New York. Administrative Fees
6
Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in New York. Registration of the Birth in the USA
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1481 – Loss of Nationality by Native-Born or Naturalized Citizen
8
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Convention With the Slovak Republic
9
Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)