Slovakian Immigration Rules: New Changes in Effect Now

New changes come into force for Slovakian immigration rules for employment and residence permits. On the other hand, the government is also working on introducing language requirements for long-term residence permits. This means a level of A2 will be required in the Slovak language to get approval for a long-term residence permit.

As previously reported by the Schengenvisa.news, the new rules are now in effect. Furthermore, according to the new rules, an employer may only employ a third-country national who:

• has a blue card issued;
• on the basis of a confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant position corresponding to a highly qualified job;
• and the office issued a confirmation on the possibility of filling a vacant position that corresponds to a highly qualified job, according to 21a par. 1 letter b), which contains consent to occupy it;
• and the national of a third country notified this employer, with whom he performs highly qualified employment, according to a special regulation, after 12 months of performing highly qualified employment on the basis of a blue card;
• and on the basis of an application for the renewal of a blue card submitted after 12 months of highly qualified employment on the basis of a blue card, and the third-country national mentioned this employer in the application for the renewal of the blue card, or
• and the office issued a confirmation on the possibility of filling a vacant position according to 21b par. 1 letter c), which contains consent to occupy it;
• has been granted temporary residence for the purpose of employment on the basis of a confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant position;
• has been granted a temporary residence permit for the purpose of employment and the office has issued a confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant position according to § 21b par. 1 letter b), which contains consent to its occupation;
• has been granted an employment permit and granted temporary residence for the purpose of employment;
• has been granted a work permit and a temporary residence permit for the purpose of family reunification;
• has been granted an employment permit and granted temporary residence of a national of a third country who has the status of a person with a long-term residence in a member state of the European Union;
• has been issued a confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant job, which corresponds to a highly qualified job, which contains consent to fill it, and has received an application for the issuance of a blue card together with all the requirements according to a special regulation, 22db) from the date of validity of the confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant job, which corresponds to highly qualified employment, until the legal termination of the procedure for issuing a blue card;
• has been issued a confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant job, which contains consent to fill it, and has received an application for granting a temporary residence for the purpose of employment together with all the requirements according to a special regulation, 22dc) from the date of validity of the confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant job until the valid the end of the procedure for granting temporary residence for the purpose of employment, or
• fulfills the conditions according to § 23a of Act no. 5/2004 Coll. on employment services – confirmation of the possibility of filling a vacant position or employment permit is not required.

Slovakia focusing on immigration digitalization

The focus of the Slovakian government is to scale up the level of quality for the labor market. This is why employers who wish to employ non-EU citizens have more responsibilities now. In addition to this, digitalization is also a focus to reduce the processing times of work visas and residence permits.

The Slovakian government is also working on a one-year visa program that will help the country fulfill its labor market needs from selected countries for selected streams.

Summary of the new changes

Changes in effect	Details
Electronic Submission Requirement	Employers must electronically submit a “Request for Confirmation on the Possibility to Fill a Vacancy” signed by a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES).
Affected Permits	Temporary residence permits for employment purposes, including single permits and intra-corporate transferee permits.
Responsibility Shift	Responsibility shifts from authorities to employers, requiring them to appoint a designated individual to manage the QES process as an authorized representative.
Processing Time for Temporary Residence Permits	Reduced to 60 days from 90 days, with a 30-day expedited processing option available.
EU Blue Card Directive Simplification	Validity period increased to five years from four.
EU Blue Card Salary Requirement	Lowered from 1.5 times to 1.2 times the average monthly wage (approximately €1,403, or about US$1,513).