Planning to study
or work in Slovakia?
This site’s got you covered!
Below, you can find all the information you need about entry requirements, visa applications, residence permits, and more.
Being part of the Schengen Area, citizens of EU member states are, under normal circumstances, free to travel to Slovakia without any preconditions.
In 10 days of your arrival, you have to submit the Notice of the Stay at the local Foreign Police Department, if the accommodation provider does not do it on your behalf (we recommend asking at the reception, or the property owner).
Should your stay exceed 90 days, you need to apply for the Registration of residence of an EU/EEA/Swiss national within the next 30 day by booking an appointment through the online reservation system of the Foreign Police Office. Only online reservations will be handled at the Foreign Police Departments.
For further information on the Notice of the Stay and the Registration of residence of an EU/EEA/Swiss national see:
Guide to administrative duties – online navigation
As each case is specific (depending on your country of origin, nationality, country of university, duration and purpose of the stay etc.), there are several ways of legalizing your stay in Slovakia (visa-free travel, Schengen Visa, National Visa, Temporary Residence, Intra-EU Mobility of Third-Country Nationals etc.) we recommend you checking your situation with the online guide below:
Guide to administrative duties – online navigation
In 3 days of your arrival, you have to submit the Notice of the Stay at the local Foreign Police Department, if the accommodation provider does not do it on your behalf (we recommend asking at the reception, or the property owner).
Third-country national staying in Slovakia is obliged to report any change regarding your place of residence within five working days from the day when the change occurred.
If you are granted a temporary residence:
- You are obliged to submit a medical certificate confirming that you do not suffer from any disease threatening public health within 30 days from the collection of your residence card. The certificate cannot be older than 30 days. It can be obtained in specific medical centres only and you will be charged a fee. More information is available here.
- You are also obliged to report to the police department if:
- you will reside outside the Slovak territory for more than 180 days continuously (in writing)
- you will stay away from the place of residence stated in the granted temporary residence for more than 30 days continuously
- the purpose of stay, for which the temporary residence was granted has ceased to exist
As of 1 May 2018, new simplified rules of mobility of third country nationals within EU are applicable in Slovakia, which enable students with a residence permit in one of the EU member states to carry out short-term stays (up to 360 days) in Slovakia without the need to obtain a temporary residence in Slovakia.
For this purpose, we kindly ask you to prepare and provide us with the documents below before the onset of your mobility:
- scan of a residence card for the purpose study, issued by a member state valid for whole duration of the mobility in Slovakia (a uniform format for all EU Member States, the purpose of a residence is stated in the „Note“ of the residence card)
- scan of a passport
- proof of financial coverage of stay – short confirmation of the sending higher education institution stating duration and that the student will be provided with sufficient resources to cover the costs of living, study costs and travel costs for the return to the member state. Document must be issued by the home university and translated to Slovak language by an official translator.
If you are an Erasmus or a Free Mover student, please, upload the documents to the Online Application Form.
If you come within the National Scholarship Programme, CEEPUS, Visegrad Fund etc. or if you are an incoming Erasmus staff member, please, send the documents to your contact person at our university.
The higher education institution is obliged to report the Foreign Police in writing any change influencing the mobility in Slovakia, within three working days of learning about them.
If the residence permit in another EU member state has been granted for purpose other than study or research and development, the process described above is not applicable. In this case the student has to apply for a temporary residence or for National Visa at the Slovak Embassy in the EU Member State where they have been granted the current temporary residence.
A list of official translators in Slovakia
Slovak embassies may provide the translation of documents intended for the use in Slovakia, if such a service is available. No further verification is required in case the documents have been translated by the embassy/consulate.
If the translation has been made by a foreign translator abroad, the embassy/consulate can verify the accuracy of the translation from the official language of the country to Slovak.
Not all embassies/consulates offer the above-mentioned services.
If translation into Slovak is not possible, you can have documents translated into Czech and have them verified by the Embassy of the Slovak Embassy in Prague (please, verify if it is acceptable before arrival).
The tasks related to the recognition of a foreign diploma or professional qualification are fulfilled by the Centre for recognition of diplomas (CRD) by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.
IOM Migration Information Centre
Do you have questions about your legal obligations related to your residence in Slovakia? IOM Imigration Information Centre offers several useful articles on various topics as well as free counselling service.
Take a look at a concise brochure Welcome to Slovakia which provides information on entry and stay, healthcare, social issues, employment, doing business, housing, childcare and other interesting topics.
