Slovak citizenship by descent and the Slovak living abroad certificate: documents from Ukraine
Slovak ancestry can be put to use in Slovakia in two ways. The certificate of a Slovak living abroad (osvedčenie Slováka žijúceho v zahraničí) is issued by the Office for Slovaks Living Abroad (ÚSŽZ) to a person who has no permanent residence in Slovakia, has Slovak nationality in the ethnic sense (národnosť, not citizenship) themselves or through an ancestor, keeps a Slovak national identity and has not been convicted of an intentional crime. Since 15 July 2026 the Slovak Ministry of the Interior can also grant citizenship – and with it a Slovak passport – to descendants whose parent, grandparent or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak citizen born on the territory of Slovakia, without the eight years of residence that ordinary naturalisation requires.
Both routes rest on documents from Ukraine – birth certificates along the ancestor’s line, archive records and a criminal record extract – and both require them in a sworn Slovak translation. We obtain them through our offices in Kyiv and Kharkiv and arrange the apostille and a translation by a sworn translator (súdny prekladateľ) on the Slovak Ministry of Justice list. Which route is yours depends on what the ancestor’s documents record; we look at them before anything is ordered.
- The Slovak living abroad certificate and citizenship under § 7(8)
- Birth certificates along the ancestor’s line, an archive confirmation of nationality, a criminal record extract
- Apostille in Ukraine and a sworn translation by a translator on the Slovak Ministry of Justice list
- Documents with limited validity are timed to your filing date
Our guarantees
- 100% acceptance by authorities and institutions in Slovakia and abroad
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- 2-year guarantee on translation quality
- We process requests at weekends too – we reply every day 9:00–18:00
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Which route is yours: the entry in the ancestor’s document decides
The two routes are easily confused, although each assesses something different. For the certificate, ÚSŽZ looks in the documents for a record of Slovak nationality and asks the applicant for proof that they keep a Slovak national identity. For citizenship under § 7(8) of the Slovak Citizenship Act (No. 40/1993), as amended with effect from 15 July 2026, the Ministry of the Interior looks at the ancestor’s citizenship and place of birth: the ancestor must have been a Czechoslovak citizen born on the territory of the Slovak Republic. You yourself must never have been a Slovak citizen; former citizens apply under other provisions. This is a possibility, not an entitlement: the law says citizenship “may be granted”, and the Ministry of the Interior states that there is no legal claim to it even when all the statutory conditions are met.
For families from Zakarpattia this is the difference that matters. Between the wars Zakarpattia belonged to Czechoslovakia, but it is not part of the Slovak Republic, so an ancestor born in Uzhhorod or Mukachevo does not on their own meet the § 7(8) condition. If their documents record Slovak nationality, however, the certificate route stays open.
| What is assessed | Slovak living abroad certificate | Citizenship under § 7(8) |
|---|---|---|
| What the documents must show | a record of Slovak nationality | Czechoslovak citizenship and birth on the territory of Slovakia |
| Whom the record concerns | you, or a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent | a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent |
| Who decides | Office for Slovaks Living Abroad (ÚSŽZ) | Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic |
| Where you apply | in person at ÚSŽZ in Bratislava, at a Slovak embassy or consulate general | in person at the district office in a regional capital (okresný úrad v sídle kraja), a Slovak embassy or consular office |
| Criminal record extract | no older than 3 months | no older than 6 months |
| Slovak language test | not a condition | not required by law on this route |
What the certificate gives you in Slovakia
The certificate is neither citizenship nor a residence permit; it proves the status of a Slovak living abroad, on which other laws build. Under the Act on the Residence of Foreigners the police grant a certificate holder temporary residence (prechodný pobyt) for five years unless there are grounds for refusal (§ 29 of Act No. 404/2011), and with that residence the holder may also run a business. If you apply for this residence within 60 days of the certificate being issued, you do not need to attach a criminal record extract.
The same residence also gives you the right to work: an employer may hire you without a work permit (§ 23a of Act No. 5/2004). The certificate is valid only in Slovakia and only together with a valid identity card or passport, and its details must match that document.
The ancestor’s line on paper: civil registry and archive
Kinship is proven with a chain of birth certificates. ÚSŽZ asks for your birth certificate and the birth certificate of each direct ancestor up to the one through whom you claim Slovak nationality. Where names in the chain do not match – after a marriage, or because of a different transliteration from Cyrillic – the office suspends the proceedings and asks you to explain the discrepancy, so we prepare the marriage certificate or the change-of-name document together with the rest.
A record of nationality turns up in older entries; present-day certificate forms, as a rule, do not carry it. That is why ÚSŽZ expressly accepts a confirmation of nationality from the State Archive of Zakarpattia Oblast in Uzhhorod or from another archive in Ukraine or the former USSR, census sheets included where they record nationality. For older generations we therefore start with an archive request, not with the civil registry.
Validity periods: what to obtain early and what to leave to the end
Some documents may not be older than a set number of months on the day you file, so the order matters. For ÚSŽZ the criminal record extract may be at most three months old and must come from your country of citizenship and, if you live in a third country – neither Slovakia nor your country of citizenship – from that country as well. The proof of national identity may be no more than six months old: your statement about the results of your public activity, or a written testimony from a Slovak community organisation where you live and, where none operates, from at least two holders of the certificate or of the older preukaz zahraničného Slováka living in the same country. The limit does not apply to a school report from a school teaching in Slovak, which can also prove national identity. Six months is also the upper limit for the apostille.
For citizenship the law asks for a criminal record extract or other proof of a clean record no more than six months old, and you need more of them: one from every state whose citizen you are or have been, and one from every state where you have held a residence permit in the last 15 years. So we obtain the ancestors’ documents first and the criminal record extract last; for the certificate we also time the apostilles so that none is more than six months old on the day you file.
Apostille and translation: what ÚSŽZ asks for and what the ministry asks for
ÚSŽZ states in its conditions that public documents from Hague Convention countries – and Ukraine is one – must carry an apostille. For a citizenship application the Ministry of the Interior asks for legalisation or an apostille unless a special law or an international treaty provides otherwise. Before ordering an apostille, we check whether your document needs one on this route.
A sworn Slovak translation is needed in both proceedings. ÚSŽZ does not require a translation of documents issued in Czech, while the ministry exempts only documents issued in the Czech Republic. ÚSŽZ accepts a translation by a sworn translator registered by the Slovak Ministry of Justice. If the translation is made by a translator from the applicant’s home state, that translator must be entered in the home state’s register and their authority must be confirmed by an apostille – unless you file at a Slovak embassy or consulate and it confirms the translator’s authority in its cover letter to ÚSŽZ. We translate the document only once it carries the apostille, so that the apostille is translated too.
Filing: in person, in Slovak, with originals
The certificate application is filed in person – at ÚSŽZ in Bratislava, Palisády 29/A, or at a Slovak embassy or consulate in the state where you live; in Ukraine that is the embassy in Kyiv or the consulate general in Uzhhorod. The form is completed in Latin script and block capitals, and the office communicates in writing, in Slovak.
Originals go with the application: ÚSŽZ sends them to a forensic institute to examine their authenticity. The office may also invite the applicant to an interview, for example to establish their national identity and ties to Slovak traditions. A citizenship application is likewise filed in person, and you fill in a questionnaire when you file it.
How we work
- 1Tell us what you know about the ancestorNames, approximate years and places of birth of your ancestors, and photos of any documents you already have at home.
- 2We set the route and the document listWe compare the entries with what ÚSŽZ or the Ministry of the Interior requires and tell you what is missing and where it is held.
- 3Obtaining the papers in UkraineOur office obtains the civil-registry documents and archive confirmations under your power of attorney; the criminal record extract and the apostilles are timed to your filing date.
- 4Sworn translation and hand-overA sworn translator on the Slovak Ministry of Justice list translates the documents together with the apostilles, and you receive them in Bratislava or by post, ready to file.
Prices
- Ancestors’ documents from Ukraine direct-line birth certificates and an archive confirmation of nationalityindividual quote
- Criminal record extract with apostille obtained so that on the day you file it is no older than the procedure allowsindividual quote
- Sworn translation into Slovak sworn translator on the Slovak Ministry of Justice list; the apostille and stamps are translated tooindividual quote
The budget depends on how many generations are involved and whether we need to write to an archive. We quote it in advance as one final sum that already includes the fees of the Ukrainian authorities.
FAQ
My ancestor was born in Zakarpattia. Can I get Slovak citizenship?
Under § 7(8) only if you have another ancestor, up to a great-grandparent, who was born in what is now Slovakia and held Czechoslovak citizenship. The law has one more route, though: a holder of the Slovak living abroad certificate can be granted citizenship after only three years of continuous residence in Slovakia immediately before applying, instead of the usual eight (§ 7(3)). The certificate can therefore be the first step towards becoming a Slovak citizen rather than the last.
Will I have to take a Slovak language test?
Not for citizenship under § 7(8): the law exempts these applications from the language test, as it does applicants holding a valid certificate. Where no exemption applies, a three-member committee tests your Slovak: an interview, reading aloud a press article of at least 500 words and summarising it in writing within 30 minutes. The word “valid” matters – the certificate lapses on the day you register permanent residence in Slovakia or on the day permanent residence is granted to you.
Will I get the original documents back?
An original you submit together with a certified copy is returned by ÚSŽZ when the proceedings end. An original bound to the sworn translation, or one whose copy is illegible, may however stay in the file. If you need the same document for another procedure, tell us before the translation – we will suggest what to bind the translation to, or obtain a second copy.
Why will a translation certified by a Ukrainian notary not do?
A Ukrainian notary certifies that the translator’s signature is genuine, not that the translator is entered in a register of sworn translators – and that entry is exactly what ÚSŽZ requires when the translation is made in the home state. A notarised translation can therefore end in a request for further documents and a suspension of the proceedings. A translation by a sworn translator on the Slovak Ministry of Justice list avoids the question for the certificate and for citizenship alike.
How long does ÚSŽZ take, and how do I learn the result?
Up to 60 days from the day the office receives a complete application; if it asks for further documents and suspends the proceedings, the period does not run in the meantime. It gives no status updates by phone – you ask in writing, from the e-mail address stated in the application. ÚSŽZ publishes issued certificates on its website by application number; if you applied at an embassy or consulate, the number it gave you is shown in brackets.
I live in Slovakia under temporary protection. Can I apply for the certificate?
Temporary protection does not stand in the way: it is not the permanent residence (trvalý pobyt) that would rule you out. You then file in person directly at ÚSŽZ in Bratislava during office hours, not at the Slovak embassy or consulate in Ukraine. We obtain the documents from Ukraine without you travelling there.
Can I hold dual citizenship, or must I give up my Ukrainian one?
Slovak citizenship law does not ask that of the applicant: giving up a previous citizenship is not among the conditions for a grant. What acquiring a foreign citizenship means for your Ukrainian one is a matter of Ukrainian law, not Slovak law, and is worth checking before you apply.
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Updated: 2026-10-21
