Frequently asked questions

Regular naturalisation: you must have actually been living in Slovenia for 10 years, of which the last 5 years continuously (Article 10 of ZDRS).

Naturalisation under facilitated conditions (Article 12 of ZDRS) applies to certain groups of persons, for whom shorter periods are sufficient:

• a Slovenian expatriate and their descendants up to the fourth generation in direct descent: the last year,
• a person whose Slovenian citizenship was terminated through release or renunciation: the last six months continuously,
• the spouse of a Slovenian citizen, married for at least three years: the last year continuously,
• a person of full age born in Slovenia: continuously since birth,
• a person with refugee status or a stateless person: the last 5 years continuously,
• a person who has completed at least a higher education programme in Slovenia: 7 years, of which the last year continuously.

Extraordinary naturalisation (Article 13 of ZDRS):

• as a rule, the last year of continuous residence is sufficient,
• exceptionally, in the case of an exceptional contribution by the person to the development of Slovenia or to increasing its international reputation or visibility, citizenship may be acquired even without residence in Slovenia.

All the periods stated are counted back from the date the application is submitted.

No. The law requires the legal status of a foreigner. This condition is met by a permanent or temporary residence permit, a certificate of residence registration for a European Union citizen or another status determined by law (Article 10 of ZDRS). Legal status alone is not enough. You must also show that you actually live in Slovenia, with only absences within the limits set by the decree being permitted (Article 2 of the Decree on the criteria and circumstances for establishing the conditions for acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia in the naturalisation procedure).

A single absence of more than 60 days in a year, or several shorter absences totalling more than 60 days in one year, is considered an interruption of actually living in Slovenia. A longer single absence is not considered an interruption if you were abroad:

• for schooling or study, for up to four years,
• for professional training, for up to two years,
• for employment, for up to four years,
• for medical treatment, for up to one year,
• as a minor child during school holidays, if you have been attending primary or secondary school in Slovenia for at least two years.

For schooling, training and employment, you must have been sent abroad by a legal entity, sole trader, state body or local community based in Slovenia. For medical treatment, you must have been referred by a healthcare organisation based in Slovenia (Article 2 of the Decree on the criteria and circumstances for establishing the conditions for acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia in the naturalisation procedure). Certain additional exceptions apply to spouses of Slovenian citizens.

You must have guaranteed funds at least in the amount of the basic minimum income for yourself and for every person you have to support (Article 10 of ZDRS). From 1 March 2026, the basic minimum income amounts to EUR 507.43. The amount is adjusted every year.

The calculation also takes into account the persons you are obliged to support, for example your spouse and children. Their income may, however, also be taken into account if it meets the same conditions as yours.

As a rule, the condition is met if you have been receiving the funds continuously for at least two years before submitting the application. Among other things, salary, pension (regardless of where it was granted), income from self-employment, income of company members who are managers, income from service or copyright contracts, scholarships, and rent or annuities are taken into account. If you receive several types of income, they are added together if you have been receiving one of them for at least two years and the others for at least one year. For a first employment after completing at least a higher education programme in Slovenia, concluded before the age of 28, six months are sufficient. An interruption of the legal basis for the income lasting more than 30 days counts as an interruption. Receiving unemployment benefit does not count as an interruption (Article 3 of the Decree on the criteria and circumstances for establishing the conditions for acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia in the naturalisation procedure).

You may also prove this condition with your assets, for example real estate, movable property of higher value, business shares or savings, if they ensure your material and social security in the future as well.

Yes. You prove your knowledge of Slovenian for the purposes of everyday communication with a certificate of having successfully passed a basic level exam in Slovenian (Article 10 of ZDRS). You do not have to take the exam:

• if you completed primary school in Slovenia,
• if you completed a publicly recognised secondary school programme in Slovenia,
• if you completed higher education or university studies in Slovenia after 25 June 1991,
• if you are older than 60 and have actually been living in Slovenia for 15 years,
• if you completed primary or secondary school with Slovenian as the language of instruction in the areas where the autochthonous Slovenian national community lives in neighbouring countries.

An illiterate person who communicates orally in Slovenian proves this with a certificate of a successfully passed examination on oral command of the Slovenian language at a basic level. A person who is not able to pass the examination due to a health condition that prevents everyday communication is not required to fulfil this condition; this is verified by an expert at the applicant’s expense.

For extraordinary naturalisation and for certain groups under facilitated conditions (persons whose Slovenian citizenship was terminated through release or renunciation, persons born in Slovenia, graduates of Slovenian higher education programmes), the exam is not a condition.

Criminal conviction: an obstacle is a final conviction to an unsuspended prison sentence longer than three months, or a suspended prison sentence with a term of suspension longer than one year (point 6 of the first paragraph of Article 10 of ZDRS). Such a conviction is no longer an obstacle once the conditions for the expunction of the conviction from the criminal records are met. If criminal proceedings have been initiated against you, the authority suspends the citizenship procedure until a final decision in the criminal proceedings.

Minor offences: individual minor offences, for example traffic offences, are generally not an obstacle. However, the following, among others, are considered a threat to public order:

• if in the last year you were fined more than EUR 400 two or more times for a minor offence against public order and peace or under the regulations on foreigners,
• if you were fined or convicted under the regulations on weapons, explosives, state border control or illicit drugs,
• if you were expelled from the country as a foreigner.

(Article 4 of the Decree on the criteria and circumstances for establishing the conditions for acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia in the naturalisation procedure)

It is also an obstacle if your residence permit in the Republic of Slovenia has been revoked (point 7 of the first paragraph of Article 10 of ZDRS).

Regular naturalisation: as a rule, you must submit a release from your current citizenship (Article 10 of ZDRS). You first receive a guarantee that you will acquire citizenship. You must then submit proof of release within two years (Article 11 of ZDRS). Release is not required if you are stateless or lose your citizenship by naturalisation itself. The condition is also met if your country does not decide on the release within a reasonable period of time or does not grant release at all. EU citizens do not have to submit proof of release if there is reciprocity between the countries.

Naturalisation under facilitated conditions (Article 12 of ZDRS): release is required only for the spouse of a Slovenian citizen and for a person who has completed at least a higher education programme in Slovenia. For the other groups, it is not a condition.

Extraordinary naturalisation (Article 13 of ZDRS): release is not a condition.

Where release is not a condition, whether you keep your current citizenship depends on the law of your country.

Regular naturalisation and naturalisation under facilitated conditions: you submit the application at the administrative unit in whose area you have registered permanent residence. If you only have registered temporary residence, you submit it at the administrative unit where you have registered your last temporary residence (Article 27.a of ZDRS). The application is decided by that administrative unit (Article 27 of ZDRS).

Extraordinary naturalisation: you may submit the application at an administrative unit, at the ministry responsible for internal affairs or at a diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia abroad (Article 27.a of ZDRS). The application is decided by the ministry responsible for internal affairs (Article 27 of ZDRS).

In both cases, you may submit the application yourself or through an authorised representative, who may also represent you in the subsequent procedure (Article 54 of the General Administrative Procedure Act, ZUP). The competent authority obtains data from official records, for example on residence, criminal record and tax obligations, ex officio.

The exact list depends on the type of naturalisation and your circumstances. The documents most commonly required are:

• a completed application for admission to citizenship and a CV,
• a valid travel document,
• an extract from the register of births,
• a criminal record certificate from your country of citizenship; if you have several citizenships, from all the countries of which you are a citizen,
• proof of funds for subsistence,
• a certificate of a basic level exam in Slovenian or proof of schooling in Slovenia,
• for spouses, an extract from the register of marriages.

Foreign documents must generally be certified (apostille or legalisation) and translated into Slovenian by a court interpreter. In practice, the criminal record certificate and other documents must not be older than three months. The competent authority obtains data from Slovenian official records ex officio.

The administrative fee for the decision on admission to citizenship is EUR 181.20, and for the guarantee EUR 9.10 (tariff number 12 of the Administrative Fees Act, ZUT). Consular fees apply if the application is submitted at a diplomatic or consular representation.

By law, the administrative authority must decide no later than two months after a complete application has been submitted (Article 222 of ZUP). In practice, the procedure takes longer. Regular naturalisation proceedings at first instance usually take 3 to 6 months, and longer at larger administrative units (e.g. Ljubljana, Maribor). In most cases, the guarantee issued by the administrative unit must also be reviewed by the ministry responsible for internal affairs in a review procedure. The ministry checks the first-instance procedure and, if everything is in order, gives its consent to the guarantee. The two-month time limit also applies to the consent, but in practice it currently takes about 4 months. The extraordinary naturalisation procedure depends on the competent ministry and usually takes from 9 months to 3 years. The time frames stated are indicative and depend on the completeness of the application and the workload of the competent authority.

When you meet all the conditions except release from your current citizenship, the administrative unit issues a guarantee that you will acquire Slovenian citizenship (Article 11 of ZDRS). In most cases, the guarantee is then reviewed by the ministry responsible for internal affairs in a review procedure. The ministry checks the first-instance procedure and, if everything is in order, gives its consent to the guarantee. This currently takes about 4 months.

You must then apply to the competent authorities of your country for the termination of your citizenship. By law, you must submit proof of termination within two years from the service of the guarantee. If you do not, you are considered to have withdrawn your application for admission to citizenship. In our experience, administrative units count this time limit from the service of the ministry’s consent to the guarantee. What to do if your country does not grant release is explained in the next question.

Before the final decision, the competent authority checks again that you have not been convicted and that you do not pose a threat to public order or the security or defence of the State. Before the decision on admission to citizenship is served, you give an oath to respect the free democratic constitutional order. This applies to regular and facilitated as well as extraordinary naturalisation (point 10 of the first paragraph of Article 10 of ZDRS). The decision is served on you immediately after the oath, and you thereby become a Slovenian citizen (Articles 15 and 27.b of ZDRS).

Even in this case, you can acquire Slovenian citizenship. You must, however, show that you have done everything in your power. The condition of release is considered fulfilled if your country does not decide on the application for termination of citizenship within a reasonable period of time. This applies if you submitted the application for release in time and did everything necessary within two years from the service of the guarantee to successfully complete the procedure specified by the competent authorities of your home country (Article 10 of ZDRS).

Important – the 60-day time limit: the law provides that you must submit the application for release no later than 60 days after the guarantee is issued. However, the authorities of your country of origin usually require both the guarantee and the ministry’s consent to the guarantee for the release application. As the consent is issued later, a time limit counted from the issue of the guarantee would almost always be exceeded. In our experience, administrative units therefore count this time limit from the date the consent to the guarantee is served. Nevertheless, we recommend that you submit the application for release as soon as possible after receiving the consent and keep proof of its submission and of all subsequent steps.

If your country does not grant release from citizenship, or the voluntary acquisition of foreign citizenship is considered an act of disloyalty that is punishable under its regulations, your declaration that you will renounce your foreign citizenship if you acquire citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia is sufficient (Article 10 of ZDRS).

Yes. If both parents acquire citizenship by naturalisation, their child under 18 also acquires it at their request. If only one parent acquires it, the child acquires it at that parent’s request if the child has been living with that parent in Slovenia continuously for at least the last year before the application is submitted and has the legal status of a foreigner. A child born in Slovenia who is not yet one year old acquires citizenship at the parent’s request regardless of this condition. If the child is older than 14, the child’s consent is also required (Article 14 of ZDRS).

Yes, this is possible. Admission to citizenship by naturalisation is not a right of the individual but a discretionary right of the State. The competent authority may, within its discretion, grant you citizenship if you meet all the statutory conditions and if this is in accordance with the national interest (Articles 10 and 12 of ZDRS). Meeting the conditions is therefore necessary, but does not in itself guarantee a positive decision.

Discretion does not mean arbitrariness. The authority must decide within the limits of its powers and in accordance with the purpose for which they were granted, and must give reasons for its decision (Article 6 of ZUP). You may use legal remedies against such a decision.

In extraordinary naturalisation, the decision depends entirely on whether the Government, on the basis of the opinion of the competent ministerial body, establishes that your admission is to the benefit of the State (Article 13 of ZDRS).

Regular naturalisation and naturalisation under facilitated conditions: you may lodge an appeal against the decision of the administrative unit within 15 days of its service (Article 235 of ZUP). The appeal is decided by the ministry responsible for internal affairs. If the ministry dismisses the appeal, you may bring an action in an administrative dispute before the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia within 30 days of the service of its decision (Article 28 of the Administrative Dispute Act, ZUS-1).

Extraordinary naturalisation: the application is decided at first instance by the ministry, so an appeal is not permitted (third paragraph of Article 13 of ZUP). You may bring an action in an administrative dispute directly before the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia within 30 days of the service of the decision.

In a legal remedy, you may claim that the authority established the facts incorrectly, applied the law incorrectly or violated procedural rules, and, for discretionary decisions, also that it exceeded the limits of its powers or did not use them in accordance with their purpose. The time limits must be strictly observed, as a legal remedy filed late is rejected.

New application: the number of new applications is not limited. You may submit a new application once the decision or order concluding the previous procedure has become final.