Citizenship law: what is it?
CITIZENSHIP LAW
Citizenship law is the area of law that governs citizenship, i.e. the legal bond between an individual and the state. It determines who is a citizen of the Republic of Slovenia, how citizenship is acquired and how it is terminated. The basic legal act is the Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia Act (ZDRS).
In older Slovenian legal terminology, the term »državljansko pravo« (literally “citizens’ law”) was also used for civil law, hence, for example, the name Obči državljanski zakonik (the General Civil Code). On this page, we use it in the sense of the law on citizenship.
Why citizenship matters
- In accordance with treaties, foreign nationals in Slovenia enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws, except for those rights that, pursuant to the Constitution or law, only citizens enjoy (Article 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia).
- Every citizen who has attained the age of 18 has the right to vote and be elected (Article 43 of the Constitution), for example in elections to the National Assembly.
- A citizen of Slovenia may not be extradited or surrendered to a foreign state, unless such an obligation arises from a treaty by which Slovenia has transferred the exercise of part of its sovereign rights to an international organisation, for example under the European Arrest Warrant (Article 47 of the Constitution).
- A citizen of the Republic of Slovenia is at the same time a citizen of the European Union and enjoys the rights deriving from this, including the right to move and reside freely in other Member States (Articles 20 and 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).
How citizenship is acquired
Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia is acquired (Article 3 of ZDRS):
- by origin, when one or both parents are Slovenian citizens at the time of the child’s birth;
- by birth in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia;
- by naturalisation, i.e. admission to citizenship on the basis of an application (regular, facilitated or extraordinary naturalisation);
- in accordance with an international treaty.
In regular naturalisation, the applicant must, as a rule, prove release from their current citizenship or obtain a guarantee that they will be admitted (Articles 10 and 11 of ZDRS). The conditions and the course of the procedure are described in more detail on the page Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia.
How citizenship is terminated
Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia is terminated (Article 17 of ZDRS):
- by release, at the request of a citizen of full age who actually lives abroad and has foreign citizenship or proves that they will acquire it (Article 18 of ZDRS);
- by renunciation, which is possible until the age of 25 if the citizen was born abroad, lives there and also has foreign citizenship (Article 25 of ZDRS);
- by deprivation, an exceptional measure against a citizen who actually lives abroad, has foreign citizenship and whose activities are harmful to the interests of the Republic of Slovenia (Article 26 of ZDRS);
- in accordance with an international agreement.
Dual citizenship
In the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, a citizen of the Republic of Slovenia who also has citizenship of a foreign country is considered a citizen of the Republic of Slovenia, unless otherwise determined by an international treaty (Article 2 of ZDRS).
Who decides
Applications for the acquisition or termination of citizenship are filed at an administrative unit (Article 27a of ZDRS). The administrative unit decides on regular and facilitated naturalisation and on termination of citizenship, while the ministry responsible for internal affairs decides on extraordinary naturalisation (Article 27 of ZDRS). Upon request, the administrative unit also issues a declaratory decision on citizenship (Article 29 of ZDRS).
How we help you
At Lexibor, we focus mainly on procedures for admission to Slovenian citizenship by naturalisation. We check whether you fulfil the conditions, prepare a complete application and represent you in the procedure until the decision is issued. We can also help you with release from citizenship, registering children born abroad as citizens of the Republic of Slovenia, and establishing citizenship.
Tell us about your case and we will arrange a date for a consultation: write to us or call us on +386 40 832 660.