Do you have to stay physically in Slovakia to be able to apply for Slovak citizenship by descent? In this article, we explain the legal situation and practice.
In super-short:
No.
In short:
The authorities have adopted special practice with respect to applications for Slovak citizenship by descent. Residence effectively is not required, however, only for those applicants whose ancestors left Czechoslovakia after 1918. Such applicants are granted “pro-forma” administrative residence permit only for the purposes of the procedure. For those applicants whose ancestors left prior to 1918, this does not seem to apply at the moment. It is unclear why. There is no legal basis for this distinction.
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Longer explanation:
By law, every applicant for citizenship by descent must be a resident of Slovakia. This condition is always checked by the authorities examining citizenship applications.
Normally, residency means physical residency. As a non-EU foreigner, you need to justify your application for residency. The law recognizes only limited grounds, most typically employment or business activities (the Slovak Living Abroad Certificate allows its holders residency without having to state any reason). If you demonstrate one of these grounds (with a lot of paperwork), Slovak authorities grant you a temporary residency.
However, for citizenship by descent, the authorities developed a special practice of giving pro-form residency. This allows poeple to apply for citizenship by descent even without ever coming to Slovakia.