HOW TO ACQUIRE RESIDENCE PERMIT IN SLOVENIA:
In order to enter the Republic of Slovenia, an alien must, in addition to a valid travel document possess a visa or a residence permit issued by the competent authority of the Republic of Slovenia or the competent authority of the State party to the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985, unless otherwise stipulated by the law or an international agreement.
An alien may enter and reside in the Republic of Slovenia for the period of time specified in his visa, residence permit, decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, law or international agreement.
An alien who, pursuant to the acquis communautaire or an international agreement or a decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, does not require a visa to enter and reside in the Republic of Slovenia may enter the Republic of Slovenia and reside there for a maximum of three months within a six-month period following the date of his first entry for the same purposes as those applicable to aliens who must possess a short-stay visa.
Visa means an authorisation issued to an alien by the competent authority, provided that there are no reasons for refusal, with a view to allowing an alien to enter the country and stay for as long as his visa allows or allowing his transit through the national territory provided that the alien concerned fulfils the conditions that apply to transit.
The types of visa are as follows:
- airport transit visa (visa A);
- short-stay residence visa (visa C);
- long-stay residence visa (visa D).
A long-stay visa shall be issued for the period of the alien’s intended visit to the Republic of Slovenia and shall have a period of validity of no more than one year. An alien must obtain a long-stay visa before entering the Republic of Slovenia, unless otherwise specified the Aliens Act. An alien who holds a long-stay visa shall be allowed to enter and reside in the Republic of Slovenia during the entire period of validity of the visa.
A long-stay visa may be issued in case of the existence of an economic interest for the Republic of Slovenia which the alien proves by submitting an opinion issued by the ministry responsible for the economy; the existence of an interest for the Republic of Slovenia in the field of higher education, which the alien proves by submitting an opinion issued by the competent ministry or e.g. to an alien who is a family member of an EU citizen or to an alien who is a family member of a Slovenian citizen and intends to reside in the Republic of Slovenia for the purposes of reunification with the EU citizen or the Slovenian citizen and who is required to hold a visa to enter the Republic of Slovenia.
A long-stay visa may be issued to an alien upon application. An application may not be lodged with the competent authority earlier than three months prior to the start of the alien’s intended arrival to the Republic of Slovenia. The format of a long-stay visa application shall be defined by the minister responsible for foreign affairs.
An alien who wishes to enter and stay in the Republic of Slovenia on the basis of a longstay visa shall hold a valid travel document, the validity of which extends at least three months after the intended stay in the Republic of Slovenia, possess medical travel insurance, sufficient means of subsistence, and shall provide evidence of one of the purposes of the intended stay specified in Article 20 of the Aliens Act that serve as grounds for the issuing of a longstay visa.
The applicant shall support his long-stay visa application with the following documents: a valid travel document and a copy thereof, and other evidence and certificates indicating that the requirements specified in the preceding paragraph have been fulfilled, and shall pay the administrative fee for the issuing of a long-stay visa. An application for the issuing of a longstay visa for which no administrative charges have been paid shall be dismissed by a decree.
An alien who wishes to enter and stay in Slovenia for reasons other than those permitted by his visa must hold a residence permit. A residence permit shall mean a permit to enter the Republic of Slovenia and to reside there for a definite period of time and for a specific purpose, or to reside there for an indefinite period.
A residence permit is defined as follows:
- a temporary residence permit;
- a permanent residence permit.
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMIT
A temporary residence permit shall be issued for a specific purpose and for a specific period of time. A temporary residence permit not tied to a specific purpose may be issued to certain aliens as an autonomous permit for temporary residence in the cases specified in the Aliens Act. A permanent residence permit shall be issued without any limitations as to the duration and purpose of stay in the Republic Slovenia. An alien who, upon the fulfilment of the requirement of five years of continuous residence on the basis of a temporary residence in line with the Aliens Act or on the basis of Article 55 of the Aliens Act, has acquired a permanent residence permit shall be entitled to long-term residence status that shall be adequately marked on the permit. A permanent residence permit issued to the holder of an EU Blue Card shall bear a marking attesting to the fact that the holder formerly possessed an EU Blue Card.
A residence permit shall be issued based on an application lodged by an alien who wishes to reside in the Republic of Slovenia. An application for a residence permit for an alien in the Republic of Slovenia may also be lodged by another natural or legal person in the circumstances specified in the Aliens Act. An application for a temporary residence permit shall state the purpose of stay in the Republic of Slovenia or any of the reasons specified in the second paragraph of Article 35 of the Aliens Act, on the grounds of which an alien may be issued with a residence permit.
An alien who wishes to reside in the Republic of Slovenia must possess a valid travel document whose validity must be at least three months longer than the intended residence in the Republic of Slovenia, appropriate health insurance and sufficient means of subsistence
during his residence in the country or other guarantees that his livelihood will be provided, on monthly basis, in an amount equal to at least the basic minimum income in the Republic of Slovenia. In order to be issued with a permanent residence permit, an alien must possess a valid travel document irrespective of the validity period thereof. In order to meet the requirement of sufficient means of subsistence, the alien may provide evidence of the assets earned by himself, his employment or insurance rights, income related to property, income from capital and from other sources or of the support of people who are obliged to maintain him, or present a contract on the basis of which a natural or legal person is paying the alien a certain amount for subsistence, or in any other way. A contract in which the alien receives a certain amount of resources from a natural or legal person may be used to prove no more than one half of the necessary means of subsistence and shall be admissible only for the purpose of a study-related residence permit. Such a contract shall be concluded in the Republic of Slovenia and shall take the form of a directly enforceable notarial deed. For the purposes of a permanent residence permit, an alien may not prove his sufficient means of subsistence using the resources he is paid by another natural or legal person by virtue of a maintenance agreement.
The applicant shall support his application for a residence permit with a valid travel document or a certified copy of such document and other evidence and documents satisfying the conditions of the Aliens Act. If in accordance with the Aliens Act a residence permit is conditional upon possessing a valid work permit, an application for a residence permit may be lodged together with a work permit application.
A first temporary residence permit of the Republic of Slovenia is a temporary residence permit issued when all the conditions required for a temporary residence permit have been fulfilled under the Aliens Act. An alien must acquire a first temporary permit in the Republic of Slovenia prior to his entry into the country, unless otherwise specified in the Aliens Act. An application for this permit shall be lodged with a diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia abroad or with a competent authority in the Republic of Slovenia. If an alien, due to unexpected circumstances, was unable to obtain a first temporary residence permit of the Republic of Slovenia before entering the country, such a permit may be served on him by the competent issuing authority provided that the alien is a legal resident in the Republic of Slovenia and has lodged his application for a first temporary residence permit prior to his entry into the country, has been fingerprinted by the diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia prior to his entry into the country, and has, after entering the country, notified the competent issuing authority of his arrival, address and duration of intended stay and the reasons why he was unable to obtain a temporary residence permit before entering the country. A first temporary residence permit shall be valid for a period of one year unless otherwise specified in the Aliens Act.
A temporary residence permit shall be issued to an alien who intends to reside in the Republic of Slovenia for the following purposes:
- employment or other work;
- family reunification;
- study, education, advanced professional training and practical training, participation and attendance in international volunteer exchange programmes and in other programmes that are not part of the formal education system;
- other valid purposes and reasons on the basis of this Act, international Acts or international principles and customs, or for the interests of the Republic of Slovenia.
A temporary residence permit in the Republic of Slovenia shall also be issued to the following:
- aliens with long-term residency status in another EU Member State; o aliens who are Slovenian descendants to the fourth generation in direct descent;
- the children of aliens bom in the Republic of Slovenia;
- victims of the trafficking of human beings;
- victims of illegal employment;
- aliens who have been permitted to stay in the Republic of Slovenia.
A temporary residence permit shall be issued for the period necessary to fulfil the purpose of stay, and shall be valid of a maximum period of one year, unless otherwise determined by the law.
An alien who wishes to reside in the Republic of Slovenia for employment or other work purposes may be granted a temporary residence permit if he possesses a work permit or if he fulfils the conditions required for carrying out an economic activity pursuant to the Acts and regulations of the Republic of Slovenia and may carry out these activities without a work permit.
An alien shall be issued a first temporary residence for employment or other work purposes for the period of validity of the work permit or the period required to carry out the activity, which shall not exceed one year.
An application for a residence permit for the purposes of employment or other work may be lodged by an alien or his employer. The alien must lodge the application for a first temporary residence permit with a diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia abroad while the employer may lodge the application with the diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia abroad or with the competent authority in the Republic of Slovenia. If an application for a residence permit for work or other employment purposes or its extension is lodged by the alien’s employer, the employer may carry out other acts in the proceedings in accordance with the alien’s authorisation but may not act as an agent for the acceptance of service.
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR THE PURPOSES OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED EMPLOYMENT — EU BLUE CARD
An alien who wishes to reside in the Republic of Slovenia for the purposes of highly qualified employment may be issued with an EU Blue Card if he possesses a valid travel document that covers at least the duration of the intended residence in the Republic of Slovenia and adequate medical insurance, insofar as the competent authority has consented for an EU Blue Card to be issued in accordance with the Act governing the employment and other work of aliens and there are no grounds for the refusal of the permits as specified in the Aliens Act.
An EU Blue Card shall be issued for a period of two years unless the work contract covers a period less than this period, in which case the EU Blue Card shall be issued for the duration of the work contract plus three months, yet not with a validity exceeding two years.
An application for the granting or renewal of an EU Blue Card shall be lodged by an alien or his employer. The alien shall lodge an application for a first EU Blue Card with a diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia abroad while the employer may lodge it with the diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia abroad or with the competent authority in the Republic of Slovenia. If the application for the granting or renewal of an EU Blue Card is lodged by the alien’s employer, the latter may carry out other acts in the proceedings in accordance with the alien’s authorisation but cannot act as an agent for the acceptance of service.
An alien shall submit a valid travel document or a certified copy thereof, an employment contract or employer’s statement of intention to employ the alien, adequate medical insurance and evidence of qualifications or professional competence.
After receiving an application for the granting or renewal of an EU Blue Card, the competent authority shall request ex officio the authority competent for providing the consent for the granting or renewal of an EU Blue Card in accordance with the Act governing the employment and other work of aliens to provide its consent to the grant or renewal of an EU Blue Card. The authority responsible for providing the consent shall decide on the request for the consent concerning the granting or renewal of an EU Blue Card within 30 days of receipt of an admissible request. If it fails to reach a decision within the time limit specified, it shall notify the competent authority of the extension of the time limit. In the event that the request for consent is not properly supported, the authority responsible for providing consent shall request that the competent authority supplement the request. The competent authority shall review the other requirements for the grant or renewal of an EU Blue Card referred to in the Aliens Act after it has received the consent for the granting or renewal of an EU Blue Card.
If consent to the granting of an EU Blue Card is refused, the competent authority for processing such a consent shall, in accordance with the Act governing the employment and other work of aliens, state the reasons for refusal, after which point the competent authority shall refuse to grant or renew an EU Blue Card without taking the other requirements referred to in the preceding paragraph into consideration.
