Entry into the Republic of Slovenia
Citizens of the EU do not have to be in possession of an entry permit, meaning a visa or residence permit, to enter the Republic of Slovenia. They may enter the Republic of Slovenia by means of a valid personal identity card or a valid passport, irrespective of the reason or purpose for which they wish to enter or stay in the Republic of Slovenia. They may leave the Republic of Slovenia by means of a valid personal identity card or a valid passport.
A citizen of the EU shall not be allowed to enter the Republic of Slovenia if:
- he/she is not in possession of a valid personal identity card or a valid passport;
- the period for which he/she has been forbidden to enter the country has not yet expired;
- his/her residence in the Republic of Slovenia would constitute a danger to public order, security or the international relations of the Republic of Slovenia, or if there exists a suspicion that his/her residence in the country will be connected with the committing of terrorist or other violent acts, illegal intelligence, trafficking in drugs or perpetrating other criminal offences;
- he/she comes from areas where infectious disease are raging with the potential to cause epidemics with the potential to imperil public health and for which prescribed measures must be adopted in accordance with the law governing infectious diseases.
Citizens of the EU may appeal against the refusal of entry within eight days. The ministry responsible for internal affairs shall decide on the appeal. A complaint does not delay the execution of the proceeding.
Registration of residence
Citizens of the EU who enter the Republic of Slovenia by means of a valid personal identity card or a valid passport may reside on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia without registering their residence for three months after the day of their entry into the country. If they wish to stay on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia for more than three months, they shall register their residence at the administrative unit on whose territory they are residing prior to the expiry of the allowed three-month stay.
EU citizens shall be issued with a receipt by the administrative unit upon a filed application for a receipt on the registration of residence, which shall serve as a permit for residence until the application is decided upon.
The reasons for which EU citizens may be issued with a receipt on the registration of residence are the following:
- employment or work;
- self-employment;
- provision of services;
- studies or other forms of education;
- other reasons.
The competent body for issuing a receipt on the registration of residence is the administrative unit on whose territory the EU citizens are residing.
Entry and residence of family members of EU citizens and family members of Slovenian citizens
The family members of EU citizens and the family members of Slovenian citizens (hereinafter: family members) shall be considered the following:
- spouses;
- unmarried children under 21 years of age;
- unmarried children of a spouse under 21 years of age;
- unmarried children over 21 years of age and parents for whom the EU citizen or the Slovenian citizen is liable to support in accordance with the law of the country of his/her nationality;
- unmarried children over 21 years of age and parents of a spouse for whom the spouse of the EU citizen or of the Slovenian citizen is liable for support in accordance with the law of the country of his/her nationality;
- parents of an EU citizen or Slovenian citizen under 21 years of age.
The responsible body may exceptionally, at its own discretion, consider other relatives to be family members if there are special circumstances in favour of reuniting the family in the Republic of Slovenia.
Family members who are citizens of a Member State of the European Union may enter the Republic of Slovenia by means of a valid personal identity card or a valid passport and are not required to be in possession of an entry permit, irrespective of the purpose of the residence in the Republic of Slovenia.
Family members who are not citizens of a Member State of the European Union may, for the purposes of reuniting the family with an EU citizen or Slovenian citizen, enter the Republic of Slovenia by means of a valid passport which includes a visa, unless they are citizens of a country for which the Republic of Slovenia has abolished visas, or by means of a valid passport and residence permit issued by another Member State of the European Union, unless otherwise determined by international agreement.
A family member shall not be allowed to enter the Republic of Slovenia if:
- he/she is not in possession of a suitable document or permit referred to paragraphs 2 or 3 of Article 93.k of the Aliens Act;
- the period for which he/she has been forbidden to enter the country has not yet expired;
- his/her residence in the Republic of Slovenia would constitute a danger to public order, security or the international relations of the Republic of Slovenia, or if there exists a suspicion that his/her residence in the country will be connected with committing terrorist or other violent acts, illegal intelligence, trafficking in drugs or perpetrating other criminal offences;
- he/she comes from areas where infectious disease is raging, and is not in possession of a certificate of vaccination;
- he/she comes from areas where infectious disease is raging with the potential to cause epidemics, as indicated in the International Health Rules of the World Health Organisation, or from areas where infectious disease is raging with the potential to imperil public health and for which prescribed measures must be adopted in accordance with the law governing infectious disease.
Family members may appeal against the refusal of entry within eight days. The ministry responsible for internal affairs shall decide on the appeal. A complaint does not delay the execution of the proceeding.
Family members who entered the Republic of Slovenia by means of a valid personal identity card, passport, or passport and residence permit issued by another Member State of the European Union, may reside on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia without a residence permit for a period of three months from the day of their entry into the country or until the expiry of the validity of the permit, if the latter is shorter; family members who entered the Republic of Slovenia by means of an entry visa may stay until the expiry of the validity of the visa.
In the event that a family member who is not a citizen of a Member State of the European Union wishes, for the purposes of preserving the family with an EU citizen or Slovenian citizen, to reside on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia for a period longer than the one permitted in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 93.k of the Aliens Act, he himself/she herself, or his/her legal representative, or the EU citizen or the Slovenian citizen, shall prior to the expiry of allowed residence file an application, with the administrative unit on whose territory the family member is residing, for a temporary residence permit for the family member of the EU citizen.
Family members shall be issued with a receipt by the administrative unit on the filed application for a temporary residence permit, which shall serve as a temporary residence permit until the application is decided upon.
Annulment of residence to EU citizens and family members
Residence may be annulled with respect to EU citizens and family members legally residing in the Republic of Slovenia, if well-founded suspicion exists that they may pose a threat to public order, national security of the country or its constitutional organisation.
With respect to the issuing of a decision on the annulment of residence and the relevant procedure, the provision of this Act governing the annulment of residence to aliens shall apply mutatis mutandis.
EU citizens and family members with regard to whom residence has been annulled, or whose renewed entry into the Republic of Slovenia for a period exceeding three years has been prohibited, may, after the expiry of three years of the final decision on the annulment of residence, file an application with the administrative unit which annulled the residence to reduce the period for which their renewed entry into the Republic of Slovenia has been prohibited. The application shall include evidence demonstrating that the circumstances which served as the basis for the decision on the annulment of residence have changed decisively. An appeal against the decision by the administrative unit on the reduction of such period may filed with the ministry responsible for internal affairs. EU citizens and family members may not enter the Republic of Slovenia until the application for the reduction of such period is positively decided upon.
Deportation of EU citizens and family members
An EU citizen or family member who fails to leave the Republic of Slovenia voluntarily shall be deported from the country if:
- an additional sentence of expulsion from the country has been passed against him/her;
- his/her residence has been annulled;
- his/her application for a receipt on the registration of residence or a residence permit has been rejected on the grounds of danger to public order, national security or the international relations of the Republic of Slovenia, or if there exists a suspicion that his/her residence in the country will be connected with committing terrorist or other violent acts, illegal intelligence, trafficking in drugs or perpetrating other criminal offences;
- his/her application for a first receipt on the registration of residence or a first temporary residence permit has been rejected on the grounds of public health hazards referred to in indent 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 93.h of the Aliens Act.
With respect to deportation, the provisions of this Act governing the deportation of aliens shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Registration of residence
EU citizens who have been issued with a receipt on the registration of residence, and family members who have been issued with a temporary residence permit, shall register temporary residence in the Republic of Slovenia in accordance with the law governing the registration of residence.
EU citizens who have been issued with a permanent residence permit, and family members who have been issued with a permanent residence permit, shall register permanent residence in the Republic of Slovenia in accordance with the law governing the registration of residence.