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The firm behind the practice

Built around one calling.

FALATH & PARTNERS, based at Eurovea on the Danube in Bratislava, is the boutique law firm behind Slovak Citizenship. A practice built around citizenship by descent, with 285+ approvals and zero denials to date.

Complimentary case review Meet the team

01 Who we are

The reference point for citizenship by descent

FALATH & PARTNERS is widely recognized as the leading Slovak law firm for citizenship by descent. We earned our reputation case by case, with bespoke, full-service support from first consultation to final oath.

We are known for an impeccable track record of approvals, even in the most complex cases, including pre-1908/1910 emigration and early-naturalization cases that other firms hesitate to take or decline outright. Meticulous legal expertise, strategic insight, and genuine dedication are the standard on every case, not the exception.

We help Slovak descendants obtain citizenship by descent and reconnect with their ancestral heritage, whether their families emigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Czechoslovakia. Two major reforms shaped this route: the 2022 amendment that opened citizenship by descent, and the July 2026 amendment that simplified the procedure for most applicants. While still legally rigorous, the path is now more direct than ever.

EPRAVO.SK × TREND

Slovak Law Firm of the Year

Právnická firma roka — Law Firm of the Year — is awarded by the business weekly TREND, in partnership with EPRAVO, the legal media and education group. Now in its 13th edition, it is the most prestigious ranking of its kind in Slovakia.

An independent expert jury weighs long-term quality and breadth of service, sector specialization, the number and significance of matters handled, team size, and financial results.

FALATH & PARTNERS has been named Highly Recommended in Compliance four years running.

Slovak Law Firm of the Year 2023 — Compliance, Highly Recommended

Slovak Law Firm of the Year 2024 — Compliance, Highly Recommended

Slovak Law Firm of the Year 2025 — Compliance, Highly Recommended

Slovak Law Firm of the Year 2026 — Compliance, Highly Recommended

The Slovak Spectator × SME

10 Largest Law Firms in Slovakia

The largest law firms in Slovakia are ranked annually by The Slovak Spectator — published under SME, one of the most influential daily newspapers of modern, independent Slovakia — in cooperation with FinStat.

Firms are assessed on team size, financial performance, and the volume and value of their active matters.

FALATH & PARTNERS has been listed in Regulation & Compliance for three years running. This year’s rankings are announced in November.

10 Largest Law Firms in Slovakia 2023 — Regulation & Compliance, ranked by The Slovak Spectator

10 Largest Law Firms in Slovakia 2024 — Regulation & Compliance, ranked by The Slovak Spectator

Media partnership

The Slovak Spectator

The Slovak Spectator is Slovakia’s leading English-language news source for the foreign and expat community in the country. It is published under SME, one of the most influential daily newspapers of modern, independent Slovakia.

Its “Slovaks Living Abroad” section covers the Slovak diaspora: client stories, the history of emigration, and questions surrounding Slovak citizenship, from expat civic engagement to routes to citizenship and the Slovak Living Abroad certificate.

FALATH & PARTNERS has been the official partner of the section since 2023.

Read Slovaks Living Abroad

The global network

IR Global

Through our membership in IR Global, a multi-disciplinary professional services network, we can call on trusted legal, accountancy, and financial professionals worldwide when a client’s situation extends beyond Slovakia.

1,522: Members
166: Jurisdictions
63: Practice Areas
23: Working Groups

Visit irglobal.com

02 Our path

How we found our way to the Danube

Every case we take on is a journey through records, lineage, and law. Ours began the same way: one decision at a time, following the current that has led us to where we are now.

Before

The craft

Years inside leading firms

Ján Falath builds his foundation at prominent Bratislava law firms, learning the discipline that would define his future practice.

The beginning

2019

FALATH & PARTNERS is founded

Ján opens his own firm in Bratislava. A small practice with a clear sense of purpose.

A turning point

2022

The law changes

Slovakia opens citizenship by descent. We take on cases from the day the law takes effect, before any other law firm in the country.

We commit

2023

Citizenship at the core

Certain that citizenship is our calling, we move to a prominent address on the bank of the Danube, and citizenship becomes the firm’s dominant practice.

In view of the statue of Milan Rastislav Štefánik: astronomer, aviator, and a founding figure of Czechoslovakia.

Proven

2025

The famous landmark case

We argue and win one of the most complex citizenship cases the industry had written off: pre-1904 emigration and U.S. naturalization before Czechoslovakia’s establishment.

Today

2026

Stronger than ever

The July 2026 reform makes the path more direct than ever. More cases, deeper expertise, the same conviction that carried us here.

Where the story continues

“From the start, where others saw obstacles, we saw opportunities — and no stone was left unturned.”

03 The people

The team behind your success

Located in Bratislava, our in-house team has carried hundreds of families through this exact process. The team that opens your case and the one that closes it.

Ján Falath, Esq.

Founder & Managing Partner

Started the firm in 2019 and built it from a boutique practice into the reference point for Slovak citizenship law. Passionate, ambitious, and always focused: the attorney who argued and won the famous 2025 landmark citizenship-by-descent case.

Ema Vrbovski

Senior Citizenship Specialist

Works closely with Ján from the beginning and is his right hand in the citizenship practice, handling the initial review and research behind every new case and managing the workflow across all client files. Organized, exacting, and famously responsive.

Michal Antala

Senior Citizenship Specialist

Leads the firm’s client casework: Michal takes each file from the day it opens to the day it’s filed, manages every application and supporting document, and serves as the client’s direct contact throughout. Prepared for every scenario before it happens.

Natalie Davis

Citizenship Specialist

Handles client files day to day in native English: correspondence with clients, applications, and the documents each case calls for. Natalie came to us as a client, became a Slovak citizen, moved to Bratislava, and has been part of the team ever since.

Mária Elisabeth Petrová

Citizenship Support

Coordinates paperwork with authorities, notaries, translators, and archives so every file moves without friction. Before joining our team, she spent five years on the other side of the counter, processing citizenship applications at the District Office in Bratislava.

Simona Pavuková

Citizenship Support

Looks after everything that comes after citizenship approval: passports, identity cards, residence registration, health insurance. Accompanies clients to the authorities whenever an appointment calls for it.

Dominika Mištinová

Citizenship Support

Administrative support for the whole team. What comes in gets logged, what goes out goes out on time, and she can find whatever anyone needs in seconds.

Vladimír Sedliak, PhD

Senior Associate

Leads the naturalization and exceptional-merit routes, the two paths that don’t rest on ancestry, from eligibility review and strategy to decision.

Ján Ševčík

Associate

Steps in when a client has a criminal record and prepares the file so it holds up before the Slovak authorities.

Martin Herczeg

Associate

A citizenship team associate who steps in across cases on ad hoc matters whenever the caseload runs high.

Seven years of craft. One promise kept.

Names, dates, places, fragments: send us whatever you have, and we’ll take it from there. You can expect to hear from us within two business days.

Request a complimentary case review