Yes. A Slovak citizen loses Slovak citizenship on the day they voluntarily acquire another citizenship through an application, a declaration, or another act aimed at acquiring it, unless one of the exceptions in the Citizenship Act applies. Slovak citizenship can also be given up deliberately, by release at one’s own request. A citizenship you already hold when you become Slovak is not affected.
The rule applies to every Slovak citizen, no matter how they became one: by birth, by descent, or by naturalization. It matters most to three groups: Slovak citizens abroad considering naturalization where they live, Americans who became Slovak by descent and later consider another citizenship, and former citizens who lost Slovak citizenship between 2010 and 2022 and may be entitled to it again.
Loss of Slovak citizenship at a glance
| The law | Section 9 of Act No. 40/1993 Coll. on Citizenship of the Slovak Republic; regaining it in Section 7(2)(i), (6), and (7). The provisions in English |
| Two ways to lose it | release at one’s own request, or voluntarily acquiring a foreign citizenship on the basis of an explicit expression of will |
| Loss by acquisition of another citizenship | in the Act since July 17, 2010, and still in force |
| Not lost if the other citizenship is | since July 17, 2010: the citizenship of one’s spouse, acquired during the marriage, or a citizenship acquired by birth; since April 1, 2022, also a citizenship acquired by adoption, as a minor child, or after at least five years of residence in that country |
| Notice | in writing to the district office in the regional capital: within 90 days where an exception applies, without delay where citizenship was lost |
| Penalty | a fine of up to EUR 330 for failing to give notice |
| Regaining it | citizenship shall be granted to those who lost it between July 17, 2010, and March 31, 2022, after at least five years of residence in the other country |
Two ways to lose Slovak citizenship
The Citizenship Act names two. The first is release from the state union of the Slovak Republic at one’s own request. The district office in the regional capital decides on the citizen’s application, and the applicant must show they hold another citizenship or have a promise of one. Release is not available to someone who is being prosecuted or has not served a sentence imposed by a Slovak court, or to someone with arrears to the tax or customs authorities, a municipality, social insurance, or a health insurance company in Slovakia. The office decides within six months, and citizenship ends on the day the applicant takes over the Deed of Release in person.
Acquiring another citizenship: What counts as an act of will
Section 9(16) is precise. A Slovak citizen loses Slovak citizenship on the day they voluntarily acquire a foreign citizenship based on an explicit expression of will, which the Act describes as an application, a declaration, or another act aimed at acquiring it.
Three words carry the weight: voluntarily, explicit, and acquire. A citizenship held from birth is not acquired by an act of will, which is why a U.S. citizen by birth who becomes Slovak keeps both. Some countries’ procedures recognize a citizenship that a person has held all along rather than grant a new one. Whether a particular procedure is an acquisition or a recognition depends on that country’s law, and the answer determines the outcome. We looked at one such case, Canada’s Bill C-3, in a separate article.
Who keeps Slovak citizenship: The exceptions in Section 9(17) and (18)
The Act lists the situations in which acquiring a foreign citizenship does not cost Slovak citizenship. Slovak citizenship is not lost if the foreign citizenship was:
- the citizenship of one’s spouse, acquired during the marriage;
- acquired by birth;
- acquired by adoption;
- acquired by a minor child; or
- acquired in a country where the Slovak citizen had a residence permit, registered residence, or otherwise recorded residence for at least five years at the time, and actually stayed there during that period.
The exceptions for a spouse’s citizenship and for birth have applied since July 17, 2010; the other three, since April 1, 2022.
Keeping Slovak citizenship under an exception comes with a duty. Within 90 days of acquiring the foreign citizenship, the citizen must notify the district office in the regional capital in writing and submit paper documents proving the acquisition and the facts behind the exception: a birth or marriage certificate, a final adoption decision, or proof of the length of residence. For a minor child, the parent or other legal representative gives the notice. If the office finds that the residence condition was not met, it informs the person in writing that Slovak citizenship was lost and records the loss in the central register of citizenship and in the Register of Residents.
A person who has lost Slovak citizenship must report it to the district office without delay. Failing to give either notice is an administrative offense, with a fine of up to EUR 330.
What changed on July 15, 2026
The 2026 amendment, Act No. 128/2026 Coll., did not change when Slovak citizenship is lost or kept. It moved the 90-day notices under Section 9(17) and (18) from the Ministry of the Interior to the district office in the regional capital, and added a duty for that office to record in the state information systems that a foreign citizenship was acquired while retaining Slovak citizenship. That sentence is new in the Act.
If you are a U.S. citizen by birth
For most of our clients, the order of events settles the question. Slovakia does not ask descent applicants to give up their existing citizenship, and a U.S. citizenship held from birth is not acquired by an act of will. The United States, for its part, permits its citizens to hold another citizenship.
The rule looks forward. It concerns citizenships acquired after you are Slovak. If you later apply for a further citizenship, for example through another ancestor or by naturalizing in another country, Section 9 applies to that step, and the exceptions above decide whether Slovak citizenship survives it. That is why, for dual citizenship, the order in which citizenships are acquired matters.
How to regain Slovak citizenship: Sections 7(6) and 7(7)
In two situations, the Act provides that citizenship shall be granted, not merely that it may be, and in both without the ordinary requirement of eight years of permanent residence in Slovakia.
- Section 7(7) covers those who lost Slovak citizenship by acquiring a foreign citizenship between July 17, 2010, and March 31, 2022, if at that time they had at least five years of residence in the country whose citizenship they acquired and actually stayed there. The facts must be shown with paper documents.
- Section 7(6) covers former citizens released under the current Act who show that they have not been granted another country’s citizenship.
Section 7(7) reaches back to the years before the five-year exception was in the Act: the same residence that keeps Slovak citizenship today restores it for those who lost it then. For U.S. naturalization, the general requirement is five years as a lawful permanent resident, or three for the spouse of a U.S. citizen. Each case still turns on its own dates and documents.
A former citizen released at their own request may also be granted citizenship again under Section 7(2)(i), but that provision requires a residence permit in Slovakia. The descent route in Section 7(8) is open only to applicants who were never Slovak citizens.
If Slovak citizenship is part of your family’s plans
Whether you are deciding about a further citizenship, have just become Slovak, or lost Slovak citizenship and want it back, the answer turns on dates: when each citizenship was acquired, on what basis, and where you lived at the time. Our record stands at 285+ approvals, and none of our applications have ended in a denial.
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General information on Slovak citizenship law, current as of publication. Not legal advice, and not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.