The short version is this. Children born after you become a citizen get it automatically. Children born before you become a citizen have to qualify on their own, and depending on where the Slovak-born ancestor sits in your family tree, they may not. Your spouse can’t inherit your citizenship at all, but has realistic routes to living in Slovakia, or anywhere in the EU, alongside you.
Children born after you become a citizen
If you acquire Slovak citizenship and have children afterward, those children will be Slovak citizens from birth, wherever in the world they are born. They’re dual citizens automatically. There is no application, no eligibility test, and no discretion involved.
What remains is an administrative process that mirrors the steps taken after the oath: obtain a Slovak citizenship certificate for the child, and register the birth with the Special Registry Office. Then the child can apply for a Slovak passport.
After the child is born, complete these steps early. It is far simpler to register a birth within the year it happens than to reconstruct it twenty years later when a grown child wants an EU passport.
Can my existing children get Slovak citizenship through me?
No. Children who are already living when you apply for citizenship don’t inherit citizenship from your acquired one. They must qualify in their own right, against the same descent requirements you did: an ancestor within three generations — parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent — born in what is now Slovakia, who was a Czechoslovak citizen.
Now count the generations from your child’s position rather than your own.
- If your qualifying ancestor is your grandparent, that person is your child’s great-grandparent. Third generation. Your child qualifies independently.
- If your qualifying ancestor is your great-grandparent, that person is your child’s great-great-grandparent. Fourth generation. Your child does not qualify by descent.
This is not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to plan and to think about your child’s position at the outset rather than after your own case concludes. Even if no pathway exists for your children to obtain citizenship directly, it’s always worth considering whether they are eligible for the SLA certificate and, therefore, an SLA-based residence permit.
Your spouse
If your spouse has no Slovak ancestry of their own, the descent pathway is closed to them. It doesn’t become available once you succeed, and your spouse can’t derive the acquired citizenship from you.
Both routes require a residence permit in Slovakia; the first requires a registered address, intent, and years of residence in Slovakia, as well as the ability to demonstrate this.
What your spouse can get instead of citizenship
After you acquire citizenship, your spouse will be eligible for a permanent residence permit based on being married to a Slovak citizen. It allows them to live, work, and study in Slovakia. To do so, you must register as a permanent resident here.
Since Slovakia is part of the European Union, you, as a Slovak citizen, can register your residency in any EU member state. Your spouse can follow you: if you register your residency in Italy, for example, your spouse can do so as well.
General information on Slovak citizenship and residence law, current as of publication. Family circumstances vary considerably, and the routes above are subject to individual assessment. Not legal advice, and not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances.
Back to all articles