A citizenship-by-descent file involves several discrete actions that span multiple countries. For most applicants, two or three countries are involved, and for some even more. Knowing what you’ll have to do, and what we’re responsible for, may help you decide whether you want to go through this endeavor alone or with someone guiding and pushing you toward the goal.
Before you engage anyone: Case review
We start every case the same way, and it costs you nothing.
You complete a form setting out what your family knows: names, places, family members and relatives (parents, siblings, cousins, etc.), dates of departure or arrival, date of naturalization, and the documents in your possession. Incomplete information is expected; we take on the challenge to understand your family history better than you do.
We then research your case ourselves. In most cases, we locate the ancestor’s Slovak birth record at this stage, before you officially engage us and before you pay any fee. This helps us to determine the following:
- Whether your claim is viable. We offer legal representation only if we believe your case will succeed. Where the position is finely balanced, we say so and identify the risk before you commit to anything.
- How the process will look, including a realistic view of duration, and all the steps we’ll have to go through.
- The fee for legal representation.
Stage one: Obtaining your ancestor’s vital records
The immediate task is your ancestor’s Slovak birth certificate and a marriage certificate, if necessary. We obtain it ourselves and do not subcontract the search to a genealogist. We work continuously with the Slovak archives and registry offices, and we know which office holds what.
The usual obstacle isn’t the record but the place. Towns and villages in present-day Slovakia carried Hungarian administrative names before 1918; several were renamed afterward, and some were absorbed into neighboring municipalities. Family memory rarely preserves the modern spelling. Most of the time, we have to identify the place name in archival documents, almost always barely readable and in Hungarian. The research typically focuses on identifying the correct place and narrowing it down; once settled, the request itself is administrative.
Running in parallel, we build the evidence that your ancestor held Czechoslovak citizenship.
Stage two: Documents only you can obtain
Certain records may be requested only by the person named on them, or by a close relative. These records can be your own birth certificate, your marriage or divorce records, and the vital records of each generation between you and your Slovak ancestor.
We give you a written list specific to your file: which document, from which authority, in which form, and critically, when. For example, a background check is valid for six (6) months from the date of issuance, and appointments at the Slovak Embassy or Consulate are often booked further in advance, so ordering early is not diligence; it is a wasted cost.
Stage three: Authentication
Every document issued outside Slovakia must be apostilled, or super-legalized in some instances, depending on whether the issuing state is a party to the Hague Convention. Requirements differ by country and, in the United States, by state and federal jurisdictions. For example, the FBI background check follows a different route than state-issued vital records (read the article on document authentication here).
We give you precise instructions for each document in your file: which authority, which form, which sequence, and which of your existing copies will need to be reissued before they can be certified. Certified copies more than a few years old tend to fail authentication because the signature they carry is no longer on record with the certifying office.
Stage four: Assembly
Once the last document is apostilled (or super-legalized in some instances), all of the paperwork is shipped to us. We take care of the sworn/official translation into Slovak and prepare everything that has to be drafted rather than collected:
- The structured CV, which you will sign in front of the receiving officer: we provide a template for you to complete, then translate and modify it to meet the requirements.
- The application form and the questionnaire.
- The affidavits covering taxes, customs, insurance, studies, and pension.
- A detailed explanation of the family lineage and all relevant factual and legal issues so the file is clear to whoever picks it up.
- Organize the documents in the correct order, mark the pages that must be signed by the applicant, and provide you with an overview of what the appointment will look like, what to bring, and what to say, and not to, if your appointment is at the Slovak Embassy or Consulate.
Stage five: Submission
Applications are filed in person, either at a District Office in Slovakia (only in Bratislava if you’ve never resided in Slovakia) or at the Slovak Embassy or Consulate with jurisdiction over your state or country. Adults and anyone aged 14 or over must attend and file individually. Children under 14 don’t have to be present.
We schedule your appointment and brief you on it beforehand: what the officer will ask, what you sign on the spot, what you must physically bring. You won’t be just handed a folder and wished luck.
When the appointment takes place in Slovakia, we attend with you. You sign the paperwork, and we address the authorities and answer any questions that arise on your behalf.
Stage six: Proceedings
From here, the file is out of your hands, and the Ministry of the Interior now controls the clock.
The Slovak Embassy or Consulate or the District Office has no power to decide anything regarding your citizenship application; they forward your file to the Ministry of the Interior in Bratislava, which takes roughly a month. Proceedings commence when the file arrives, not on the day you submitted the application.
During proceedings, the Ministry consults other government bodies and may request further documentation, or ask you to explain a discrepancy between records. We respond to all of it. Being in Bratislava means we can deal with the government officers swiftly (even in person if necessary).
You remain under a continuing duty to notify the Ministry of any change to your personal details, marital status, or information stated in the questionnaire while the proceedings are ongoing. If anything changes, you only need to tell us, and we’ll make the notification.
Stage seven: Oath
The successful outcome of the citizenship proceedings is approval, but this alone does not make you a citizen.
If you decide to take the oath in Slovakia, we’ll accompany you to the oath-taking ceremony. If you take the oath abroad, we’ll provide you with all necessary information.
Stage eight: Passport
More filings stand between the Deed and a passport: registration of your birth and marriage with the Special Registry Office, applying for a Slovak citizenship certificate (as necessary), and then the passport and ID card applications themselves.
If you engage us, we register your birth and marriage in Bratislava and apply for a Slovak citizenship certificate. Handling it locally removes round trips between the Slovak government and diplomatic missions abroad.
Throughout the process
Throughout the entire process, we’re always one call or email away, ready to resolve obstacles you’re encountering and support you in every way we can. This is a process where the applicant must be involved, but we always aim to do everything we can so you don’t have to.
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.
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