Slovakia’s parliament amends citizenship law

By Uglobal Staff

Slovakia’s parliament has approved an amendment to the country's citizenship law allowing Slovaks living abroad to hold dual nationalities.

The key change to the law, which would take effect on April 1, is expected to benefit those Slovaks who had been stripped of their country of origin's citizenship after taking residency or getting a second passport of another country.

A total of 4,059 Slovaks had their citizenship status revoked after Slovakia decided to abruptly take away their constitutional right in July 2010, according to an official statement released by Slovakia’s Ministry of Interior.

Slovaks seeking to regain the citizenship of their country of origin would now first have to make a formal application for the purpose and prove that they had been residing in their country of second citizenship for at least five years. They will neither be required to show a valid residence status in Slovakia or pass a language test, the ministry statement said.

For Slovaks who have not lost their citizenship status because of having another country's nationality, they would have to show a residence status in Slovakia as well as prove that they had "significantly contributed to the community of Slovaks living abroad in economic, scientific, technical, cultural or sports areas," it said.

The main condition for the descendants of former Czechoslovak citizens born in the Slovakia Republic is that they "must not pose a threat to public order or the security of the Slovakia Republic," it added.

The decision to amend the country’s citizenship act had been in the making for several months. In March 2021, the Slovakian government had announced it was going to amend the country’s citizenship to correct the injustice done to its former citizens.

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