New Act on Residence of Foreigners

Act No. 48/2002 Coll. on Residence of Foreigners and amending and supplementing certain other acts

The new Act on Residence of Foreigners (the ``Act'') replaced the Act No. 73/1995 Coll. on Residence of Foreigners in the Territory of the Slovak Republic, as amended, valid until present.

The Act regulates conditions for foreigners to enter the territory of the Slovak Republic, conditions for granting a residence permit and types of residence, reasons for cessation of residence permit and reasons for expelling from the territory of the Slovak Republic, duties of foreigners and other persons, subject-matters of small offences and penalties.

The Act introduces definitions of terms such as travel document, perpetual residence, border crossing, persona non grata, landlord, carrier and as well as the term ``facility'' in connection with detention of the foreigner.

In the area of visa policy, the Act stipulates that entry the territory of the Slovak Republic is permitted only with a valid travel document (passport) and visa of the Slovak Republic or with the travel document and a residence permit. Upon an international treaty binding for the Slovak Republic, or upon a decision of the Government of the Slovak Republic, the visa shall not be required.

In the interest of legal certainty of foreigners, the Act stipulates particular types of visas of the Slovak Republic, which types were previously regulated only by internal regulations of the Ministry of Interior Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, as well as basic conditions for their grant.

The Act recognises

(a)

airport transit visa,

(b)

transit visa,

(c)

short-term visa, and

(d)

long-term visa.

The airport transit visas are specific types of visas introduced on 1 January 2001 in connection with the air transportation and requirements of the Schengen Agreement member states. Upon the airport visa, a foreigner is entitled to stay in a transit area of public airport located in the territory of the Slovak Republic during the time of waiting for an air-plane mentioned in his flight ticket.

The transit visas are visas authorising foreigners to cross the territory of the Slovak Republic during their way from the territory of one state to the territory of a third state.

The short-term visas represent the basic tourist visas, under which foreigners are entitled for one or multiple entry and stay for a period mentioned therein. The perpetual stay or the sum of several days cannot, however, exceed 90 days during a period of 6 months.

The long-term visas can be granted by a representative office (consulate) particularly in such cases in which the stay of foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic is desirable due to the fulfilment of the obligations of the Slovak Republic resulting from international treaties. Under such visa, a foreigner is entitled to entry the territory of the Slovak Republic and stay in the Slovak Republic for more than 90 days within a period of 6 months.

The application for grating a visa can be submitted only at a Slovak diplomatic mission or consular office located abroad. The application must be submitted by the foreigner personally. Representation of the foreigner on the basis of proxy in not permitted.

A visa is granted by the representative office after consultation with the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Slovak Republic. The transit visa, as well as the short-term visa can be exceptionally granted by the Police Forces unit at the Slovak border crossing. This exception shall apply mainly in case of visas to be granted for humanitarian reasons, if the foreigner proves that the transit or entry is urgent and he/she could not anticipate such entry or transit or the grant of visa is the interests of the Slovak Republic. The representative office shall decide on the visa application within a period of 30 days from the day of its delivery.

A visa is granted into travel documents in the form of visa label.

There is no legal entitlement for being granted the visa. Grant of visa can be made conditional upon invitation, mainly for citizens of the states with the highest level of immigration to the territory of the Slovak Republic.

Grant of visa can be also made conditional upon deposit of certain financial sum at the representative office in the amount equal to necessary expenses related to travelling out from Slovakia or upon submission of return travel or flight ticket.

The Act further stipulates particular types of stay of foreigner in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

The ``long-term stay'' recognised by the current legislation is replaced by the term ``temporary stay''. The Act explicitly states that the permission for temporary stay is linked to one purpose only. In case that the foreigner intends to conduct other activity, than the activity for which the temporary stay permission has been granted to him/her, such foreigner is obliged to submit a new application for grant of temporary stay permission. The permission for temporary stay can be granted for the purpose of

(1)

employment,

(2)

performance of business activities,

(3)

study,

(4)

activity under special programs, or

(5)

for family purposes.

Pursuant to the Act, the foreigner to whom the permission for temporary stay has been granted for the purpose of performance of business activities is prohibited to enter into an employment relationship or other similar relationship. Similarly, the foreigner to whom the temporary stay has been granted for the purpose of employment is prohibited to conduct business activities in the Slovak Republic.

The foreigner to whom a police authority grants the temporary stay permission for study purposes is not allowed to conduct business activities or enter into an employment relationship or similar relationship during his/her stay in the Slovak Republic. The same shall apply to the foreigner to whom the police authority granted the permission for temporary stay for the family purposes.

The application for grant of temporary stay permission is submitted by a foreigner exclusively at the representative office of the Slovak Republic in the state, which issued a travel document to such foreigner or in the state of its residence. If there is no representative office of the Slovak Republic in such country, the foreigner is entitled to submit the application also at the representative office of the Slovak Republic in the state determined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic after consultation with the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Slovak Republic. In special cases (e.g. temporary stay for study purposes), the Act allows submission of the application also in the Slovak Republic. This exception applies in the cases, in which the requirement of submission of the application abroad would be very strict.

The application must be submitted by the foreigner personally due to requirement of his/her direct identification based on the submitted travel documents and due to the implementation of the principles applicable in the European Union member states.

The Act also specifies the documents that must be mandatory submitted by a foreigner together with the application for grant of temporary stay as well as the documents that may be required from the foreigner to be submitted upon the request of the representative office or the police authority. Under the Act, the following documents must be mandatory attached to the temporary stay application:

(a)

documents proving the purpose of stay,

(b)

proof of trustworthiness of the foreigner,

(c)

proof of sufficient financial means for the stay,

(d)

health insurance for the territory of the Slovak Republic, and

(e)

proof of accommodation for the temporary stay.

In comparison to the Act on Residence of Foreigners in the Territory of the Slovak Republic valid until 1 April 2002, the Act stipulates a special regime for temporary stays of foreigners who are citizens of any of the European Union member states.

Under the Act, the citizens of the European Union member states shall have the right, after registration, for temporary stay in the Slovak Republic for a period of one year for the purpose of performance of business activities (i.e. mainly activities of industrial and trade nature, performance of handicrafts and free enterprises), employment or performance of activities of pre-accession counsel within the integration process of the Slovak Republic to the European Union.

The application for registration can be submitted not only at the representative office of the Slovak Republic, but also at the respective police authority in the Slovak Republic. The applicant is obliged to attach the following documents to the application for the registration: his/her travel passport, and documents confirming the purpose of stay, accommodation and health insurance for the Slovak Republic and three photos. In comparison to the application for grant of the temporary stay, the police authority shall decide on registration within a shorter period of 14 days from delivery of the application. For deciding on grant of the approval for temporary stay, the police authority is obliged to decide within a period of 90 days from delivery of the application.

The Act newly regulates also the permanent stay in such a way that firstly only so-called ``first permit for permanent stay'' is granted to the foreigner upon his/her application and only subsequently so-called ``further permit for permanent stay'' can be granted. The first permit for permanent stay is granted for a period of three years and after its expiry, the foreigner may apply for the further permit for permanent stay, which is usually granted for an indefinite period of time.

The permit for permanent stay may be granted also to a foreigner who lives constantly in the territory of the Slovak Republic for a period of at least ten years for the purpose of performance of business activities as a sole entrepreneur or for the purpose of employment.

The application for grant of the first permit for permanent stay is submitted personally by the applicant in the state, which issued to the applicant the travel document or in the state, in which the applicant resides, except for the foreigner to whom the permit for temporary stay in the Slovak Republic has been granted for at least ten years. The foreigner may apply for the further permit for permanent stay directly in the territory of the Slovak Republic. The Act determines the documents that must be mandatory submitted or may be required from the foreigner to be submitted together with the application for the permanent stay.

The Act introduces a new type of stay, so-called ``tolerated stay''. The tolerated stay is a new type of stay, which is granted to a foreigner in the case the foreigner stays in the territory of the Slovak Republic and does not fulfil conditions of authorised stay and cannot, at the same time, travel out from the territory of the Slovak Republic for objective reasons or cannot be expelled from the territory of the Slovak Republic.

The Act also regulates an application for stay of the foreigner, who was born in the territory of the Slovak Republic. The parent of such foreigner can, under the Act, submit such application in the Slovak Republic for grant of the permit for stay of the same type as the stay granted to the parent. The police authority grants the permit to a child for the same period, as the period of stay granted to his/her parent. Until deciding on the application, the stay of a child born in the territory of the Slovak Republic is considered to be authorised.

In addition, the Act newly stipulates travel documents for foreigners issued by the Slovak Republic.

In comparison to the current legal regulation, which recognises the institutes of prohibition of stay and expelling, the Act introduces only the institute of expelling, as a decision of the police authority on termination of the stay of foreigner in the territory of the Slovak Republic and specification of the period for which the entry of the foreigner to the territory of the Slovak Republic is prohibited.

In accordance with Article 4 of the Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the possibility of mass expelling of foreigners on the basis of one decision of the police authority is excluded.

The Act further stipulates reasons for expelling, as well as the length of a period during which the foreigner is not allowed to enter the territory of the Slovak Republic. The Act also stipulates the reasons for which foreigners cannot be expelled.

The Act further states the conditions for detention of foreigner for the purposes of his/her expelling. Provisions of the Act create the legal frame for existence of facilities for foreigners, in which the foreigners are accommodated during the time of their detention prior expelling. The legal regulation of police transportation throughout the territory of the Slovak Republic is regulated by the Act as well.

In its seventh part, the Act stipulates the subject-matters of small offences and administrative offences. For a small offence, a penalty up to the amount of SKK 50,000 can be imposed, depending on circumstances of an individual case.

According to temporary provisions of the Act, visas granted prior to the effectiveness of this Act are regarded as visas granted under this Act and the permanent stay permitted prior to the effectiveness of the Act shall be considered as the first permit for the permanent stay under the Act. The long-term residence permit granted under the current Act on Residence of Foreigners in the Territory of the Slovak Republic is considered as the temporary stay permitted under the Act.

In connection with adoption of the Act, also the Act on Travel Documents and the Act on Registry of Criminal Offences have been amended.

This Act came into force on 1 April 2002.

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