POSTERN

Slovakia

Temporary residence for business (self-employment). Slovakia has no dedicated digital-nomad visa; remote workers and freelancers instead register as a sole trader (živnosť) and get a temporary residence permit for business — now capped at 700 new permits a year and filed only from abroad.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Temporary residence for business (self-employment)

A temporary residence permit valid for the estimated time of the business, up to 3 years, renewable while the business continues.

Who qualifies

Whether you keep your U.S. citizenship depends on the route you take later.

1

Does it fit your family?

2 questions, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

2

What it takes.

Income
At least $325 a month, steady and documented.
Savings
About $3,250.
Time
3–6 months once an embassy appointment is available, longer where a mission's 700-permit-year quota is already filled; per Fragomen and IOM guidance, book early in the calendar year.
Cost
About $1,000–2,500 in trade-licence and residence-permit fees, translations and accounting setup, on top of the business bank-account balance required.
The hard part
The 700-a-year national quota and mission-by-mission allocation mean a family can be shut out for the calendar year even with a qualifying business, on top of the ordinary bookkeeping, business plan and tax filings a real Slovak business requires.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

3

Citizens by 2038.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

  1. 2027
    First residence permit

    3 years, renewable for 3 years at a time.

  2. 2030
    Renew the permit

    Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 3 years.

  3. 2032
    Permanent residence

    Long-term residence: five unbroken years of legal residence (study time counts at half; seasonal and posted work not at all). Trips abroad may not last more than 6 months in a row or 10 months in total. Slovak at A2 since 15 July 2025, and savings of 12 times the subsistence minimum.

  4. 2037
    Apply for citizenship

    With a language test and a civics test.

  5. 2038
    Citizenship
Language
Slovak, spoken and written: read a 500-word press article and write about it in 30 minutes, before a three-person commission. Czech citizens and over-65s are exempt.
Civics
Questions on Slovak history and geography in the same interview.
Time away
Either 8 unbroken years of permanent residence, or 10 unbroken years of residence in all with permanent residence already granted when you file. The ministry weighs whether you actually lived in Slovakia and why you were away.
Two passports
Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.
  • Business residence counts in full toward the 5 years for long-term residence.
  • The consolidated text we read is dated April 2022; later amendments to Section 7 were not checked against the Collection of Laws.
  • The law gives the ministry up to 24 months to decide; typical waits were not published.
  • Your home country may still take away its own citizenship when you become Slovak.
  • SK-BUSINESS: the up-to-3-year business permit comes from the earlier research (2026-09-24), not re-read today.
  • How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.
The law behind these dates
4

Living there.

Time you must spend there
No fixed day-count to keep the permit, but continuous residence for the later permanent-residence and naturalisation clocks generally requires not being outside Slovakia for more than 6 consecutive months at a time.
Tax
Slovak tax residence follows the 183-day rule; self-employment income is taxed locally once resident.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

5

Start today.

  1. Read the IOM Migration Information Centre's page on business-based residence and confirm your nearest mission's 2026 quota.Open mic.iom.sk ↗
  2. Round up the papers.
    • Proof of steady income: at least $325 a month
    • Request your FBI Identity History Summary
    • Health cover for the move
6

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

19 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →
7
ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

Cover