Question: I want to ask whether I can have three different citizenships. The point is that I was born in Mexico (I have Mexican citizenship), but I still have Slovak citizenship through my parents and I also have a Slovak passport. Unfortunately, I do not have any residence registered in Slovakia. However, I have been living in America for several years, where I am also married to an American. This year I will be able to acquire citizenship in America. As a result – will I lose my Slovak citizenship?
Answer:
According to the current Slovak legislation, you can have one or more citizenships – that is, duplicate citizenship, but also multiple citizenships. There are persons who either have no citizenship or, on the contrary, have the citizenship of several countries. These situations deviate from the norm and in practice bring practical problems. In the case of multiple citizenships there might (or might not be) situations where it is necessary to resolve the conflict of the legal systems of individual states, but currently there is generally no provision of the Slovak legal system prohibiting having two or more state citizenships (in the past the regulation was different and multiple citizenships were strictly forbidden). Acquisition of citizenship in Slovakia is regulated in Act no. 40/1993 Coll. on the citizenship of the Slovak Republic as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Citizenship Act”).
There is still the following legal regulation of Article 9 section 16 of the Citizenship Act:
„A citizen of the Slovak Republic loses his/her citizenship of the Slovak Republic on the day on which he/she voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship on the basis of an explicit manifestation of will, which is a request, statement or other act aimed at acquiring foreign citizenship.“ However, currently, there are exceptions from this legal rule amended in 2022.
In 2022, the Citizenship Act was amended and there were specific exceptions expressly stated – cases were established when it is possible to retain Slovak state citizenship while acquiring the state citizenship of a foreign country. In accordance with the rules of article § 9 section 17 and section 18 of the Citizenship Act, in the cases mentioned here, there is no loss of citizenship of the Slovak Republic by law, if a citizen of the Slovak Republic acquires foreign citizenship. This is the acquisition of foreign citizenship by the spouse during the marriage, by birth, adoption, or if acquired by a minor child. As follows from the explanatory report to the amended law: “For reasons of balance of interests, it is proposed to allow citizens of the Slovak Republic to acquire foreign citizenship without losing the citizenship of the Slovak Republic even if they have a residence permit, registered residence in the territory of the state whose citizenship they will acquire or otherwise registered stay of at least five years at the time of acquisition of foreign citizenship. As a rule, five years of residence is the minimum length of residence for the granting of state citizenship.In order to record the acquisition of foreign citizenship by a citizen of the Slovak Republic in the information systems, it is necessary for citizens to notify the Ministry of this fact in writing within the given period and to submit all documents in documentary form proving it. The mentioned information is necessary for the purpose of assessing whether the given person has lost the citizenship of the Slovak Republic, as well as for statistical reasons.” We quote the relevant provision of the Citizenship Act:
Article 9 section 17 of the Citizenship Act:
“According to paragraph 16, the citizenship of the Slovak Republic will not be lost if the citizen of the Slovak Republic acquired the foreign citizenship of the spouse during the joint marriage, or if the foreign citizenship was acquired by birth, adoption, or if it was acquired by a minor child. A citizen of the Slovak Republic is obliged to notify the Ministry in writing of the acquisition of foreign citizenship according to the previous sentence within 90 days of its acquisition, and is obliged to submit to this notification documents in documentary form proving the acquisition of foreign citizenship and other documents proving that there has been no loss of Slovak citizenship of the Republic according to the previous sentence, especially the birth certificate, marriage certificate and valid decision on the adoption of a child.”
Article 9 section 18 of the Citizenship Act: “According to paragraph 16, the citizenship of the Slovak Republic will not be lost even if the citizen of the Slovak Republic has acquired the foreign citizenship of the country in which he had a residence permit, registered residence or otherwise registered residence for at least five years at the time of acquiring the foreign citizenship; the residence condition is considered fulfilled if the citizen of the Slovak Republic actually stayed in the territory of a foreign state during this period. A citizen of the Slovak Republic is obliged to notify the Ministry in writing of the acquisition of foreign citizenship according to the previous sentence within 90 days of its acquisition, and is obliged to submit to this notification documents in documentary form proving the acquisition of foreign citizenship and the length of stay in the country of acquisition of citizenship as of the date of acquisition; the ministry will also request additional documents, if they are necessary to prove the residence of a citizen of the Slovak Republic on the territory of a foreign state. If, after receiving the notification according to the previous sentence, it is proven that the condition of residence according to the first sentence is not fulfilled, the Ministry will send to the person who announced the acquisition of foreign citizenship a written notification about the loss of citizenship of the Slovak Republic according to paragraph 1 letter b) and on making a record of its loss in the Central Register of Acquisition and Loss of Citizenship of the Slovak Republic and in the Register of Residents of the Slovak Republic.” You will not lose Slovak citizenship in your case. It is necessary to register the acquisition of a new state citizenship, you can authorize e.g. attorney who will solve this matter for you remotely. Attention, failure to notify the acquisition of foreign citizenship in writing can result in a fine of up to 330 euros, this is a misdemeanor. The duration of citizenship also has nothing to do with the fact that you do not have a registered residence in Slovakia. I would also like to add that your marriage must be registered in a special registry of the Slovak Republic. It is also necessary/recommended to register the birth of your child and provide him or her with a Slovak birth certificate. From the point of view of practical life, I do not recommend delaying or neglecting these formalities. You can also authorize a lawyer to complete the formalities at the register, who will communicate matters to you remotely.