At today's meeting, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia set the text of Draft Act Amending the Foreigners Act. The adoption of the Act is necessary to relieve administrative burdens on administrative units.

Residence permits

Some of the key solutions for residence permits are listed.

The possibility of serving renewed temporary residence permits and permanent residence permits by post is introduced.

The amendment facilitates the process of changing employers, changing jobs with the same employer or working for two or more employers under a valid single residence and work permit. Administrative units will no longer have to issue written approval decisions. The change will be possible with the consent of the Employment Service. Administrative units will be relieved of burdens as they will no longer have to issue written approval decisions, while procedures will become faster and simper for foreigners.

Fingerprints submitted in the process of issuing the first residence permit can also be used in the renewal process. This means that the administrative unit will not have to recapture fingerprints. They will be kept for five years.

The obligation to carry out periodic means-testing ex officio is abolished. Foreigners will have to demonstrate sufficient resources in the application for the first permit and for each renewal. The administrative unit will no longer check this every six months.

The requirement for a written request from the administrative unit to supplement the application with fingerprints is abolished. This means that a diplomatic mission or consulate of the Republic of Slovenia abroad may digitally capture two fingerprints of a foreigner in the process of issuing the first temporary residence permit without a request from the administrative unit.

A foreigner whose temporary protection status has ceased may apply for a temporary residence permit within eight days of the termination of temporary protection status for any purpose determined by law (e.g. work, study, etc.).

Slovenian language

We reintroduce access to Slovenian language courses for all categories of foreigners. This promotes the integration of foreigners into Slovenian society and removes a regulation that would otherwise apply from 27 April 2023.

The amendment does not change the Slovenian language proficiency requirement at the entry level (A1) for the extension of a temporary residence permit for the purpose of family reunification and at the basic level (A2) for the issue of a permanent residence permit. These provisions therefore enter into force on 27 April 2023. In practice, this will mean that family members of foreigners who hold a residence permit in Slovenia will have to submit a certificate of having passed an examination in the Slovenian language at the basic level at an authorised institution in Slovenia when applying for the renewal of the permit.