I am a Slovak citizen who has lived in the United States for twenty years. I married an American, and I have American citizenship. Our son was born in the United States ten years ago. Does our son automatically have Slovak citizenship in addition to American citizenship? What should I do to obtain a Slovak passport for our son?

Yes, a child born to a citizen of the Slovak Republic abroad acquires Slovak citizenship “by blood”. So, your son automatically acquired Slovak citizenship. What remains for you to do is to obtain a certificate.

 

First you need to show to the Slovak authorities that you are or were a Slovak citizen at the moment of your son’s birth.

 

If you had a valid Slovak identity document (an ID card or a passport) at the time of your son’s birth, and that document is still valid, all you have to do is to present the original of the document in person to the competent authority.

 

If you did not have a valid identity document at that time, or if you currently do not have a valid Slovak identity document, you should send a request for issuance of a Certificate of Citizenship of the Slovak Republic for a Child to (i) the District Office in the seat of the region – the Department of General Inner Affairs; (ii) a diplomatic mission; or (iii) a Consular Office of the Slovak Republic abroad. Attached to the request must be documents proving that you were a citizen of the Slovak Republic at the time of the child’s birth.

 

To obtain a Slovak passport for your son, you need to get his Slovak birth certificate, which you can request by submitting a Birth Registration Application. A Birth Registration Application can be submitted to the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in the country of your residence, or to a Registry Office in the Slovak Republic at your existing or last registered permanent residence.

 

The legal period for the application processing is two months (but expect a minimum of six weeks).

 

Other documents that need to be submitted along with the completed Birth Registration Application include your child’s American birth certificate with an apostille, translated by a Slovak court translator or a Slovak embassy; a copy of the parent’s birth certificate (this does not have to be authenticated); the marriage certificate of the child’s parents, including an apostille with an official translation (unless the parents have requested their marriage be entered in a special register); the parent’s identity card or passport (at least one document issued before the child’s birth and still valid today); and a copy of a passport or another identification document of the mother if she is a foreign national.

 

If you got married abroad, we recommend that you also submit an application for Marriage Registration in the Special Register.

 

Original documents are not returned, so if you have only one original it is better to use a notarized copy.

 

Once you obtain the birth certificate, you can apply for a passport.

 

You can also apply for a passport from abroad, even electronically.