Slovakia surprises people who arrive expecting a smaller version of its neighbours. It has the euro, the Schengen area, a capital 60 kilometres from Vienna, and mountains in the north within a day's travel of the Danube. It also has a paperwork system that runs on a few clear deadlines, and most of them fall in your first three months.
This guide puts moving to Slovakia in order, from the day you cross the border to your first tax return.
What should you do in your first 10 working days of moving to Slovakia?
Your first duty is to report the start of your stay. The hlásenie pobytu is a declaration to the oddelenie cudzineckej polície, the foreigners' police department of the place where you stay, within 10 working days of entry. If you sleep in a hotel or with a professional accommodation provider, they file it for you (EURES). If you rent a flat from a private landlord, it is yours to do.
Two other things are worth settling at once. Find where your nearest foreigners' police office is and what its opening hours are, because several steps below happen at its counter. And decide how you will pay: Slovakia is in the euro area, which makes life simple if your money is already in euros.
How do you register your residence in Slovakia?
If you plan to stay more than three months, you apply for registration in person, no later than 30 days after those three months have ended. Registration is free, and you leave with a certificate the same day if your file is complete. The deadline counts from the end of the first three months, not from your arrival, which is a common mix-up.
You register on one of six grounds in the law: you work, you are self-employed, you have enough money and health insurance, you study, you look for a job with real chances of finding one, or you are the family member of such a person. The documents depend on the ground. Our full guide is residence in Slovakia for EU citizens.
Not sure which ground fits your situation, or which papers your office will want? Moovy can walk you through it by asking a few questions about you, then prepare your list of documents. You still file the application yourself.
Which numbers and registrations come next?
Three separate things are easy to mix up:
- the rodné číslo, the personal identification number, which the Ministry of the Interior assigns to foreigners with a residence in Slovakia;
- the DIČ, the tax number, which exists only if you must register with the tax office (for instance because you start a business or rent out a flat);
- your health insurance number, issued by the fund you choose.
The first two are explained in rodné číslo and DIČ. For health, you choose between three public funds and register within 8 days of starting work; read healthcare in Slovakia.
Where will you live and bank?
Rents are highest in Bratislava, and utilities come on top of the rent in most tenancies (EURES). Slovak law gives tenants a lot of protection in a standard lease, less in a short-term one, so check which one you are offered: renting in Slovakia. A local bank account is not compulsory at first, since an employer or landlord accepting SEPA payments must also accept an IBAN from another EU country, but most people open one within a few weeks.
What changes if you come from the UK, Switzerland or outside Europe?
Swiss citizens follow the same conditions as EU citizens. British citizens are third-country nationals since Brexit: visa-free for 90 days in any 180, then a national permit is needed. Anyone who was legally living in Slovakia before 1 January 2021 keeps rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. The details are in moving to Slovakia from the UK.
What should you sort out in the first year?
- Work or business: a salaried job needs a written contract; a freelancer needs a živnosť licence. See working in Slovakia.
- Tax: the 2026 tax year ends with a return, or a request to your employer for an annual settlement, before 15 February 2027 or 31 March 2027 depending on the route. Check the dates for your case on financnasprava.sk.
- Children: school enrolment has fixed dates in spring; see schools in Slovakia.
- Car: an imported car must be approved and registered within set limits; see driving in Slovakia.
What are the mistakes newcomers make most often?
- Forgetting the 10-day report. It is separate from the three-month registration and applies from your first day, even for a short stay.
- Counting 30 days from arrival. The 30 days start after the first three months.
- Assuming everything can be done online. Many online services need an electronic identity that foreigners often do not have at first. Plan for the counter.
- Leaving documents untranslated. Slovak authorities often want certified translations of foreign certificates.
How should you plan your first three months of moving to Slovakia?
Week one: report your stay and sort your address. Weeks two to six: choose your health fund, sign with a general practitioner, open a bank account. Month three: prepare your registration papers and book your visit to the foreigners' police. Then come tax, work contracts and the rest. Take one step at a time and keep copies of every certificate you receive.
What does moving to Slovakia cost in the first month?
Most of the official steps are cheap. Registering your residence is free. A residence card, if you want one, is 10 euros (30 days) or 39 euros (two working days), and half price online. A free trade licence is 7 euros, and the standard bank account has a price capped at 3 euros. A car adds a 90 euro vignette for 365 days and a registration fee that starts at 33 euros. The real costs are the deposit and first rent, utilities, and the health insurance contributions that start with your job or your trade. For figures, see cost of living in Slovakia.
Is moving to Slovakia different with a family?
Yes, in two ways. Your partner and children can register as family members of an EU citizen who meets one of the conditions, with proof of the family link and your own registration certificate. And children have their own calendar: primary school applications run from 1 February to 31 March, kindergarten applications from 1 April to 31 May, and compulsory schooling starts in the school year after the child turns six, with a compulsory last year of kindergarten from age five. Public school is free and offers Slovak lessons to foreign children. Details are in schools in Slovakia.
A move to Slovakia checklist you can print
- Passport or identity card valid for your whole planned stay.
- Certified Slovak translations of the birth, marriage and diploma certificates you may need.
- Proof of income or resources if you are not working, and proof of health insurance.
- Your EHIC for the first weeks, and your S1 if you are a retiree or cross-border worker.
- A temporary address for the first month, with a landlord or host who can confirm it.
- Two colour passport photos, 3 x 3.5 cm, for the residence card.
- A note of the date you crossed the border: your 10 working days and your three months both start from it.
Relocating to Slovakia with this folder in hand turns most counter visits into a single trip.
Which official sites should you bookmark?
The foreigners' police pages on minv.sk for residence, slovensko.sk for the electronic services and life-situation guides, financnasprava.sk for tax, socpoist.sk for social insurance, and the three health funds' own sites. The EURES page on Slovakia is a reliable summary in English and is updated regularly. When two sources disagree, trust the one that carries the later date and the legal reference.