Guidance

Slovenia: how to obtain the biometric residence permit

Published 17 August 2021

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If you were living in Slovenia before 1 January 2021

If you were lawfully resident in Slovenia since before 1 January 2021, your rights are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement. To secure your rights, you must apply for a new biometric residence permit before your current permit expires, or before 31 December 2021, whichever comes sooner.

The new biometric residence permit provides proof of your rights. You and your family members have lifelong rights, as long as you continue to meet the conditions in the Withdrawal Agreement.

You must still obtain the new biometric residence permit, even if you are already a registered resident in Slovenia with a valid residency document.

Your permanent residency document is not enough to protect your rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. You need to apply for the new biometric residence permit from your local upravna enota. This will state that you are a permanent resident.

How to apply

You must apply in person at your local upravna enota. Find the location, opening hours and contact details for your upravna enota (in Slovene).

Check with your local upravna enota what COVID-19 safety measures are in place. You may need to book an appointment.

When applying you must always bring your current passport. The documents you must provide depend on your status in Slovenia, and whether you are a temporary or permanent resident.

Read Slovenia’s Brexit guidance to find out what documents you need to apply and check with your upravna enota what further documentation you may need to provide.

When you will receive your biometric residence permit

Officials at your local upravna enota will check your documentation. If you need to provide further documents, they will let you know and give you an appointment to return with these.

If your documentation is complete, you will be invited to return to collect your biometric residence permit. This generally takes up to 15 working days from the date of submitting your application.

The British Embassy Ljubljana cannot provide information about the status of your application. If you are unsure, you should contact your upravna enota directly.

If you are a non-EU national family member of a UK national living in Slovenia

Non-EU national family members legally resident in Slovenia must apply for the new biometric residence permit. You will need to bring the documents set out in Slovenia’s Brexit guidance.

If you are a UK national living in Slovenia and have a family member planning to join you

Close family members can join their UK family member in Slovenia at any time, and will have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. This applies only if the relationship existed before 1 January 2021. This includes spouses, durable or registered partners, dependent parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren.

When they join you, your close family members should apply for the new biometric residence permit from your local upravna enota.

Future spouse if you are a UK national living in Slovenia

Your future spouse, if the relationship began after 31 December 2020, is not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. You should apply for a residence permit as a third country national.

Future children if you are a UK national living in Slovenia

Your future children, either born or adopted, will have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement for as long as you are living in Slovenia. You can apply for a biometric residence permit from your local upravna enota on their behalf.

Permanent residency status if you’ve been living in Slovenia for over 5 years

You can apply for permanent residency status if you have been living in Slovenia for 5 years continuously. You will need to apply for the biometric residence permit and, if you are successful, it will confirm your permanent residency status.

You’ll need to provide proof that you’ve been living in Slovenia for the last 5 years. If you are working, retired or self-sufficient, this could be work contracts, self-employment tax documents, bank statements or rental contracts. If you are a student it could be evidence of your enrolment on a course for the last 5 years.

Contact your local upravna enota for more information on what documents you need to provide.

More information on the new biometric residence permit

You should:

Posted workers

If you are a posted worker, you do not have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. A posted worker is someone whose employer outside of Slovenia sends them to Slovenia for work. You pay tax and social insurance contributions outside of Slovenia, and have a ‘napoteni delavec’ (posted worker) residence permit.

As a posted worker, you must apply for a new single residence and work permit for posted workers. Article 45 of the Foreigner’s Act (in Slovenian) outlines the registration process.

Read Slovenia’s Brexit guidance for more information.

Dual UK-Slovene nationals

If you are a dual UK-Slovene national you do not need to apply for the new permit. You already have residency rights in Slovenia from your Slovene nationality.

You may have rights under the Withdrawal Agreement through your UK nationality, such as the right to an uprated UK state pension now or in the future, if you are eligible. Read the Living in Slovenia guide for more information.

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