Country-wide policy
The First Temporary Permit Has to Be Got Before You Enter, Unless the Act Says Otherwise - and for Three Routes It Does
Article 34(2) of ZTuj-2 states the default plainly: a foreign national must obtain the first temporary residence permit before entering the country, unless the Act provides otherwise. Article 34(3) lets the application be lodged at a Slovene mission abroad, or at the competent authority in Slovenia where the applicant is already lawfully resident or where the Act so provides. The first permit is issued with a validity of up to two years unless the Act says otherwise, and it is served in person. The exceptions are worth knowing because they are the only ways to turn a visit into a stay: a person of Slovene descent to the second degree may apply inside Slovenia within the ninety days under article 48(8); a digital nomad lawfully present on a passport, another member state's permit or a C or D visa may apply here under article 51.a(2); and a long-term resident of another member state and their family may apply here under article 48(3). In each case a certificate of the lodged application counts as a permit until the decision is final.
Topics it changes
- Residency on passive income
- Residency through work
- Residency as a student
- Residency through investment
- Residency through marriage
- Residency through ancestry
- Residency as a retiree
What it requires
- Apply at a Slovene mission abroad before entering, unless one of the Act's exceptions applies
- If applying inside Slovenia, do it before the lawful stay runs out
- Expect fingerprints to be taken, abroad or here
At a glance
- Where you apply
- Before entry, at a Slovene mission abroad
Article 34(2) and 34(3) of ZTuj-2, with the exception for someone already lawfully resident.
- First permit validity
- Up to two years
Article 34(5) of ZTuj-2, unless the Act provides otherwise for the particular permit.
- Who may apply from inside
- People of Slovene descent, digital nomads, and long-term residents of another member state
Article 48(8), article 51.a(2) and article 48(3) of ZTuj-2 respectively.
What the law says
«Prvo dovoljenje za začasno prebivanje v Republiki Sloveniji mora tujec pridobiti pred vstopom v državo, če ta zakon ne določa drugače. (3) Prošnja za izdajo dovoljenja iz prvega odstavka tega člena se vloži pri diplomatskem predstavništvu ali konzulatu Republike Slovenije v tujini ali pri pristojnem organu v Republiki Sloveniji, če zakonito prebiva v Republiki Sloveniji ali je tako določeno s tem zakonom.»About this source
The official gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, where an instrument gains force. Every Act, amending Act, government decree, ministerial rulebook and Constitutional Court decision is published here, and so is the uradno prečiščeno besedilo - the official consolidated text, which the National Assembly confirms by resolution under article 153 of its own rules of procedure and which then appears as a numbered item of a numbered issue. Two address shapes serve the same material and both answer an ordinary request without JavaScript. /glasilo-uradni-list-rs/vsebina/{YYYY}-01-{NNNN} is the item, where the number is the SOP identifier the state legal information system also uses, so an identifier found there resolves straight to the gazette text; a human-readable slug may follow the identifier and is optional. /_pdf/{YYYY}/Ur/u{YYYY}{NNN}.pdf is the whole issue as a PDF. From 1 March 2026 the gazette is published through pisrs.si instead, and single items from the new arrangement are served at https://pisrs.si/api/uradni-list/objava/u{YYYY}{NNNN}.pdf as one-item PDFs with a text layer. Readings for this corpus were taken directly rather than through the extraction service, because the item pages are ordinary HTML and the service adds nothing.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: **It issues; it does not maintain.** The gazette prints an instrument as it was published on the day and never updates it, so an amending Act and the Act it amends are two separate items and neither tells you what the law now says. The only current text of an Act is an official consolidation, and those are made when the National Assembly decides to make one: for the Aliens Act that is ZTuj-2-UPB15 of 24 June 2025 and current, but for the Citizenship Act it is ZDRS-UPB2 of 20 March 2007 and ten years behind ZDRS-E, for the Income Tax Act it is ZDoh-2-UPB7 of 28 February 2011, for the Health Care and Health Insurance Act ZZVZZ-UPB3 of 11 July 2006, and for the Act on employment of foreign nationals ZZSDT-UPB4 of 7 June 2021 with two amending Acts after it. **Never cite an official consolidation as the law in force without checking the amending Acts published since it**, and never treat the absence of a later consolidation as evidence that nothing changed. The site also prints, on every item page, that what it shows is archival under article 33 of the Act on the Official Gazette and that issues published after 28 February 2026 are on PISRS: "Prikazana vsebina je v skladu s 33. členom ZoUL arhivska. Izdaje uradnega lista, izdane po 28.2.2026, so dostopne na PISRS". It cannot be cited for anything published after that date.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Prvo dovoljenje za začasno prebivanje se izda z veljavnostjo do dveh let, razen če ni s tem zakonom drugače določeno.»About this source
The official gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, where an instrument gains force. Every Act, amending Act, government decree, ministerial rulebook and Constitutional Court decision is published here, and so is the uradno prečiščeno besedilo - the official consolidated text, which the National Assembly confirms by resolution under article 153 of its own rules of procedure and which then appears as a numbered item of a numbered issue. Two address shapes serve the same material and both answer an ordinary request without JavaScript. /glasilo-uradni-list-rs/vsebina/{YYYY}-01-{NNNN} is the item, where the number is the SOP identifier the state legal information system also uses, so an identifier found there resolves straight to the gazette text; a human-readable slug may follow the identifier and is optional. /_pdf/{YYYY}/Ur/u{YYYY}{NNN}.pdf is the whole issue as a PDF. From 1 March 2026 the gazette is published through pisrs.si instead, and single items from the new arrangement are served at https://pisrs.si/api/uradni-list/objava/u{YYYY}{NNNN}.pdf as one-item PDFs with a text layer. Readings for this corpus were taken directly rather than through the extraction service, because the item pages are ordinary HTML and the service adds nothing.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: **It issues; it does not maintain.** The gazette prints an instrument as it was published on the day and never updates it, so an amending Act and the Act it amends are two separate items and neither tells you what the law now says. The only current text of an Act is an official consolidation, and those are made when the National Assembly decides to make one: for the Aliens Act that is ZTuj-2-UPB15 of 24 June 2025 and current, but for the Citizenship Act it is ZDRS-UPB2 of 20 March 2007 and ten years behind ZDRS-E, for the Income Tax Act it is ZDoh-2-UPB7 of 28 February 2011, for the Health Care and Health Insurance Act ZZVZZ-UPB3 of 11 July 2006, and for the Act on employment of foreign nationals ZZSDT-UPB4 of 7 June 2021 with two amending Acts after it. **Never cite an official consolidation as the law in force without checking the amending Acts published since it**, and never treat the absence of a later consolidation as evidence that nothing changed. The site also prints, on every item page, that what it shows is archival under article 33 of the Act on the Official Gazette and that issues published after 28 February 2026 are on PISRS: "Prikazana vsebina je v skladu s 33. členom ZoUL arhivska. Izdaje uradnega lista, izdane po 28.2.2026, so dostopne na PISRS". It cannot be cited for anything published after that date.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Tujec, ki je slovenskega rodu do drugega kolena v ravni vrsti in ki zakonito prebiva v Republiki Sloveniji na podlagi veljavne osebne izkaznice oziroma veljavnega potnega lista, ali na podlagi veljavnega potnega lista in dovoljenja za prebivanje, ki ga izda druga država članica Evropske unije, ali na podlagi vizuma C, ki ga izda pristojni organ Republike Slovenije ali druga država pogodbenica Konvencije o izvajanju schengenskega sporazuma z dne 14. junija 1985, lahko vloži prošnjo za izdajo prvega dovoljenja za začasno prebivanje tudi pri pristojnem organu v Republiki Sloveniji. Tujec lahko prebiva na območju Republike Slovenije 90 dni od dneva vstopa v državo oziroma do poteka veljavnosti dovoljenja ali vizuma, če je ta krajša. Prošnjo za izdajo prvega dovoljenja za začasno prebivanje mora tujec vložiti pri pristojnem organu v Republiki Sloveniji pred potekom dovoljenega 90 dnevnega prebivanja oziroma pred potekom veljavnosti dovoljenja za prebivanje ali vizuma, če je ta krajša. O pravočasno vloženi prošnji za izdajo prvega dovoljenja za začasno prebivanje pri pristojnem organu v Republiki Sloveniji, pristojni organ tujcu izda potrdilo, ki velja kot dovoljenje za začasno prebivanje do dokončne odločitve o prošnji.»One of the three ways in from inside the country, and the most generous of them.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, where an instrument gains force. Every Act, amending Act, government decree, ministerial rulebook and Constitutional Court decision is published here, and so is the uradno prečiščeno besedilo - the official consolidated text, which the National Assembly confirms by resolution under article 153 of its own rules of procedure and which then appears as a numbered item of a numbered issue. Two address shapes serve the same material and both answer an ordinary request without JavaScript. /glasilo-uradni-list-rs/vsebina/{YYYY}-01-{NNNN} is the item, where the number is the SOP identifier the state legal information system also uses, so an identifier found there resolves straight to the gazette text; a human-readable slug may follow the identifier and is optional. /_pdf/{YYYY}/Ur/u{YYYY}{NNN}.pdf is the whole issue as a PDF. From 1 March 2026 the gazette is published through pisrs.si instead, and single items from the new arrangement are served at https://pisrs.si/api/uradni-list/objava/u{YYYY}{NNNN}.pdf as one-item PDFs with a text layer. Readings for this corpus were taken directly rather than through the extraction service, because the item pages are ordinary HTML and the service adds nothing.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: **It issues; it does not maintain.** The gazette prints an instrument as it was published on the day and never updates it, so an amending Act and the Act it amends are two separate items and neither tells you what the law now says. The only current text of an Act is an official consolidation, and those are made when the National Assembly decides to make one: for the Aliens Act that is ZTuj-2-UPB15 of 24 June 2025 and current, but for the Citizenship Act it is ZDRS-UPB2 of 20 March 2007 and ten years behind ZDRS-E, for the Income Tax Act it is ZDoh-2-UPB7 of 28 February 2011, for the Health Care and Health Insurance Act ZZVZZ-UPB3 of 11 July 2006, and for the Act on employment of foreign nationals ZZSDT-UPB4 of 7 June 2021 with two amending Acts after it. **Never cite an official consolidation as the law in force without checking the amending Acts published since it**, and never treat the absence of a later consolidation as evidence that nothing changed. The site also prints, on every item page, that what it shows is archival under article 33 of the Act on the Official Gazette and that issues published after 28 February 2026 are on PISRS: "Prikazana vsebina je v skladu s 33. členom ZoUL arhivska. Izdaje uradnega lista, izdane po 28.2.2026, so dostopne na PISRS". It cannot be cited for anything published after that date.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Tujec mora prošnjo za izdajo dovoljenja za začasno prebivanje za digitalnega nomada vložiti pri diplomatskem predstavništvu ali konzulatu Republike Slovenije v tujini, če zakonito prebiva v Republiki Sloveniji na podlagi veljavne osebne izkaznice oziroma veljavnega potnega lista ali na podlagi veljavnega potnega lista in dovoljenja za prebivanje, ki ga izda druga država članica Evropske unije, ali na podlagi vizuma C, ki ga izda pristojni organ Republike Slovenije ali druga država pogodbenica Konvencije o izvajanju schengenskega sporazuma z dne 14. junija 1985, ali vizuma D, ki ga izda druga država pogodbenica Konvencije o izvajanju schengenskega sporazuma z dne 14. junija 1985, pa lahko vloži prošnjo tudi pri pristojnem organu v Republiki Sloveniji.»The digital nomad's version, which lists exactly which documents make presence lawful for this purpose.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, where an instrument gains force. Every Act, amending Act, government decree, ministerial rulebook and Constitutional Court decision is published here, and so is the uradno prečiščeno besedilo - the official consolidated text, which the National Assembly confirms by resolution under article 153 of its own rules of procedure and which then appears as a numbered item of a numbered issue. Two address shapes serve the same material and both answer an ordinary request without JavaScript. /glasilo-uradni-list-rs/vsebina/{YYYY}-01-{NNNN} is the item, where the number is the SOP identifier the state legal information system also uses, so an identifier found there resolves straight to the gazette text; a human-readable slug may follow the identifier and is optional. /_pdf/{YYYY}/Ur/u{YYYY}{NNN}.pdf is the whole issue as a PDF. From 1 March 2026 the gazette is published through pisrs.si instead, and single items from the new arrangement are served at https://pisrs.si/api/uradni-list/objava/u{YYYY}{NNNN}.pdf as one-item PDFs with a text layer. Readings for this corpus were taken directly rather than through the extraction service, because the item pages are ordinary HTML and the service adds nothing.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: **It issues; it does not maintain.** The gazette prints an instrument as it was published on the day and never updates it, so an amending Act and the Act it amends are two separate items and neither tells you what the law now says. The only current text of an Act is an official consolidation, and those are made when the National Assembly decides to make one: for the Aliens Act that is ZTuj-2-UPB15 of 24 June 2025 and current, but for the Citizenship Act it is ZDRS-UPB2 of 20 March 2007 and ten years behind ZDRS-E, for the Income Tax Act it is ZDoh-2-UPB7 of 28 February 2011, for the Health Care and Health Insurance Act ZZVZZ-UPB3 of 11 July 2006, and for the Act on employment of foreign nationals ZZSDT-UPB4 of 7 June 2021 with two amending Acts after it. **Never cite an official consolidation as the law in force without checking the amending Acts published since it**, and never treat the absence of a later consolidation as evidence that nothing changed. The site also prints, on every item page, that what it shows is archival under article 33 of the Act on the Official Gazette and that issues published after 28 February 2026 are on PISRS: "Prikazana vsebina je v skladu s 33. členom ZoUL arhivska. Izdaje uradnega lista, izdane po 28.2.2026, so dostopne na PISRS". It cannot be cited for anything published after that date.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Read off articles 34, 48 and 51.a of ZTuj-2 as officially consolidated on 18 June 2025.
Austria applies the same default and has no equivalent of the Slovene-descent exception. The practical difference is that someone with a Slovene grandparent can decide to stay while they are here on a visit.