The COVID-19 pandemic brought a nationwide state of emergency to Slovakia, and had a huge impact on the daily lives of the country's migrants (representing nearly 3% of the population). In order to alleviate the difficulties faced by migrants as a result of the pandemic, the government has amended the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

The Act, which affects several pieces of legislation, aims to resolve issues with applications for and expirations of residence permits during a state of emergency. If a migrant's residence permit expires during an official emergency pandemic situation - whether it is temporary, permanent or 'tolerated' - its validity will now be automatically extended for two months following the end of the emergency period. People without a residence permit who entered the country legally during the emergency period will be able to stay for one month following the end of the crisis.

In addition, certain deadlines were amended. Police now accept proof of application for residency in place of a residency permit for an unlimited length of time, rather than the usual 90-day period. This will be useful if, for example, a person makes an application for residency or for renewal of residency and is forced to wait longer than 90 days for its resolution to due to a pandemic.

Other amendments target migrant workers and entrepreneurs with temporary residence permits, who have applied for residency extension. Usually such individuals would be legally obliged to show that they meet a certain income or profit threshold, but will be exempt from this in 2021 if they can prove how this would negatively affect their business. 

Read more on these amendments.

In Slovakia a state of emergency was declared on 1 October 2020 for a period of at least 45 days, with the possibility of extension to 90 days if the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise at the current rate.