Expert articles

Temporay stay for the purpose of employment – employing citizens of third countries

Temporary stay for citizens of third countries for the purpose of employment in the Slovak Republic is resolved by various legal norms. We could break these into two groups. The first would be the legal regulations, which regulate the employment itself of foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic. The second group would be the legal norms which regulate the residency of nationals of third countries in the territory of the Slovak Republic, if the purpose of their stay is actually employment.

The most important legal regulation is law # 5/2004  Coll. concerning Employment Services in the wording of later provisions (hereafter only „Employment Services law“). In the meaning of this law, an employer can employ a citizen of a third country, who:

  • is a holder of the European Union blue card,
  • has been granted temporary stay based upon confirming the possibility of filling a vacant job position, issued by the relevant Office of labour social matters and family (ÚPSVaR),
  • has been given permission for employment and temporary stay for the purpose of employment (in the law concerning the stay of foreign nationals there are a limited number of cases where residency is not requested during the 90 day period in the territory of the Slovak Republic),
  • has been granted permission for employment and given temporary stay for the purpose of family reunification,
  • has been given permission for employment and granted temporary residency of the national of a third country, which has been granted the status of an individual with long-term residency in a member country of the European Union,
  • meets other conditions as set by the law.

Each of these possibilities has its own rules and pitfalls, and so those most often used will be seen in more detail.

Employment based upon confirming the possibility of filling a vacant job position

Confirmation is issued based upon the request of the relevant Police department. In practice it is neccessary to adhere to certain strictly set procedures. The most important is observing the time period between submitting the job vacancy announcement at the relevant ÚPSVaR Bureau of Labour and submitting application for temporary stay for the purpose of employment at the appropriate department of the Foreign Police. This period may vary depending on what category of employee it is from a third country. For those holders of blue cards and for applicants for temporary stay for the purpose of employment, the time period is 30 working days. There are categories of citizens of third countries for whom the period is shorter, or that limit is not demanded. A time period of 15 days must be observed for employment for the purpose of seasonal employment, for naval employment on ships registered in the Slovak Republic, or upon such which sail under the flag of the Slovak Republic, or one has been granted temporary stay for reasons of family reunification and a period of 12 months has not yet elapsed from the time of issuance, or if it is a national of a third country with a long-term stay in another member state and to whom has been granted temporary stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic. Without taking into account the situation on the labour market, the confimation is given if the citizen of a third state will in the territory of the Slovak Republic be performing constant education or scientific activity such as a pedagogical employee, teacher at university, research worker, or artistic worker at a university, research employee, or developmental employee in a research activity.

Permission for employment

Permission for employment may be granted to the national of a third country based upon written request, which is directly submitted by the citizen of the third country, an employer, or a legal (physical) person to whom he will be sent to work. Permission for employment may also be issued (for issuing permission for employment there is no legal entitlement) to a national of a third country, who will be employed for the purpose of seasonal employment for a maximum 180 days over the course of 12 consecutive months, will be employed as a sailor, has been granted temporay stay for the purpose of family reunification or has been granted temporary stay as an individual with an admitted long-term stay in a member state. However, in these categories the situation on the job market is taken into account, and therefore an announcement of the vacant workplace must be given (15 days to survey the situation).

Irregardless of the situation on the work market, permission for employment may be given to the national of a third country if it is established by international agreement, to which the Slovak Republic is bound. Also belonging in this category is the so-called in-house transfer in the wording of the agreement about WTO.

Employment permission may also be given to a national of a third country who has a working relationship with an employer, who has a head office, or headquarters of their organizational unit outside the territory of the Slovak Republic, and who sends him on the basis of a contract concluded with a natural or legal person to perform work within the Slovak Republic. Issuing such permission for employment first passes through approval of numbers and professions, what employees are dispatched for, and the time period they will be dispatched. Concerning the negotiations between the legal (physical) person, to whom will be dispatched and the relevant ÚPSVaR Labour office a written record is prepared, which in the future will serve as the background for issuing a certain number of work permits.

Along with the application for granting permission for employment to a national of a third country, documents must be submitted confirming the facts presented in the application and correspond to the type of applications which are issued. As an example we use requests for granting employment permission of the so-called in-house transfer and in the case of being dispatched to work. In the event of an in-house transfer we recommend you submit:

  • request for granting permission for employment,
  • copy of the identification document,
  • document of highest attained education,
  • document confirming the actual fact of in-house transfer,
  • document confirming the legal subjectivity of the legal person (entity) within which the transfer took place,
  • document confirming the length of the employment relationship with the employer.

For citizens of third countries, which are in a working relationship with an employer, which has a head office, or the headquarters of its organizational unit outside of the territiry of the Slovak Republic and who is dispatching them based upon a contract concluded with a physical or legal person performing work in the territory of the Slovak Republic, it is neccessary to submit along with the application for issuing employment permission mainly:

  • request for the granting of permission for employment,
  • copy of the identification document,
  • document of the highest attained education,
  • copy of the work contract with the foreign employer,
  • other documents confirming proficiency,
  • contract for dispatching for workb performance,
  • documents confirming legal subjectivity of foreign and local contractual parties.

Regarding the fact that the practice of the labour offices when deciding on applications is not always uniform, we recommend that you have your list of required documents discussed in advance with a responsible worker of the relevant Office of labour, social matters and family. Of course all documents which have been issued abroad must be translated into Slovak language by a translator registered on the list of experts, translators and interpretors kept by the Ministry of Justice SR. Documents as to education attained must always have the addition of higher confirmation (apostille or superlegalization).

A special category is comprised  of nationals of third countries for whom the permission for employment, or confirmation of the opportunity to fill a vacant work position is not required. Belonging in this category are mainly nationals of a third country who:

  • have been granted permanent residency in the Slovak Republic,
  • they have been given temporary stay, individuals who have been granted the status of persons with long-term stay in a member state of the EU (after 12 months have elapsed from the day of being granted temporay stay, in the opposite case confirmation is required as to the possibility of filling a vacant work position – time period for surveying the situation on the job market is 15 working days),
  • have been granted temporay stay for the purpose of familiy reunification, and that after 12 months of unbroken residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic, or with family member holders of the blue card, or with the family members of a national of a third country who has been given temporary stay for the purpose of research and development (in a case where the sponsor carries out research and development on the basis of agreement as to sponsoring, or his pedagogical activity in a working or similar relationship does not exceed 50 days in a year),
  • is a family member of a citizen of the European union who has the right to reside within the territory of the Slovak Republic,
  • has been granted temporary stay for the purpose of study (if the amount of work does not exceed 10 hours per week, or 20 hours per week for university students, or a corresponding number of days and months per year), etc..

A complete list of citizens from third countries for which no confirmation is required for the possibility of taking a vacant working position (highly-qualified as well), and permission for employment is presented in the law concerning Employment services.