Slovenia granted 17 citizenships for investors

Slovenia has granted 17 citizenships for investment based on residence permits issued to investors between 2012 to 2017, according to a report published by the EU commission and the Ministry of Interior.

Slovenia is the most beautiful country in the eastern europe and often known as Switzerland of the east.  Slovenia should not be confused with Slovakia

• EU member country: since 1 May 2004
• Euro area member since 1 January 2007
•  Schengen area member since 21 December 2007
• Slovenia uses Euro currency.

In Slovenia in line with Article 20 of the Aliens Act, a foreigner may apply for a long-term visa, which may be issued for the interests of economy. The temporary residence permit may be issued for five years on national interest.

According to these rules, the existence of an economic interest is shown if a foreigner:

• demonstrates specialized knowledge and special experience useful for the Slovenian economy,
• can facilitate the increase of business connections of the Slovenian economy with the rest of the world, or
• can facilitate the introduction and use of new technologies, business models or knowledge in the Republic of Slovenia or the investment of capital in the Republic of Slovenia or the expansion and opening of new markets for Slovenian products

There is no minimum investment threshold specified for Slovenia.

Citizenship for Investors

Third country nationals (TCN) can acquire citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia may be acquired by naturalisation, i.e. on the basis of a prescribed period of actual and continuous residence of ten years in the Republic of Slovenia, provided that the person also meets all other conditions for admission to citizenship laid down by law.

In addition to regular naturalisation, there is also exceptional naturalisation, which provides for the acquisition of Slovenian citizenship in the case of a state benefit in a specific field of social life, provided that this is advantageous to the state due to scientific, economic, cultural, national or similar reasons. This provision requires a one-year period of actual residence in Slovenia and gives the opportunity to acquire citizenship under more lenient conditions. Among others, the foreigner may keep his or her current citizenship. In exceptional cases, no prior residence is required.

The table below presents statistical data on the number of TCNs who were granted Slovenian citizenship based on economic or business interests of Slovenia (and based on residence permit), which does not necessarily include or cover investors. There are no numbers available specifically for investors, as investors are not a legal category of beneficiaries of the Citizenship Act.

Exceptional Citizenships

The existence of “exceptional contribution” is established by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on the basis of the opinion of the competent authority (i.e. the relevant ministry, in the case of investors by the Ministry of Economy).1

The conditions for exceptional naturalisation are further defined in the Government Decree amending Decree on criteria for establishing the national interest for acquiring the citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia through article 13 of Act on the Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia.2 In the field of economy (business) Article 6, s. 1 of this Decree specifies the criteria that the ministry responsible for the economy has to use in formulating an opinion on the existence of a State’s interest for a certain person to be granted citizenship.

These criteria are:

• the possibility of increasing the business connections of the Slovenian economy with the rest of the world,
• increasing and promoting the competitiveness of the Slovenian economy on international markets,
• the possibility of introducing technological innovations in production,
• transfer in the world of promising or established production to the Republic of Slovenia,
• promoting a common presence on international markets,
• the possibility of opening more jobs at a higher level of complexity,
• increasing employment on the basis of new programmes,
• the possibility of introducing new technologies, knowledge and capital to the Republic of Slovenia,
• promoting and introducing a production that is energy-efficient and does not pollute the environment,
• the possibility of setting up and developing micro, small or medium-sized enterprises with a high level of innovation,
• the possibility of expanding and opening new markets for Slovenian products, or
• promotion of exports, rationalization of purchasing sources and incoming foreign direct investment.

In addition to complying with one of the above criteria, an economic interest in the Republic of Slovenia must be demonstrated by attaching at least three recommendations of companies, institutes, chambers of commerce or craftsmanship and similar institutions in which the investor participates (Article 6, s. 2 of the Decree).

Slovenia Taxes

Slovenian tax legislation distinguishes between residents and non-residents. TCNs can fall in both groups, depending on the reason for their presence in Slovenia, duration of their presence and type of residence permit.

Residents have to pay their income tax in Slovenia. Types of residents who may include investors are:

• persons with an officially registered permanent residence in Slovenia,
• persons with a habitual residence in Slovenia or if the centre of their personal and economic interests in Slovenia,
• persons who are present in Slovenia for more than 183 days in any tax year.

Non-residents, in the sense of personal income tax law, only have to pay personal income tax in Slovenia for income which is originating from Slovenia. Non-residents are:

• persons who do not have a permanent residence in Slovenia, whose centre of their economic and personal interests is not in Slovenia, are present in Slovenia for less than 183 days in a single tax year,
• persons with diplomatic or consular status of a foreign country in Slovenia,
• persons who work as employees or officials of an international organization,
• persons who are present in Slovenia for employment in the diplomatic representation, consulate, international mission of a foreign country,
• persons employed in Slovenia as foreign experts, for whom there is insufficient staff in Slovenia (required approval by the Slovenian tax authority),

Slovenia Passport

Slovenia has one of the best EU passports in the world. In 2019, the country had the 11th powerful passport in the world with visa free access to 180 countries in Henley rankings.