If you want to reside in Slovenia for highly qualified employment, then you may be issued a single permit for residence and highly qualified employment, also called the EU Blue Card.

The EU Blue Card is issued for three months more than the validity of the employment contract, but for a maximum of two years. It may be extended for a maximum of three years.

In the first two years of legal employment, you may choose a different employer or a different workplace with the same employer – you must submit an application for a change at an administrative unit. After the first two years, you no longer need to file an application to change employers, but you must inform the administrative unit about your decision to change employers.

When you submit an application for a permit and timely submit an application for extending a permit, you will receive a certificate which applies as a temporary residence permit. If you have received the certificate for the first time, you may not yet work or be employed on this basis. If you received it on the basis of extending the permit, you may be employed in Slovenia until the decision on extension has been made.

If you are a holder of an EU Blue Card issued in Slovenia, and your permit expires abroad and you do not obtain an EU Blue Card in another EU country, you can nevertheless return and enter Slovenia. Five days after entering, you must visit an administrative unit, where a special certificate will be issued to you for a period of three months, which applies as a temporary residence permit. Before the end of the permitted three-month stay, you must apply for a residence permit at the administrative unit.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: If you are already legally residing in Slovenia and have an employment contract, you may apply for the first EU Blue Card here, and you must file an application at the administrative unit within 30 days from the date of entry.

If you have an EU Blue Card issued in another EU country and have resided there for the last 18 months, you may enter Slovenia and stay here for 30 days without a residence permit. If during this time you conclude an employment contract with an employer in Slovenia, you may also file an application for an EU Blue Card here – submit an application at the administrative unit before the expiry of a 30-day stay. Family members who have already obtained a permit for a family member of the EU Blue Card holder in another EU country may also travel with you. They may also stay with you in Slovenia for 30 days on the basis of the already issued permit, but before the expiry of this time you must submit an application for a residence permit at the administrative unit. You may submit an application for family members at the same time as your application.