If you are a researcher, higher education lecturer, university professor or other higher education staff member and you want to carry out research or educational work in the field of higher vocational education or higher education in Slovenia, you may be granted a temporary residence permit for this purpose, provided you comply with other necessary requirements. When submitting your application, you are required to have a hosting agreement issued by a research organisation or higher education institution in Slovenia. You can submit the application yourself, or it may be lodged by the research organisation or higher vocational college or higher education institution where you will be working.
If you already legally reside in Slovenia and have a hosting agreement, you shall lodge an application for the first residence permit for the purpose of research or educational activities, and the application shall be filed with the competent authority in the Republic of Slovenia. The application is to be submitted prior to the expiry of your residence permit in the Republic of Slovenia.
If you have a permit issued in another EU country and you want to stay in Slovenia for up to 90 days to perform certain activities under a hosting agreement, you shall be allowed to enter the country and reside there on the basis of a permit already issued by another EU country. You do not need to apply for a new permit in Slovenia unless you want to stay longer than 90 days – in this case you shall make sure your application is submitted prior to the expiration date of the authorised 90-day stay.
If you are a foreigner who has already been granted a residence permit for the purpose of research work in another EU country, you shall be able to stay and carry out research work in a research organisation in the Republic of Slovenia in two ways:
Short-term relocation means that you are allowed to stay and carry out research work for up to 180 days in any 360-day period, which includes every day of your stay in the last 360-day period. You can be relocated to the Republic of Slovenia on a short-term basis on condition you meet the following requirements: you have a valid travel document; adequate health insurance; sufficient resources; and the competent authority in the Republic of Slovenia has been notified (in writing) of your intended short-term relocation in advance, i.e. prior to your intended entry into the Republic of Slovenia; you have a valid residence permit for the purpose of performing your research work, first issued by another EU country, for the period of your intended short-term relocation to Slovenia; you have submitted a hosting agreement concluded with a research organisation in the Republic of Slovenia, indicating the date of your arrival and the duration of your short-term relocation; there are no security concerns.
The administrative unit shall examine your relocation request within 30 days of receiving a complete formal notification. If the administrative unit does not authorise your relocation, issuing a decision refusing your relocation, you as well as the research organisation in the Republic of Slovenia or the research organisation abroad shall be notified about it. If you are informed of the refusal of a short-term relocation to Slovenia prior to the actual relocation, the relocation shall not be allowed. If your short-term relocation in Slovenia has already occurred, but has been formally rejected, you shall be served the decision on rejection in Slovenia. In this case, you are obliged to stop your research work within three days of receiving the decision, leave Slovenia, and return to the EU country that first issued your »researcher« residence permit. If your first researcher residence permit was issued by an EU country that does not fully apply the Schengen acquis, you are also obliged to present a valid travel document and a copy of the notification of your intended relocation when entering the Republic of Slovenia.
For more information on educational organisations click here.
Long-term relocation means that you are allowed to reside in the Republic of Slovenia and perform research or educational work for more than 180 days in any 360-day period, which includes every day of your stay in the last 360-day period. You can obtain a long-term relocation permit on condition that you satisfy the following requirements: you have a valid residence permit for the purpose of performing research work, first issued by another EU member state; you have submitted a hosting agreement issued by a research organisation in the Republic of Slovenia, indicating the date you started performing your activities and the duration of your long-term relocation.
If your first residence permit for the purpose of research was issued by an EU country that does not fully apply the Schengen acquis, you are also required to present a valid travel document and a copy of the hosting agreement on entering the Republic of Slovenia.
The application for a long-term relocation permit shall be lodged with the competent authority in the Republic of Slovenia (administrative unit) no later than 30 days from the date of entry to Slovenia. The application may also be submitted by an educational organisation from the Member State that first issued the residence permit to the foreigner for the purpose of carrying out research work, or by the research organisation in the Republic of Slovenia where the foreigner is to be performing the research work. When submitting your application, you shall be issued a certificate by the competent authority, and such certificate shall serve as a temporary residence permit and shall allow you to perform your research activities until the final decision on your application is taken.
If you are already legally residing in the Republic of Slovenia on the basis of a short-term relocation and you wish to continue your stay on the basis of a long-term relocation, you shall file your application to obtain a temporary residence permit for the purpose of a long-term relocation with the competent authority in the Republic of Slovenia (the administrative unit) no later than 30 days prior to the expiration date of your authorised stay based on the short-term relocation. In this case, you are allowed to carry out your research work until the final decision on your application for the long-term relocation is taken by the relevant administrative unit, provided that the authorised stay based on the short-term relocation has not yet expired.
A temporary residence permit due to a long-term relocation shall be issued for the duration of the activities performed under the hosting agreement, but for a term not exceeding one year. Until the work under the hosting agreement is completed, the permit may be extended for a period of up to one year.
For more information on research and educational organisations, please click here.