The day you take the oath, you will get your Listina. This is your deed granting you citizenship, and it is the *ONLY* piece of evidence that you will ever receive that you (and your children under 14) were granted citizenship. When you are at your oath appointment, you should ask them to make several certified copies of it for you, and then store them in separate safe places. Two at home in your safe, one at your parents' house, one at your Great Aunt Bertha's house, and one in your bank safety deposit box. This is especially true if your children are also listed on your Listina, because it's also THEIR Listina. In my opinion, each person listed on the Listina should have 3-4 copies. The children are all under your roof today, but they will all be on their own one day, so make sure they all have their own certified copies because **additional copies will never be issued**. If you lose the one you receive, there is no getting another one.
As of July 15, 2026, the Listina can be used for the first 90 days to apply for your Rodny (birth) and Sobasny (marriage) Lists, and once you have those, these documents together can be used to apply for your ID and passport. You will likely NOT have your RL & SL back in time to use your Listina to apply for your ID & passport.
Osvedcenie:
The Osvedcenie is your certificate of citizenship. Prior to July 15, 2026, only this document could be used to apply for your Rodny (birth) and Sobasny (marriage) Lists. The Osvedcenie expires six months after issue. As of July 15, 2026, you can now apply for this online and be issued a digital copy. However, the system is not yet active, so you still need to apply for it with a paper application and will receive a paper certificate like the one below.
I have been told that the NY consulate has been refusing to accept the applications for the Osvedcenie, and you must insist and force them to accept it. This is because it is very unlikely that your RL & SL will be returned, and you will get back to apply for your passport, all within 90 days of when the Listina was given to you. This means that you will need to apply for the certificate of citizenship anyway, but doing it later will add time to the process.
The Osvedcenie expires six months from issue, and that's totally fine - you don't need it once you have your passport.
Passport:
Children's passports expire 5 years after issue, and adults have 10 years. Unlike in the US, if your SK passport expires, you will need to apply for a new Osvedcenie (proof of citizenship) before you can apply for a new passport. Don't let it expire.
Need help through your process? Jamieson Consulting Firm can help take you from wherever you are in your process to holding your Slovak passport in your hands!
It’s been brought to my attention that someone has been sending unsolicited private messages to members of the CBD Facebook group offering their services.
We’d like to address this here and now before it becomes a problem here.
This is 100% unacceptable in this group. If you receive an unsolicited message from someone offering services, please report them and they will be muted and banned from this sub Reddit.
The group allows pre-approved service providers to self-promote. These providers have been vetted as being legitimate and you can find a list of them among the pinned posts.
If a service provider feels the need to hide behind unsolicited DMs rather than promote themselves publicly, something is very wrong with their services and their actions. It’s very sketchy.
Is it possible to apply in a third country (ie not your home country or Slovakia)? For context, I requested an appointment back in February for the NY office, and as of now still do not have an appointment. We will be living in Italy for 3 months next year but not legal residents. Is it possible to apply in Rome? If not we are going to fly up to Bratislava for a long weekend, but wondered if there was a workaround.
I recently received my FBI background check and I'm preparing my apostille application, but I am a bit unsure so I would appreciate some advice.
The background check document mailed to me by the FBI feels very... unofficial? It's flimsy printer paper, there's no written signature (it's printed), etc. Is this appropriate to submit? It just feels wrong because almost every other document we've collected has felt much more "official" (higher quality paper, higher quality seals, etc)
The document the FBI sent me has both the main background check page as well as an almost-blank cover page that has nothing more than a semi-transparent seal printed on it, my address, and what appears to be a serial number. Do I have to include this page in my submission?
The US state department website points me to form DS-4194 to fill out, but before that it notes two options under "prepare your document" - Apostille and Authentications. I'm pretty sure I want to Apostille here, but I'm not clear on how to indicate this on the form.
On the state department's website that outlines how to prepare your document for an apostille certificate it says, "If the country where you are using the document requires it to be translated from English, get a professional translator and have it notarized". I was under the impression that I needed to get the FBI background check apostilled first, and then have it translated to Slovakian. Can somebody please help clarify the order of operations for me here?
Good Day everyone! I’m looking for assistance for my child’s Slovak passport. For context, my daughter was born a few weeks ago in the United Arab Emirates. Her mother is a Slovak Citizen, I am not. We intended for my daughter to attain her Slovak citizenship.
The Slovak embassy in the United Arab Emirates does not send post very often to Bratislava. As I understand it, my daughter requires a few documents before she can have her passport and return back to the UAE where we live.
She requires a Slovak Birth Certificate ( At this time, we have a UAE Birth Certificate which has been super legalised, translated and stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here and the Slovak Embassy in the UAE)
After which we need to apply for a certificate of Slovak Citizenship, followed by which she will receive her passport.
We opted for her to have her Slovak citizenship instead of mine as my citizens and I are not permitted dual citizenships and we expect that she will be closer to Slovakia anyway.
We spoke to the people at City Hall / Town Hall last November while we were there last to come up with the best strategy to tackle her passport expeditiously so that we may return home. The consensus at that time was that doing it in-person in Slovakia was probably quicker than handling it through the Embassy. Roughly 1 month compared to 5. Therefore we budgeted around a month and half for her to have her documentation done in Slovakia.
We needed to make things fast because the UAE imposes a penalty of around €17 a day for each day over 90 days that a child does not have its UAE residence card. To obtain said residence card a passport is required.
However, a few days ago my in-laws were in their town in Slovakia (Prievidza) and it seems there is a possibility that the process goes longer anyway.
I’m hoping to hear some insights from those of you who may know what the actual realistic timeline is. Or perhaps, if you’ve gone through the process yourself?
We intend to reach Slovakia on the 1st of November, but if we can’t be back in the Emirates by Christmas, we may as well do it here and pay the fine so we don’t miss the first Christmas together as a family.
I’m researching my eligibility for Slovak Citizenship by Descent (CBD) through my maternal great-grandparents and would appreciate some advice from anyone who has dealt with a similar situation.
Both great-grandparents were born in present-day Slovakia when it was part of Austria-Hungary:
Great-grandfather: Born in 1879 in Šašová, Slovakia.
Great-grandmother: Born in 1888 in Lipová, Slovakia.
They married in 1906 and both emigrated to the United States in 1907, before Czechoslovakia was established in 1918.
They subsequently became naturalized US citizens in 1943 and 1944, respectively.
Here’s the interesting part: I’ve located both of their original US naturalization petitions from 1941, and both explicitly list their present nationality as Czechoslovakia.
I’ve also located my great-grandmother’s original Slovak baptism record and am working on obtaining certified copies of the naturalization documents and remaining family records.
The Slovak Embassy’s updated June 2026 guidance specifically lists US naturalization records identifying an ancestor as Czechoslovak as acceptable forms of potential citizenship evidence.
My questions are:
Has anyone successfully obtained CBD through an ancestor who emigrated before 1918?
Would their 1941 naturalization petitions declaring Czechoslovak nationality potentially satisfy the citizenship evidence requirement?
Is this something I need to work with a lawyer on?
I’d really appreciate hearing about any similar experiences, particularly from applicants who have received approval.
My GGF’s Rodný list arrived today. As a lot of us are playing the waiting game, I wanted to share my timelines with the group in case it’s helpful for anyone:
Slovak birth record (rodný list) - 64 Days to completion
August 24, 2026 - Emailed State Archives in Prešov, Vranov nad Topľou office, with a request to locate the birth registry and subsequently issue an official extract from the registry for my great-grandfather. I provided document location information found on JewishGen.org.
August 27, 2026 - GGF’s birth record found in the state archive’s Skrabské register and forwarded to Registry Office in Vranov nad Topľou for the purpose of issuing a birth certificate.
August 31, 2026 - Emailed Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in New York to start the Rodný list order process.
September 8, 2026 - Mailed Vital Record Request Packet to Consulate General with a $29 USD Money Order.
October 15, 2026 - Received phone call from the Consolute General that the Rodný list had arrived. Mailed a self-addressed Priority Mail envelope to New York on the same day.
October 26, 2026 - Rodný list arrived at my home.
Pennsylvania - 46 Days to completion
Birth Certificates
August 24, 2026 - Ordered three certified birth certificates for $30 USD each.
September 5, 2026 - Received three certified birth certificates.
Marriage Records
August 26, 2026 - Ordered 2 exemplified Philadelphia marriage records from the Philadelphia Orphans’ Court for $65 USD each.
September 29, 2026 - Received two exemplified marriage records.
Apostille
September 30, 2026 - Submitted apostille request for three birth certificates and two marriage records from the State of Pennsylvania for $15 USD each.
October 8, 2026 - Received completed PA State apostilles for all five documents.
Maryland - 41 Days to completion
August 24, 2026 - Ordered one marriage certificate for $25 USD.
September 1, 2026 - Received one certified marriage certificate.
September 3, 2026 - Submitted apostille request for one marriage certificate from the State of Maryland for $5 USD.
October 3, 2026 - Received completed MD State apostille for one document.
Tennessee - 23 Days to completion
September 3, 2026 - Ordered one certified birth certificate which was automatically routed to the State of Tennessee for apostille. Birth Certificate fee was $15 USD and apostille fee was $2.
September 25, 2026 - Received completed TN State apostille for one document.
United States Federal - ? Days to completion (Still Pending Apostille)
August 11, 2026 - Ordered a certified copy of my GGF’s AR-2 form for $35 USD.
September 21, 2026 - Received certified AR-2 form.
September 22, 2026 - Submitted apostille request for one AR-2 form from the US Department of State for $20 USD.
??? - I have not yet received the apostilled AR-2.
Total cost to date for document acquisition, apostille, and postage is $477.74 USD.
I am currently waiting to be placed on a waiting list for a CBD appointment at the Consulate in New York. FBI Background check, background check apostille using a courier, and document translation will be planned and scheduled once I have an appointment.
I found this recent article posted on the ZIP webpage. I think the article gives a very good guide on where things stand in 2026.
One thing to note is that they take a position on applying outside of Bratislava. They do not recommend it and suggest that processing times are roughly the same as outside of Bratislava.
Per the article:
We strongly advise against obtaining a residence permit solely for the purpose of submitting your citizenship application at a different District Office. The residence requirement was removed to simplify the process, and applicants without Slovak residence can now submit directly through the Bratislava District Office. Our clients’ experience shows no clear advantage to applying elsewhere in Slovakia.
I am looking for descendants of Slovak immigrants, especially members of the older generation, who can share what they remember or what they were told by their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents about community life. Memories from any period are welcome, including the early 20th century and the years before 1950. You do not need to know everything. Even if you can speak about just one of these topics, your story would help:
language, traditions and holidays in the family
the Slovak parish and it's role in your family
Slovak societies and associations and it's role in Slovak Americans' lives
Slovak newspapers, magazines, calendars, prayer books and other printed materials
I have been searching FamilySearch for ship manifest records for my grandparents. Each census I have, unfortunately, lists various dates as to when they came to the US. They were married here in 1900. So it would likely have been between 1890-1895. They do not appear in any name search no matter how many variations of the spelling I try. Has anyone had any luck finding difficult records from 1890-1899?
Is there a better way then jist flipping through thousands of pages and looking for names? I am not sure I absolutely NEED them. I have their birth and death records showing they were born in Slovakia and died in the US, plus various census copies, but I'd really like to have the manifests also even if for my own records and benefit.
Hello! I have my passport appointment soon in DC (woohoo!) and they gave me instructions to bring a pre-paid envelope from either USPS or UPS. They didn't say anything about it needing to be international shipping, so I guess they are getting it in the mail from Slovakia at the embassy and then mailing it to me from there? I went to the UPS store and just got a regular pre-paid UPS Ground envelope/label addressed back to me. Is that ok or do I need something international if they are mailing it from Slovakia? Any help would be great thanks!
Has anyone had luck hearing back from DC recently? We submitted our paperwork in early May, and I wanted to follow up and see if there's been progress after an entire summer of silence. I emailed once in mid-September, and followed up last week, and it's been radio silence. Odd, since I feel like they normally reply quickly...
I know we're still well within ranges of hearing back. I just would love an update!
I started making census records searchable using the names of people on them, rather than using only District and Municipality. It's not easy. I managed to get 100 sheets transcribed. You can see the results here: 1930.sk.
Since it's quite cumbersome to make this available for the whole country, I will stop until someone who actually needs this reaches out. [hi@1930.sk](mailto:hi@1930.sk). It was fun working on this, I hope you'll like it.
Can anyone show me (or describe) what an acceptable certified copy of a Pennsylvania birth certificate looks like? I thought that I had acceptable copies, but now I am not sure. The PA Vital Records website isn’t much help. Thank you so much!
Hi everyone, looking for insight or experiences regarding parental consent forms for minor child Slovak Citizenship by Descent (CBD) applications.
My situation / background:
I have already submitted and been approved for Slovak CBD.
My anchor ancestor is my grandfather (my mother's father).
I live in Texas and applied through the Slovak Embassy/Consulate in Washington, DC.
My brother's situation:
My brother now wants to apply for Slovak CBD for himself and his 12-year-old daughter using the same anchor ancestor (our maternal grandfather).
They reside in the Ohio, so their jurisdictional consulate is the Slovak Consulate General in New York.
The issue: My brother is divorced, and he and his ex-wife are not on amicable terms.
We know that for a child under 14, the "Parental consent – child under 14 years" form must be signed by the non-applying parent.
From what we understand, this consent typically needs to be signed in person before an official at the Slovak NY Consulate or at a Slovak Honorary Consulate.
His ex-wife will definitely not travel to New York, and there are no Slovak Honorary Consulates within a reasonable driving distance of where they live.
Questions:
Has anyone in a similar situation successfully submitted the parental consent form using an alternative method (e.g., local US notary public + Apostille, or getting it signed/verified via a local Slovak Honorary Consulate in a different region)?
Will the Slovak NY Consulate accept a notarized and apostilled parental consent form if she refuses to travel to a consulate in person?
Are there any specific court orders, custody agreements, or alternative legal provisions under Slovak citizenship law that allow one parent to sign on behalf of a minor without the other parent's explicit consulate signature?
Any advice from people who have navigated tricky parental consent requirements with the NY Consulate would be greatly appreciated!
Technical advice needed please: What does this question (from Slovak CBD application) mean? What would happen if the applicant had / had not acquired Czech citizenship prior to 31 December 1992? Appreciate any and all advice. Thanks!
My great-grandfather, was born in the United States to Hungarian immigrants that then returned to Slovakia in 1903 when he was 4 years old.
My great-grandmother was born in Eastern Slovakia in 1901. I have located the church birth/baptism record online and submitted an archive request for an official civic birth record. She married my great-grandfather in 1919, had 3 children in Slovakia, including my grandfather in 1923, and then left to the United States in 1928.
I’ve located the ship manifest for their journeys, however, the manifest states that my great-grandmother and all of their children were already “naturalized” through my great-grandfather who was a US citizen through birth.
I believe my great-grandmother certainly would have been granted Czechoslovak citizenship and it’s likely my great-grandfather as well even though he was born in United States. What are my paths to proving this if they left prior to 1930 census and were already considered US citizens on their ship manifest? Is it possible to find Czechoslovak passports somewhere? I have located their 1919 Czechoslovak marriage certificate, but I still haven't received the document so I don't know the exact information included on it.
I have my oath appointment coming up so I am looking at the applications for birth certificate, marriage certificate and citizenship certificate. I’m curious to see how others have handled this. Did you just use Google Translate to fill them out or did you get some help? I want to make sure I fill out everything correctly the first time.
Has anyone been accepted to the facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1454484788071370/, that is mentioned in this subreddit's resources list? My request to join, submitted months ago, is still outstanding; so presumably it's been rejected; but I have no idea why. Wondering if the facebook group is obsolete or defunct now?
I'm not sure if what I am looking to acquire is out of scope, but I figured I would check here for some feedback.
I emailed [archiv.sna@minv.sk](mailto:archiv.sna@minv.sk) about getting a confirmation of nationality for a ancestor. I provided them with the link to the 1930's census, a scan of that ancestor's birth record, and then a scan of two subsequent generations, the last of which is my anchor ancestor all three born in Slovakia.
I emailed in July, then again (respectfully to inquire if the request was in processing) in September, both times I haven't received an email to confirm they have received the email. Any other archive usually emails back to confirm they have received the email. I'm just a bit worried, I hope my follow up didn't annoy anyone. It was respectful. I respect the office is under a lot right now especially from state side folks. I understand it will take time. I guess I am asking what is best to expect in terms of next steps with getting a certificate? I haven't been in touch with the New York office as I hope to apply in Slovakia. I just want to have proof that my anchor retained his citizenship via the Slovak census. Would a US census past 1918, stating Czechoslovakia, and his official Slovak birth record be enough? My AA has a early immigration and naturalization date, and was a minor immigrating but given the info I have read, demonstrating he lived past a certain date, and that he was born in Slovakia are the key parts. Would love some advice. thank you!
We are applying in Slovakia and are wondering if the Dec of Honor for a minor child will need to be officially translated?
Will this document need to be notarized in the US? Apostilled? Will informal translation suffice or does this need to be an official translation?
We were planning to apply in the US (where the second parent would be present and could sign at the appointment) but our plans have changed due to the slowness of the NYC consulate.
So I am looking at getting a credit card to help pay for the trips to apply in slovakia. I am confused on how many trips people usually take/how long it takes? Do kids under 14 have to go to any of the appointments? I know things changed with the new law so wasn't sure what that means for going there to get everything done.
I got them just in case. But all the birth records have maiden names. Do I still need to add the marriage documents to the packet? I feel like I've seen mixed things about that.
What has been the community experience when only Austria-Hungry is listed? I have the Rodný List with birth in the 1880s establishing birth in Slovakia. However, all the US governmental records including census records, Declaration, Petition, draft cards and a few other records all list place of birth as Austria-Hungary or Hungary. CZ is never listed except for the obituary in the newspaper (he was a man of note and the death was widely published).
Has anyone used “any other public document issued by a competent authority that reliably proves Czechoslovak citizenship of the ancestor” that wasn’t a governmental record to demonstrate citizenship?
