Slovenia offers a special path to acquire economic citizenship for investment through a fast track process of extraordinary naturalisation, which allows a person to acquire Slovenian citizenship where this is in the national interest in a particular area of social life under the following categories
- Academic
- Scientific,
- Economic,
- Cultural,
- National or similar ground.
Slovenia is the most beautiful country in the eastern europe and often known as Switzerland of the east. Slovenia joined EU in 2004 and became part of schengen area in 2007 using euro. 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 182 countries (US, Canada, UK etc,
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). There is no minimum investment set by the law, but the minimum to be invested in slovenia is EUR 1 million and upwards in the above sectors.
Criteria
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,
Less stringent conditions apply to acquisition by extraordinary naturalisation, as the individual has to prove that they have actually resided in Slovenia for at least one year and have foreign national status. The beneficiary of extraordinary naturalisation may retain their original nationality (maintain dual citizenship).
Exceptional Waiver
In exceptional cases, an individual may acquire Slovenian citizenship even without meeting the condition of continuous residence in Slovenia of one year and foreign national status, if they have made an exceptional contribution to the development of Slovenia and to enhancing the country’s international reputation or profile. The reasons for acquisition by extraordinary naturalisation shall be established by the Slovenian government on the basis of an opinion issued by the competent departmental authority.
EU Report
According to a European commission study, a total of 17 Slovenian citizenships were granted for investments between 2012 and 2017.
Source: Ministry of Interior
