National protection statuses and return procedure

Author

Human Rights League

National protection

Apart from international protection statuses harmonised by the EU law (asylum and subsidiary protection), the national legislation provides for the following national forms of protection:

• Constitutional Asylum
• Asylum for the Purpose of Family Reunification (asylum for family reunification)
• Subsidiary Protection for the Purpose of Family Reunification (subsidiary protection for family reunification)
• Asylum on Humanitarian Grounds

Constitutional Asylum

Based on Article 53 of the Act No. 460/1992 Coll. Constitution of the Slovak Republic (Constitution of the Slovak Republic), “the Slovak Republic shall grant asylum to foreigners persecuted for the exercise of political rights and freedoms. Asylum may be denied to those who have acted in contradiction to fundamental human rights and freedoms. A law shall lay down the details.” This was transposed into the Asylum Act, which in Article 8(b) provides that the MO shall grant asylum to an applicant who is persecuted in his or her country of origin for the exercise of political rights and freedoms. In the Slovak legal context, the constitutional asylum is considered equivalent to asylum granted based on the 1951 Geneva Convention. However, the conditions for granting the two forms of asylum differ in terms of the standard of proof, the protected reasons of persecution, and the grounds for refusal or withdrawal of asylum. Firstly, for granting constitutional asylum, the determining authority must be satisfied that the persecution occurred in the past or that the person concerned must be regarded as having been persecuted. The standard of proof required is therefore higher in this case than in cases of asylum based on the 1951 Geneva Convention when the determining authority assesses the existence of a well-founded fear of persecution. Secondly, the constitutional asylum is granted to foreigners persecuted for the exercise of political rights and freedoms. In contrast to the 1951 Geneva Convention, asylum granted for reasons of, inter alia, political opinion, the exercise of political rights and freedoms as a reason of persecution applies to broader protection of other political rights as well. Lastly, the constitutional asylum may be refused or withdrawn only in case the asylum seeker/holder acted in contradiction to fundamental human rights and freedoms. Grounds for refusal/withdrawal of the 1951 Geneva Convention asylum are defined more broadly.[1] See Withdrawal of protection status.

The possibility of granting constitutional asylum is assessed in a regular asylum procedure simultaneously with the other forms of international protection.

In 2025, no asylum seeker was granted constitutional asylum. According to the HRL´s opinion, this may be a result of the fact that asylum seekers meeting the conditions for granting constitutional asylum also qualified for the 1951 Geneva Convention asylum, which was eventually granted to them.

Asylum for family reunification

According to Article 10(1) of the Asylum Act, the determining authority grants asylum for family reunification to:

• the spouse of an asylum holder, if their marriage continues, and continued, also at the time when the asylum holder left the country of origin, and if the asylum holder gives a prior written consent to the reunification,
• unmarried children of an asylum holder or unmarried children of a spouse of an asylum holder, or
• parents or a person entrusted with the personal guardianship of an unmarried asylum holder younger than 18 years of age, if the asylum holder gives a prior written consent to the reunification.

The asylum for family reunification may be granted to the family member only in case he or she is physically present in Slovakia and has not been granted permanent residence according to the Act on Residence of Foreigners.[2] In addition, the asylum seekers may be granted asylum for family reunification if the sponsor was granted the 1951 Geneva Convention asylum or constitutional asylum. This is to avoid successive family reunification procedures.[3]

According to Article 10(4) of the Asylum Act, the determining authority grants asylum for family reunification also to children of asylum holders who were born in Slovakia. However, in practice, some of these children have not been granted “asylum for family reunification but a “separate” asylum status based on the 1951 Geneva Convention.[4]

The possibility of granting asylum for family reunification is assessed automatically in a regular procedure after the determining authority refuses to grant asylum or subsidiary protection.[5] The result of the proceedings is in one decision.

In contrast to the 1951 Geneva Convention asylum, constitutional asylum and asylum on humanitarian grounds, asylum for family reunification is first granted for three years. Upon request, the protection can then be renewed for an unlimited time.

In 2025, 6 persons were granted asylum for family reunification.[6]

Subsidiary protection for family reunification

According to Article 13b(1) of the Asylum Act, the MO grants subsidiary protection for family reunification to:

• the spouse of a subsidiary protection holder, if their marriage continues, and continued, also at the time when the subsidiary protection holder left the country of origin, and if the subsidiary protection holder gives a prior written consent to the reunification,
• unmarried children of a subsidiary protection holder or unmarried children of a spouse of a subsidiary protection holder, or
• parents or a person entrusted with the personal guardianship of an unmarried subsidiary protection holder younger than 18 years of age if the subsidiary protection holder gives a prior written consent to the reunification.

The subsidiary protection for family reunification may be granted to the applicant only if he or she is physically present in Slovakia and has not been granted permanent residence according to the Act on Residence of Foreigners.[7] The status of subsidiary protection for family reunification may not be granted to family members of a sponsor who was granted subsidiary protection for family reunification. This is to avoid successive family reunification procedures.

The possibility of granting subsidiary protection for family reunification is assessed automatically in a regular asylum procedure after the determining authority refuses to grant asylum, subsidiary protection or asylum for family reunification.[8] The result of the proceedings is in one decision.

In 2025, 4 persons were granted subsidiary protection for family reunification.[9]

Asylum on humanitarian grounds

Asylum on humanitarian grounds is a form of protection under the national legislation granted when the applicant does not qualify for international protection under international and EU law. According to Article 9 of the Asylum Act, the determining authority may grant asylum on humanitarian grounds if the applicant is not granted asylum, subsidiary protection, asylum for family reunification or subsidiary protection for family reunification. There is no legal entitlement to asylum on humanitarian grounds, and its granting is under the discretionary power of the MO. The Asylum Act does not specify what is considered as humanitarian grounds relevant for granting asylum on humanitarian grounds, however, Article 13 of the Regulation of the MoI No. 34/2014: Humanitarian grounds (…) include in particular cases of unsuccessful applicants who are elderly, traumatised, or seriously ill, and whose return to the country of origin could result in significant physical or psychological suffering, or even death. The list of humanitarian grounds in the regulation is non-exhaustive, which means that the MO can consider other grounds sufficient for granting asylum on humanitarian grounds.

The possibility of granting asylum on humanitarian grounds is assessed in a regular asylum procedure. However, there is an ongoing legal uncertainty as to whether the applicant must explicitly present their reasons as humanitarian, or whether it is for the determining authority to classify the reasons contained in the applicant’s statements as humanitarian.

On 3 February 2016, the Supreme Court of the SR issued the 10Sža/41/2015 judgement and stated: “Regarding the applicant’s objection that the defendant did not consider the option to grant asylum on humanitarian grounds stated in Section 9 of Act on Asylum to the applicant the Court of Appeal states that the decision to grant/not grant asylum on humanitarian grounds under Section 9 of Act on Asylum depends on the discretion of the defendant and judicial review is not possible with regards to the results of this decision. Defendant’s reasoning shows that the applicant’s reasons were assessed and individually evaluated. No real threat of serious injustice was found. This is the reason why the applicant does not belong to any of the categories of persons who need some type of international protection and therefore the defendant in their case did not deem it needed to provide any form of protection to them. If the defendant did not consider the applicant’s reasons for granting asylum to be such subjective circumstance which would in itself constitute a reason for granting asylum on humanitarian grounds and stated this consideration in the reasoning of their decision, it was not possible to regard the above objection of the applicant as justified.”

Asylum on humanitarian grounds is granted for an unlimited time.[10] Family members of the person granted asylum on humanitarian grounds do not qualify for granting asylum for family reunification. However, they may be granted a regular (temporary) residence permit for family reunification under the Act on Residence of Foreigners. The family reunification procedure under the Act on Residence of Foreigners is the same as in the case of asylum holders and is described in the section on Family Reunification.

In 2025, 2 persons were granted asylum on humanitarian grounds.[11]

The following chart illustrates the hierarchy of the different forms of international protection granted in Slovakia, which governs the order in which the determining authority assesses the conditions for their granting:

Generally, the holders of constitutional asylum, asylum for family reunification and asylum for humanitarian grounds have the same rights and are entitled to the same benefits as holders of 1951 Geneva Convention asylum. Similarly, holders of subsidiary protection for family reunification have the same rights and are entitled to the same benefits as holders of subsidiary protection.

Additionally, tolerated stay and remaining of a foreigner in the territory of the Slovak Republic (remaining) may also be considered as national forms of protection.

Tolerated stay is one of the three forms of residence permits for third-country nationals granted under the Act on Residence of Foreigners. It can be granted, inter alia, to:

(1) a minor detected in the territory of Slovakia[12],

(2) a victim of human trafficking older than 18 years of age[13],

(3) a foreigner who was illegally employed under particularly exploitative working conditions, or to an illegally employed minor, where the presence of that foreigner in Slovakia is necessary for criminal proceedings.[14]

The status of a tolerated stay is independent of the asylum procedure. A foreigner submits the application for a tolerated stay at the BBFP PFP.[15] The police will not register the application if the foreigner is in an ongoing asylum procedure.[16] On the other hand, a foreigner who is subject to a return procedure may apply for a tolerated stay. The police must decide the application for tolerated stay within 15 days of its submission.[17] Tolerated stay is granted for a maximum of 180 days with the possibility of its extension.[18] There is no limit to the number of times a tolerated stay can be extended.

In 2025, tolerated stay was granted to 10 minors detected in the territory of Slovakia and to 3 victims of human trafficking over 18 years of age.[19]

Lastly, remaining is a legal institute that allows foreigners residing irregularly in Slovakia to remain in the country, inter alia, for the duration of obstacles to their administrative expulsion. The remaining constitutes an expression of the principle of non-refoulement. However, it is not considered a form of residence, and no specific rights are attached to this status.

Return procedure

Return decisions and decisions in asylum proceedings are issued by two different state authorities: the Bureau of Border and Foreign Police and the Migration Office, respectively. The decisions are not issued jointly.

In case a third country nationals is subject to administrative expulsion proceedings (return procedure) and applies for asylum, the police department issues a decision on suspension of the return procedure.[20] The return procedure is suspended until the final asylum decision is issued. This means that the return procedure is also suspended during the appeal procedure of the asylum decision. In practice, if the foreigner is staying in Slovakia irregularly and applies for asylum, the competent police department receiving the foreigner´s declaration for seeking international protection always formally starts the return procedure that is immediately suspended.[21] At that moment, the police department also decides whether the asylum applicant will be detained or not.

If a person is granted asylum or subsidiary protection, or if the suspension lasts longer than two years, the police department terminates the return procedure.[22] Conversely, if international protection is not granted, the police department resumes the return procedure, which may result in the issuance of a decision on administrative expulsion and, where applicable, an entry ban to Slovakia and other Schengen States. If a third-country national applies for asylum after a decision on administrative expulsion or an entry ban has become enforceable, the police department must refrain from enforcing the decision until a final asylum decision has been taken.[23]

[1]          Hrnčárová N., Meššová B., Srebalová M., and Macková D., Zákon o azyle: Komentár. 1st Ed. Praha: C. H. Beck, 2012, p. 123-124.

[2]          Article 10(2) of the Asylum Act.

[3]          Article 10(3) of the Asylum Act.

[4]          Based on HRL´s experience.

[5]          Article 20(5) of the Asylum Act.

[6]          The Response of the MO to a request for information submitted on 11 March 2026.

[7]          Article 10(2) of the Asylum Act.

[8]          Article 20(5) of the Asylum Act.

[9]          The Response of the MO to a request for information submitted on 11 March 2026.

[10]         Article 20(2) of the Asylum Act.

[11]         The Response of the MO to a request for information submitted on 11 March 2026.

[12]         Article 58(1)(a) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

[13]         Article 58(1)(b) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

[14]         Article 58(2) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

[15]         Article 59(1) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

[16]         Article 59(2) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

[17]         Article 59(7) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners

[18]         Article 59(1) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners

[19]         BBFP PFP, Štatistický prehľad legálnej a nelegálnej migrácie cudzincov v Slovenskej republike za rok 2025, 2026, available (in Slovak) here.

[20]         Article 77(5) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

[21]         Based on HRL´s experience.

[22]         Article 77(6) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.

[23]         Article77(7) of the Act on Residence of Foreigners.