The Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic has published a proposal that may fundamentally affect the functioning of the foreign police in Slovakia. On Wednesday, 12 November 2025, Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok submitted to the government a material that responds to the long-term overload of the foreign police and the growing number of foreigners living in Slovakia. According to the ministry, current staff capacities are insufficient and do not meet the needs of the large-scale residency agenda, which is growing faster than ever in the past. The Aliens Police plans to increase the capacity of its staff and page hours.
Our agency has long warned of the expected complications in the event of the lifting of the emergency situation related to the war in Ukraine, as hundreds of foreigners - especially those with a residence permit for business purposes - have not renewed their stays for more than three years, presenting a timely and unavoidable problem that will need to be addressed by the Aliens Police without delay.
Dynamic increase in the number of foreigners in Slovakia
By the end of 2024, they had valid residence in Slovakia 337 140 foreigners. This is the highest number ever. Ten years earlier, in 2014, it was only 84 787 persons. In the course of one decade, there has thus been almost 300% increase. This trend is clear evidence that Slovakia is becoming an important country for employees, investors, students and families from different parts of the world.
The Department has seen an even more significant increase in the number of applications for residence - up to 320 %. This means that the Aliens Police in practice processes an extremely high number of proceedings, many of which are time-consuming, administratively complex and accompanied by constant legislative changes.
The war in Ukraine has significantly affected the capacity of the foreign police
One of the key factors that have contributed to the huge increase in the workload of the foreign police is war in Ukraine. Since 2022, Slovakia has received hundreds of thousands of people seeking temporary refuge. Thousands of them have stayed in Slovakia for a long time and still need assistance in the area of the residency agenda.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the state of emergency related to the conflict in Ukraine is likely to be terminated in the near future. This will have a significant impact on the residency agenda:
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approximately 60 000 foreignerswho have previously had a legal exemption will have to renew their residence,
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next 130 000 persons granted temporary shelter will have to switch to a different type of residence status.
This process will cause one of the largest administrative waves in the history of the Alien Police. If there is insufficient staffing, this could lead to extreme waiting times and a deterioration in the availability of services.
Investors, labour migration and international students increase pressure on the system
Slovakia is also facing increased interest from foreign investors who are bringing new projects and jobs to the country. These are mainly in the sectors of:
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automotive industry,
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transport and logistics,
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nursing and health services,
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gastronomy,
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technology industries.
Many of these companies anticipate the arrival of third-country workers who need to grant or renew their residence. High numbers of applications are also coming from international studentswho come to Slovak universities.
The Ministry of the Interior points out that the current capacity of the foreign police is not prepared for such a scale of migration flows.
Planned measures: new alien centres and increase in staff
Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said that the strengthening of the foreign police should be implemented in the form of:
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the establishment of large-capacity alien centres,
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an increase in the number of police officers and administrative staff in existing departments.
The Department has already identified suitable premises that would enable the establishment of such centres. Their aim is to speed up the processing process and reduce the burden on individual departments of the Aliens Police.
Proposed capacity strengthening by region
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HCP Bratislava Directorate - strengthening by 50 employees,
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HCP Banská Bystrica Directorate - strengthening by 25 employees,
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HCP Prešov Directorate - strengthening by 25 employees.
The greatest pressure in the long term is faced by OCP Bratislavawhich handles the largest number of applicants in Slovakia. Moreover, it suffers from a significant vacancy rate - instead of the planned 57 police officers, only 37 are currently working.
Improving public services: more workplaces, longer opening hours
In addition to staff reinforcements, the material also foresees a number of practical measures to directly improve the comfort of applicants. The Ministry proposes:
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Increasing the number of handling windows at the web desks,
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where this is not possible, extension of page hours,
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optimising administrative processes to reduce waiting times.
The aim is to increase the efficiency and availability of services so that applicants do not have to deal with queues of several hours or unavailable appointments.
Source.