The Foreigners' Police office in Bratislava's Vajnory district. (source: Martin Baumann)
In recent months it has become increasingly hard for people to book appointments with the Foreigners' Police. Foreigners who live in Slovakia typically have to visit the unit about once a year for one reason or another, for instance to register their stay in Slovakia, apply for a new ID card, or change their official address.
The current electronic booking system, launched in 2021, requires an appointment to be booked online in advance. For most people this originally meant a 2-3 week wait for a slot. It replaced the old first-come, first-served system which by 2021 had resulted in the frequent sight of non-EU citizens camping outside Foreigners' Police stations overnight, hoping to be seen the next day.
The old system had devolved into a grey market in which self-appointed queue managers drew up lists and offered visitors the chance to jump the queue by buying a place on their list. The online booking system was supposed to end this practice, by allocating specific time slots to specific applicants. However, the problem has re-emerged, with third parties being allowed to book scarce appointments and re-sell them to the highest bidder.
In October, even President Peter Pellegrini complained, during a visit to Nitra, that the failure of the online booking was holding Slovakia back.
There is now some prospect of respite, as the government has announced that it is making changes to how the system works, such as streamlining the process for firms to invite workers from abroad, and allowing many applications to be handled electronically. They have also announced changes to how Ukrainian refugees can apply for ID cards, to reduce the strain on the Foreigners' Police offices.
Regarding the electronic booking system, the Interior Ministry said that bookings will soon be made only with an electronically verified document, though the ministry has not clarified what form this document would take. Despite the government claiming that the system is working perfectly, with just 20 percent of applicants missing their appointments, they did acknowledge that “speculators” were abusing the booking system by buying and selling appointment slots.
This has occurred despite the Interior Ministry issuing a press release last year claiming that the booking system had been secured against electronic system abuse.
In other EU countries, like Germany, EU citizens do not require a residence permit and must simply register their place of residence at their local municipal authority.
Problems with the booking system are among the reasons why the opposition seeks to remove Matúš Šutaj Eštok from his position as interior minister.
Even in light of the changes, many foreigners have been voicing their frustration with the current situation. The Slovak Spectator reached out to some for them to share their stories.
Kadir Deniz, Türkiye
I have been consistently checking the system at various times throughout the past two months in an effort to secure an appointment for my daughter. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, I have not had any success. This experience has left me increasingly disappointed in the e-booking system, as it not only appears unreliable but is also neither user-friendly nor functional. I do not want to believe that this is intentional, but such incapacity is truly unbelievable!
Massimo Caputo, Italy
My experience with the Foreigners' Police hasn’t exactly been quick. I completed the paperwork in March, and my appointment was set for my birthday. I booked appointments for myself and Mary, my wife, so we could go together. By the way, my landlord is currently out of Europe. Among the documents needed was a certificate showing that I’ve been living in his apartment for eight years. Once I gathered all the documents – the notarised letter from my landlord, my work contract, the rental agreement, and my Italian ID – we went to the police.
I submitted my documents to the police officer. He stepped away to check something with a colleague, then returned and said, “No, this document isn’t correct.” I replied, “What do you mean it’s not correct? It’s signed by the notary and my landlord.” He said the document was invalid because it only showed that my landlord was Slovak and didn’t include my nationality.
It all felt strange, but we left (despite my trying to explain that I'm an EU citizen and this rule made no sense), feeling pretty disappointed. Now, I’m waiting for my landlord to come back from outside Europe, hopefully this year, to visit his family. Then, I’ll try to get the documents again. I hope that next year, after eight years here, as I enter my ninth year in Bratislava, I’ll finally get the ID card I need. It would help with so many little things, like payment extensions, better offers from O2, and so on.
Duncan Wafula, Kenya
I have been waiting for an appointment with the Foreigners' Police since August 15. I have tried more than 150 times. I graduated here this year and secured a job. My employer ended up having to lay me off. While I wait for a work permit, I can only do manual jobs. It's very stressful to me.
Anastasia Schiele, Belarus
I finished university here and after graduating I landed a job at IBM, where I have been for almost a year now. According to an SMS from the Foreigners' Police that I got a year ago, my temporary residence is valid till 2029, yet the card expires at the end of 2024. I am trying to apply for issuance of the residence permit and I can’t be more frustrated. I’ve never seen a date for this kind of operation available. In the last five days I got 85 captcha verifications texts, so you can imagine how often I attempt to book that appointment.
I once chose another operation, “renewal of temporary residence permit”, but learned the hard way that the application will not be accepted without the right appointment. IBM, like many other corporations, don't support the process – I was told it’s even against the law here, yet the HR department keeps asking me to renew the card as they are obliged to keep my valid residence card.
I am not willing to buy a spot because I don’t want to contribute to a business that blooms on the abuse of the legal system here. And what these “businesses” did to the reservation system – the system is overloaded and while bots keep patching it, normal people can’t even click through the form to finish a reservation. A couple of times I had the date and was able to proceed with the questionnaire, yet I didn’t get the reservation confirmed as “the date is not available anymore”.
Jayanth Kannan, India
I am a permanent resident who is trying to book an appointment to change my address so that I can park where I am staying. I have been trying since May 2024 and I still have not been able to get an appointment. Now I am struggling to park my car as they will allow me to park my car only if I am registered at my current address.
Urnaa Uka, Mongolia
In the beginning of September, my roommate told me that she wants to apply for long-term residence. After one month, she told me that she still couldn't get an appointment even though she woke up at 2:00, 6:00, and tried 18:00-22:00 after work. As I work from home, I told her I could try during the day. I was confident because I got an appointment in August pretty easily. No, not at all. After two weeks of trying day and night, I finally got an appointment for her at the end of October. I can tell you that I tried more than 200-300 times and couldn't imagine how it works for someone who needs to be at work during the day and needs to sleep during the night.
Now I'm trying to get an invitation appointment for me. Every time I check the reservation system, there is an AVAILABLE slot for invitation. When I submit my information, the system gives me an error message. I tried for two weeks. Yesterday evening, around 23:00, I finally got through to the second page, where I needed to fill in all my information. Unfortunately the system gave me an error again. So I'm still trying to get an appointment, but I have no idea how or when.
Andrei Vashkevich, Belarus
It’s impossible to update the ID card (for permanent residence) in order to have the new version of the chip, which can be used to sign legal documents. I have been trying for months to get an appointment. It’s also impossible to invite business partners from a third country, as it's impossible to register in order to validate the invitation letter. The country is losing potential business.
