American researching retiring in Slovakia - need questions answered

Member since 14 January 2020

RMerrittMMember18 January 2020 20:11:32

Hello, ALL US expats! My boyfriend owns an apartment in Bratislava and we are looking to spend 5-7 years there; however, looking over the reasons for immigration, there seems to be nothing for me except "study". Has anyone had experience applying for a temporary or long term visa using "study". Does it have to be at a University? Or can studying the language in a class count? How have you Americans managed to stay there? (Note: I'm REALLY retired and have no interest in working. We want to use Bratislava as our jumping off point for travel and exploration)

I've contact the Slovakian embassy here in the States but they just keep quoting me the in fo I find on their website with no clarification of what exactly "purposes of study" entails.

Any thoughts?

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densieslovakia Member

Member since 16 October 2018

densieslovakiaMember19 January 2020 07:14:47

Hi,
I'm British and retired but EU citzen so different rules apply.
The only thing I can suggest is contacting the US Embassy in Bratislava and see if they are any help? I'm pretty sure "study" means full-time education though. Maybe being retired with your own income will be sufficient?
Good Luck,
Denise Sutcliffe

RMerrittM Member

Member since 14 January 2020

RMerrittMMember05 May 2020 01:06:08

Thanks, Denise. No worries on income here. The problem is that the categories for permanent resident or anything beyond 6 months requires you to be working or a student. I wouldn't mind taking language classes, but I also plan to travel and use Bratislava as my home base. Many countries used to have a category for people who showed enough income to not use any of the social services, but this seems to have disappeared. We'll be making a trip there after the virus crisis winds down to see if an immigration lawyer might help.

densieslovakia Member

Member since 16 October 2018

densieslovakiaMember05 May 2020 08:15:06

Hi again,
I think being retired is classed as work if you know what I mean? If you have a permanent address in Slovakia and income then there shouldn't be a problem. You could contact the foreign police department (used to lovingly call themselves "Alien police" ) and ask. Here's a link to there website
https://www.minv.sk/?the-units-of-forei … lice-force
The American Embassy should be able to help, did you contact them?
D