Tax Alert April 2021

AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGNERS ACT (ZTuj-2)

On 30 March 2021, the National Assembly has adopted amendments of the Foreigners Act (“Act”), which were proposed by the Ministry of Interior Affairs. The Act was published in Offical Gazette of Republic of Slovenia on 12 April 2021.

Some important amendments of the Act are:

• Reimbursement of work-related expenses, including reimbursement of expenses for meals during work, expenses for travel to and from work, and expenses incurred by workers during the performance of certain work / tasks on business trips are exempted from evidence attesting to the fact that the foreigner has sufficient means of subsistence for the period of his stay in the Republic of Slovenia. This means that going forward a foreigner will need to prove higher sufficient means of substinence as until now.
• The Act introduces a condition of knowledge of the Slovenian language, for third country nationals, which is required for adult family members of a foreigner in the process of renewing a temporary residence permit on the basis of family reunification. Family members of a foreigner who will come to Slovenia on the basis of family reunification will therefore have to prove knowledge of the Slovenian language at level A1 with a certificate of knowledge of Slovenian language when renewing the temporary residence permit. When requesting a permanent residence permit for foreigners who have resided in Slovenia continuously for the last 5 years, a certificate of knowledge of Slovenian language at level A2 will have to be provided. These provisions shall apply two years after the entry into force of the Act, i.e. in 2023. 
• For third country nationals the Act also introduces the condition of two years of legal residence of a foreigner in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia to gain the right to family reunification. This means that foreigners will not be able to join their family members in Slovenia prior to the expiry of two years. Exceptions according to which there are no time limits regarding family reunification for EU Blue Card holders, persons relocated within a company and in some other cases will continue to stay in force.
• The Act specifies adequate health insurance to be proven by a foreigner as one of the basic conditions in the process of obtaining a residence permit, as health insurance covering at least emergency medical services in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia.