Useful information for citizens of Ukraine

Information on temporary refuge, as well as employment and current humanitarian aid.

Frequently asked questions and answers for citizens of Ukraine with temporary refuge status [ PDF]

Current information

For more detailed information and frequently asked questions about coming to the territory of Slovakia, please visit: https://ua.gov.sk/General information

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic also publishes information for citizens who are in Ukraine and for people coming from Ukraine: https://www.mzv.sk/ukrajina

Temporary refuge

Who is eligible to apply?

Citizens of Ukraine and persons who had international or equivalent national protection in Ukraine and their following family members (as long as the family resided in Ukraine before 24 February 2022) can apply for temporary refuge:

• spouse
• a minor child of the person or his or her spouse
• parent of a minor child (only in the case of a child who is a citizen of Ukraine)
• another close relative who has lived in the same household with a citizen of Ukraine or a person granted protection and has been wholly or partially dependent on his or her relative.

A foreigner who is not a citizen of Ukraine, is a permanent resident in the territory of Ukraine and is unable to return to his or her country or region under safe and stable conditions may also apply for temporary refuge.

In the meantime, temporary refuge will be provided until 4 March 2025.

Pass for foreigners

Citizens of Ukraine who have been granted temporary refuge will be issued with a card by the competent departments of the Border and Aliens Police Office of the Presidium of the Police Force. In accordance with the Asylum Act, they are issued a document of tolerated stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic designated temporary refuge.

Employment

An employer may employ a third-country national within the meaning of Section 23a(1)(k) of the Employment Services Act who has been granted temporary refuge. In the case of employment of this third-country national, neither a certificate of the possibility of filling a vacancy corresponding to a highly qualified job, nor a certificate of the possibility of filling a vacancy, nor an employment permit is required.

Employment can be in the form of an employment relationship (i.e. based on an employment contract) or in the form of an agreement for work performed outside the employment relationship.

Pursuant to the Employment Services Act, the employer is obliged to provide the relevant labour office according to the place of work on a prescribed form - the information card - with employment data, no later than seven working days from the date of commencement of employment and no later than seven working days from the date of termination of employment. The employer shall attach to the information card a copy of the employment relationship and a copy of the document of tolerated stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic designated "REFUGEE", from 30 March 2022 with a new designation "TEPORARY REFUGE".

A third-country national employed within the meaning of Section 23a(1)(k) of the Employment Services Act may also be temporarily assigned to perform work for a user employer.

USEFUL INFORMATION FOR UKRAINIAN CITIZENS ON EMPLOYMENT [ PDF]

Workplaces of labour, social affairs and family offices [ PDF]

Material need

A foreigner arriving from Ukraine who presents himself to the Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family with a foreigner's card requesting temporary refuge or with a document of a tolerated stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic with the designation "REFUGEE"/"TEMPORARY REFUGEE" meets the condition for the provision of material need assistance.

The application for assessment of the right to assistance in material need is submitted by the emigrant to the office in whose territorial jurisdiction he is located.

Refugees from Ukraine are entitled to the basic benefit and allowances in the same amount and under the same conditions as are entitled citizens of the Slovak Republic. Foreigners who will be accommodated on the basis of an accommodation contract do not meet the conditions for providing a housing allowance.

When determining the range of jointly assessed persons, only persons located in the territory of the Slovak Republic will be considered household members.

You can find more detailed information on the provision of material need, including the amounts of the benefit in material need and contributions to it here:
Pomoc v hmotnej núdzi > ÚPSVaR (gov.sk)

Income assessment form (SJ-UJ) [ DOCX]

Subsidies for children

A child of a refugee, asylum seeker or other foreigner legally residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic, who attends a kindergarten, primary school  or secondary school and meets the conditions for granting a subsidy (participates in the educational process in the kindergarten, primary school or secondary school, receives meals and belongs to one of the eligible groups of children), may also be granted a subsidy for meals.

A meal subsidy can be provided for a child who attends:

• the last year of kindergarten, elementary school, the first to fourth year of an eight-year educational program in secondary school or the first year of a five-year educational program in secondary school after admission to secondary school from the eight year of primary school, if the child's parent or a person to whom the child is entrusted by a court decision, requests in writing the applicant (school founder) through the school catering facility to submit an application for the provision of a meal subsidy for this child,
• kindergarten, except for a child attending the last year of kindergarten, and lives in household receiving material need assistance or whose income is no more than the minimum subsistence amount,
• a kindergarten, if at least 50% of the children in the kindergarten, except for the child attending the last year of kindergarten, are from households receiving material need assistance.

If a child attends the last year of kindergarten, elementary school or secondary school (the first to fourth year of an eight-year educational program in secondary school or the first year of a five-year educational program in secondary school after admission to secondary school from the eight year of primary school) and the child's parent or a person to whom the child is entrusted by a court decision (hereinafter referred to as the "parent") is interested in providing a meal subsidy for the child, it is essential that the parent applied for a meal subsidy for this child through the school catering facility (school canteen). To provide a meal subsidy for this category of children, the Central Office for Labour, Social Affairs and Family has prepared as an aid a recommended sample return for the provision of a meal subsidy sample return.

To express a parent's interest in the provision of a meal subsidy, the school catering facility can use another method of submitting the request, for example in electronic form through Edupage. More detailed information on how to submit a parent's request for a meal subsidy and the deadline by which the parent must apply for a meal subsidy will be provided to the parent by the school canteen.

In the case of children in kindergarten who do not attend the last year of kindergarten a child is entitled to the provision of meal subsidy due to the fact that this child is from a household whose income is no more than the minimum subsistence amount or from a household receiving material need assistance. In such a case, the child´s legal representative informs the kondergarten´s founder, that the child is from a household receivinf material need assistace or from a household whose income is no more than the minimum subsistence amount. In case of a household whose infcome is no more than the minimum subsistence amount, that child´s legal representative submits a income assessment to the labour Office in territorial district in which the household resides in the SR.

More detailed information are also published on website: Dotácie pre deti na stravu a školské potreby > ÚPSVaR (gov.sk)

It is necessary to ask about the granting of a subsidy for meals when enrolling a child in school, and the school's founder or the labour office will guide the parent on how to proceed.School founder, school canteen, or labour office, they also have the above-mentioned forms  (a return form and an income assessment form) available for the parent to use to arrange the meal subsidy. These forms are also published on website: Dotácie pre deti > ÚPSVaR (gov.sk)

Children from Ukraine integrated into schools in accordance with the Subsidies Act may also be granted subsidies for school supplies subject to the conditions of the Subsidies Act. Subsidy for school supplies is provided for children in the last year of kindergarten and for all children in elementary school in the budget year only twice, until February 25 and until September 25, while the founder of a kindergarten or elementary school requests a subsidy for school supplies for the office requests children by January 10 and September 10. After this deadline, it is no longer possible for parents to request a subsidy for school supplies.

State social benefits

Ukrainian citizens with temporary refuge status are not entitled to state social benefits such as child allowance, parental allowance, maintenance allowance, funeral allowance or childbirth allowance. These state social benefits are subject to temporary or permanent residence.

Ukrainian citizens may be entitled, for example, to parental allowance or child allowance if the child's parent is gainfully employed in the Slovak Republic and has a temporary residence there. 

Resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 93/2022 effective from 30 March 2022 defines a person with special protection (Ukrainian citizens) as a natural person:

1. to whom temporary refuge is provided
2. who is an applicant for asylum or subsidiary protection
3. who has acquired temporary residence.

According to the above-mentioned Resolution, Ukrainian citizens with the status of a person with special protection may claim:

- childcare allowance for a child up to three years of age or up to six years of age of a child with a long-term adverse health condition (both the claimant and the child must be a person with special protection) and the claimant is gainfully employed.

• allowances by which the state supports substitute care for the child:

 Application for childcare allowance [ DOCX]

Unaccompanied minors

In the case of unaccompanied minors, in other words, children who are not citizens of the Slovak Republic and are staying in Slovakia without a parent or other adult accompanying them to whom they could be entrusted to the care of, the Slovak Republic is governed by the legislation in force (both Slovak and European legislation).

If the Department of Labour becomes aware of such a child, the authority for social and legal protection of children and social guardianship, in whose district the child is located, is obliged to immediately submit a petition to the court for the issuance of an urgent measure, to ensure that the child's basic living needs are satisfied and that he/she is admitted to a centre for children and families. The process is very fast.

The Central Office for Labour, Social Affairs and Family communicates directly with offices and institutions, among other things coordinating the filling of vacancies in centres for children and families. In the current situation, the Central Office has prepared centres for children and families for unaccompanied minors to take care of them. Their capacities have been expanded.

The Central Office for Labour further sets tasks for labour offices in this matter, manages vacant capacities, manages transfers of children, and resolves problematic situations.

USEFUL INFORMATION FOR UKRAINIAN CITIZENS ON UNACCOMPANIED MINORS [ PDF]

Humanitarian aid

The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic cooperates closely with the Archdiocesan Charity Košice, which has already announced a nationwide collection to help people in Ukraine. In addition to humanitarian aid for people fleeing before the war, the charity is ready to provide especially families with children with accommodation in its facilities, which are located in the east of Slovakia. 

The Department of Labour remains supportive and shall provide them with a supply of disinfectants if needed, as well as other protective equipment such as drapes, protective clothes, and tests.

Link to the call: Charity announces a collection: Let's help the people of Ukraine!

Through the Who Will Help Ukraine initiative you can donate any amount, 100 percent of the money collected will go to humanitarian aid for Ukraine or to help Ukrainians who will seek safety in our territory.

Information on current collections is also published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic: https://www.mzv.sk/ukrajina

Accommodation

Ukrainians arriving in Slovakia can find information about accommodation options on the website pomocpreukrajinu.sk. This is a complete offer of public, private and hotel accommodation with contacts and the number of available beds.

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