Slovenia digital nomad visa: how the 2026 permit works

Most “digital nomad visa” lists still say Slovenia doesn’t have one. It does. Since 21 November 2025, remote workers from outside the EU can get a one-year temporary residence permit. Below is what the official sources say about who qualifies, how much you need to earn, which documents to gather, where to apply and how long it takes.

By Aljaž Vaupotič · Updated 9 November 2026 · Sources: gov.si and the Foreigners Act

The permit at a glance

Visa or permit: does it matter?

People search for a “Slovenia digital nomad visa”, but what you actually get is a residence permit. A visa lets you enter and stay for a short while. A temporary residence permit lets you live in Slovenia for a specific purpose, and it comes as a biometric residence card.

The difference matters most if your passport already gets you into Schengen without a visa (the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and others). You can simply arrive in Slovenia and apply from here.

The Ministry of the Interior is open about why the permit is short and can’t be extended: digital nomads move around a lot and usually stay for a limited time.

Who can apply

In the words of the gov.si notice, a digital nomad is someone from outside the EU and EEA who works for, or on a civil-law contract with, a business based outside Slovenia, or who is self-employed abroad, and who does that work remotely using information and communication technology. The point is that you’re not entering the Slovenian job market.

In practice, that comes down to four conditions:

1. Nationality. You’re not a citizen of an EU or EEA country. If you are, you don’t need this permit. You register your residence directly instead.
2. Remote work abroad. Your employer, your clients or your own business are based outside Slovenia, and you work remotely.
3. Enough to live on. Monthly funds of at least twice the Slovenian average net salary, for the whole of your stay.
4. The usual residence-permit conditions. A valid passport, health insurance, and no grounds for refusal, such as security concerns. The law requires your passport to be valid for at least three months beyond your planned stay.

What you can’t do on this permit

You can’t work for a business registered in Slovenia or earn income from Slovenian sources. If a Slovenian employer offers you a job, you’ll need a different permit, and that door stays open. While your digital nomad permit is valid, you can apply for another type of temporary residence permit, for example for employment, under the normal rules.

How much you need to earn

The law doesn’t name a fixed amount in euros. It asks for monthly funds of at least twice the average monthly net salary in Slovenia, based on the latest figure published in the Official Gazette (Uradni list). That statistic is updated regularly, so the euro amount moves too.

The latest published figure is an average net salary of €1,688.55 for August 2026, so the threshold is €3,377.10 a month. The statistic is published every month, so check the current figure in the Official Gazette when you put your documents together, and leave yourself some margin.

The mistake we see most often: plenty of English-language sites give a figure of around €1,600. That’s the average net salary itself, not the threshold. The threshold is double.

The money can come from any lawful source, just as for other foreigners: your salary, invoices to clients, rights from work or insurance, or savings in a bank account in Slovenia or abroad. The law doesn’t list specific documents. Officials usually expect your employment or client contracts, recent payslips or invoices, and the last three to six months of bank statements.

The documents you’ll need

The Ministry of the Interior’s application form for this permit lists what you have to attach. The list below follows it and says where offices usually ask for more. Confirm it with the office where you plan to apply.

• The application form for a temporary residence permit. The office gives it to you; the purpose is “digital nomad”.
• Your valid passport, plus a copy of every used page.
• One biometric passport photo. Your fingerprints are taken when you hand in the application.
• Proof that you work remotely for a business outside Slovenia: an employment contract, a civil-law contract, or your business registration abroad plus client contracts or invoices. The application asks for the business’s name, address and tax or registration number.
• Proof that you have enough to live on, at or above the threshold.
• Health insurance that covers at least emergency medical care in Slovenia for your whole stay.
• A criminal-record certificate from your home country, apostilled or legalised and translated. Many offices expect it to be no older than three months.
• Certified Slovenian translations of foreign public documents (the criminal record, marriage and birth certificates), done by a court interpreter (sodni tolmač). Ask whether the office accepts English contracts and bank statements as they are.
• The fees, paid when you apply. At an administrative unit: €4.50 for the application (free if you file online), €50 for the permit and about €15.50 for the residence card. At an embassy: €102 plus the card. These are the amounts as of November 2026.

Proof of accommodation isn’t on the official checklist. You’ll need a rental contract or the landlord’s consent once you arrive, to register your address. The criminal-record certificate usually takes the longest, so order it first. The full guide has a printable checklist with the details offices actually look at, plus a timeline for translations and apostilles.

Where to apply: embassy or administrative unit

You have two options, and the official notice names both.

From abroad: a Slovenian embassy or consulate

You can apply at any Slovenian diplomatic or consular post. This makes sense if you need a visa to enter the Schengen area anyway. Embassies work by appointment, and not every embassy handles residence permits: some send you to another mission.

From inside Slovenia: any administrative unit

If you’re already in Slovenia legally (on a visa-free 90-day Schengen stay, for example), you can apply at any administrative unit (upravna enota). This route usually gives you more control: you can sort out housing in person and answer follow-up questions at the counter.

Legally, any unit will do. In practice, pick the one for the town where you’ll live, because that’s where you’ll register your address afterwards. Smaller units are often quicker than Ljubljana.

Apply well within your 90 days. When you file at an administrative unit, you get a certificate of submission, and by law it counts as a temporary residence permit until the decision. That means you can stay beyond the 90 days while you wait. If you apply at an embassy, there’s no such certificate, so plan your entry around the decision.

How long it takes

By law, the office has to decide within 30 days of a complete application, or 60 days if it needs extra checks. In practice it can take longer, mostly because offices ask for more documents. A realistic plan looks like this:

1. 3–6 weeks before you apply: order your criminal-record certificate and the apostille, book a court interpreter, download your bank statements, ask your employer for a letter confirming the remote arrangement, and buy insurance that explicitly covers Slovenia.
2. The day you apply: bring originals and copies. Your fingerprints and photo are taken and you pay the fees. At an administrative unit, keep the certificate of submission with your passport.
3. While you wait: if the office asks for more documents, send them quickly. That’s the most common cause of delay.
4. The decision: the permit comes as a credit-card-sized biometric residence card. You collect it from the embassy or administrative unit where you applied.
5. Once you’ve moved in: register your address within 8 days. This is separate from the permit, and missing it can cost a fine of €200 to €600.

Bringing your family

Family reunification is explicitly easier with this permit than with most others. According to the Ministry of the Interior, your family can join you immediately. It doesn’t depend on how long you’ve lived in Slovenia or how long your permit is valid. They can apply at the same time as you. Expect to show marriage or birth certificates (apostilled and translated), and extra means for each family member on top of your own threshold.

What happens after a year

The permit can’t be extended, so you have three options. You can leave and apply again six months after it expires. You can switch to a different type of temporary residence permit while this one is still valid, if you meet its conditions. Or you can move on. The permit is built for temporary, mobile stays, and it isn’t a direct path to permanent residency.

Questions people ask

Sources

• Temporary residence permit for digital nomads, Ministry of the Interior, gov.si, 21 November 2025.
• Foreigners Act (ZTuj-2), consolidated text in the Slovenian legal register PISRS.
• Application form 44/1 for a digital nomad and the digital nomad permit page, Ministry of the Interior, infotujci.si.
• Average net salary for August 2026, Statistical Office, Official Gazette 1732/2026.
• Administrative units and Slovenian diplomatic and consular posts, gov.si.

Figures and fees were checked against the official sources on 9 November 2026. Where the text says “usually” or “many offices”, it describes common practice rather than a written rule. This article is general information, not legal advice. Back to the Nomad Slovenia guide.