Do you need Slovak at government offices in 2026?

The Foreign Police (Cudzinecká polícia) handle residence applications, registration and card issue. Their forms are in Slovak, and so are interviews. The tax office (Daňový úrad) assigns tax numbers and handles filings, again in Slovak. Health insurers, social insurance and municipal registries are the same. Some Bratislava offices have an English-speaking officer on certain days, but that is luck, not policy. See Apply for a residence permit for the document list and Get a tax ID for the tax desk.

Foreign certificates, such as birth, marriage and police-clearance records, usually need an official Slovak translation from a sworn translator (súdny prekladateľ) listed with the Ministry of Justice. Apostilles or consular legalisation often come first, depending on the issuing country. Ask the Foreign Police for the exact list before you pay, because a rejected translation costs a second appointment. For temporary residence for employment, your employer can often handle part of the paperwork, but you still sign Slovak forms.

You may bring an interpreter to appointments. Some Foreign Police offices will only accept a certified interpreter, so ask when you book. A bilingual friend works for reading a form but not for a formal interview.

Bring two copies of everything, a printout of your lease, and photos of the key pages. Use online translation to prepare, then rewrite answers in Slovak or have a local check them. Banks often provide English forms in Bratislava branches, which makes it easier to open a bank account than to deal with the tax office. Insurers also have English pages: Choose health insurance lists the main options.

Outside Bratislava, English at counters drops fast. English outside Bratislava shows how the pattern changes in Košice and the regions.