Slovakia

The immigration to Slovakia has been gradually rising since the country’s accession to the EU, although the growth has been slowed by the economic crises. Immigrants mainly come from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania and predominantly for work. The portion of immigrants on total population is relatively small (1.3 % in 2011), but the number of has increased almost threefold since 2004. According to official data, the number of registered immigrants reached almost 71 000 at the end of 2011. On the policy level, the government approved the Migration Policy of the Slovak Republic with Horizon 2020 (Slovak only) in 2011, followed by the Action Plan of Migration Policy in 2012-2013 (Slovak only) in 2012. However, the progress of integration of immigrants is slow. The Strategy on Integration of Foreigners in the Slovak Republic (Slovak only) was adopted in 2009 and is followed by yearly summary reports (Slovak only) on its implementation. In the legislative field, a new Act on Residence of Aliens entered into force in 2012.