Relocation to Slovenia

As UK citizens we have retired to Slovenia. We did it with the help of a Slovenian Immigration Lawyer. We bought a house here and applied for a residence permit card on the grounds that we had an economic tie to Slovenia ie the house.

You apply at the Slovenian Embassy in you home country, for us London, and our applications were approved in just over 2 months. You would normally collect your permits from the same location that you made your application but it is possible to collect it directly from the Administrative Unit of the area that you plan to live. You have to specifically ask to collect the permit in Slovenia.

I hope that explaining how we did it is of help and it should be possible for you to do the same through the Slovenian Embassy in USA.

Hello. My wife and I are interested in retiring to Slovenia. We are Americans currently living in Washington state. We are having a hard time find information about non-EU citizens moving to Slovenia. Additionally, it does not sound like retirement is on the list of reasons they give for getting a one year residency permit. I was just curious as to if any of you have actually retired to Slovenia and what your experience doing so was like. Any information you could share would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
-@SQLShaun

As UK citizens we have retired to Slovenia. We did it with the help of a Slovenian Immigration Lawyer. We bought a house here and applied for a residence permit card on the grounds that we had an economic tie to Slovenia ie the house.

You apply at the Slovenian Embassy in you home country, for us London, and our applications were approved in just over 2 months. You would normally collect your permits from the same location that you made your application but it is possible to collect it directly from the Administrative Unit of the area that you plan to live. You have to specifically ask to collect the permit in Slovenia.

I hope that explaining how we did it is of help and it should be possible for you to do the same through the Slovenian Embassy in USA.

Hello ddp91,

Welcome to the forum!

Thank you for sharing all these information with us.

I hope that SQLShaun will see your message soon.

Do not hesitate to browse on the Slovenia forum to participate in more discussions.

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

This isn't really an answer. As an American I share the first poster's issue - Slovenia touts that lots of people retired to Slovenia and thus encourages it, but there is no straightforward way to do so. Also, you can't get a visa to Slovenia if self-employed and clients are all non-Slovenian. Just because one wants to live and work in a really great country is NOT a sanctioned reason to get a visa, or so I was told. To the other person in limbo, I hope a real answer comes soon. What I did was write to the Slovenian MInister of Foreign Affairs to say, Huh??, and ask for advice. I am sure I will get a 'we don't give advice, connect (again) with the paper-pusher at the embassy who is not paid to think. Reviewing Portugal as a Plan B -sadly, as I love Ljubljana.

As for the non-answer given above, I can't help but thinking buying property in a country before you live there as a huge (read 'irrational') risk. And not all of us are wealthy enough to both buy a lawyer and buy property in another country... um, while paying a mortgage or rent in the home country.

@catamount145

ddp91's answer is way more useful and helpful than your disgruntled comment. It answers the OP's query, who was specifically asking about retirement to Slovenia.

I trust you are all acquainted with https://www.gov.si/en/topics/entry-and-residence/ .

@Paul Guijt Thanks. I am joining my Slovenian spouse in October with a one year multiple entry  visa stamped family member of EU/EEA. we  plan to start  applying for permit immediately i arrive 

@ddp91 Hey, could you PM me the attorney they helped you? Thanks