Document Translation for Slovenia

Which local office will be examining your application?

Residence and status matters in Slovenia are not handled at a single central office but at the local administrative unit for the place where you will be living. The practical consequence is this: although the list of documents is largely the same everywhere, the habit of asking for extra papers and the pressure on appointments vary from one unit to the next. A plain accommodation document accepted without difficulty in one town may, at another unit, have to be backed up by a further declaration from the landlord.

Rather than the general lists you will find online, then, take as your guide the announcement issued by the unit your address falls under. If your address is not yet settled, even knowing which region you will be moving to is enough to make your preparation accurate. Bear in mind as well that if you move house the file may have to be transferred to the new unit.

Work and residence brought together in one file

For those coming to work, the permit and the residence usually run as a single, linked process. The advantage of that arrangement is that one file is prepared instead of two separate applications; the disadvantage is that one missing document holds up the work side and the residence side at once. The habit of completing a file piece by piece is of no use here.

Because the employer has obligations of its own, the list of documents required of you usually comes through the employer. The right course is to start the translation the day that list reaches you: an employer’s timetable is rarely flexible, and a delay pushes back the starting date directly.

Why each family member ends up with a file of their own

If your spouse and children are coming with you, a separate application file is opened for each of them, though those files are fed by documents that belong together. The marriage certificate and the birth certificates establish the tie, your own status supplies the basis, and the accommodation and income documents are read as covering the family as a whole. That the documents are translated separately is normal; that they contradict one another is not.

For children of school age, documents showing their educational record are required as well. The purpose of these is to establish the level: which year each class was completed in, and the breakdown of subjects, must be plain to see. A translation of the vaccination record is a frequent addition. Because school enrolment usually comes up only after the family application, these papers are left out of the first set and end up being rushed at the start of term; preparing them from the outset is the easiest answer.

Documents set against purpose

Where to begin the preparation

Prepare the long-lived documents (diploma, birth and marriage certificates) early, and take out the short-lived ones (criminal record certificate, income document) as the appointment date draws near. The apostille certificate is always obtained before the translation. The translation step is the shortest part of the process; the real waiting happens over appointments and correspondence with the authorities. Sending the family’s files in one go is an advantage both for consistency of terminology and for cost.

Upload your documents and let us sort out which of them genuinely need translating; we can then set the scope of service to match what you need.

The translation needs that surface once you have settled in

Most people plan their translations for the first application alone, whereas the real demand appears after the move. Exchanging a driving licence, banking and insurance matters, enrolling a child at school, tax and social security registration: each of these calls for its own document. This second wave is more scattered than the first file, so it is usually done in a hurry, and translations ordered piecemeal end up inconsistent in their terminology.

The driving licence is a subject in its own right: translating the document and exchanging it are not the same thing. The translation shows what the document says; the exchange is a separate administrative procedure with conditions of its own. Assuming that the exchange will follow automatically once the translation is done is a common disappointment.

Expectations about language also become clearer after the move. Although some everyday business can be conducted in English, official correspondence and administrative procedures go forward in the state language. Expecting the documents you hand to an authority to be in the state language is the rule rather than the exception; those who set out with an English translation usually find themselves preparing a second set.

When you are planning your move, therefore, we suggest drawing up at the outset a list of the documents you will need in the first six months. A set prepared in one go is both more consistent and cheaper per page.

This content is intended as information; a country’s practice on the apostille or on consular legalisation may change. The final requirement is set by the authority to which the application is made, so confirm it in advance.