Issuing of a Passport of the Republic of Slovenia

On August 28, 2006, the Republic of Slovenia started issuing biometric passports in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No. 2252/2004, which, beside biometry of the facial image, includes also the biometry of two fingerprints.

Valid passports do not need to be replaced

All citizens who hold a valid passport issued after March 1, 2001, can use their passport until the date of expiry and are not required to exchange their passports for a new one.

How to apply for a biometric passport?

Application for Passport may be filed at an administrative unit in Slovenia or at a diplomatic-consular representation of the Republic of Slovenia abroad. Citizens must apply in person, since in the process his or her identification and compliance of the attached photograph with the actual appearance is noted, and his or her signature is required. Moreover, two fingerprints of citizen 12 years and older will be taken.

- Citizens with permanent or temporary residence outside Slovenia can lodge the application for the issue of a new passport at the diplomatic-consular representations abroad.

- There is no registry of children in passport of their parents or legal representatives and therefore a child must obtain stand-alone passport.

- For the citizen younger than 3 years, the passport is issued with the validity of 3 years. For the citizen of age from 3 to 18 years, the validity of passport lasts for 5 years. Citizens, who reached age of majority, can obtain passport with the validity of 10 years.

 By electronic mail to vwa(at)gov.si please request an appointment. Suggest a day and hour within official hours (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Wednesday 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM). If the date will not be confirmed, we will offer you another date as soon as possible. Together with your appointment request please send the completed application form to verify the data and determine whether you can apply for the passport or if you must update your vital statistics data in the Slovenian registry first.

 To be submitted:

* Slovenian passport; if you do not have one then a color ID and proof of Slovenian Citizenship 

* Adequate consular fee Consular fee has to be paid in cash or by Money Order payable to » The Embassy of Slovenia«.

- Consular fees are:

- 149 USD for passport with the validity of 10 years – for all persons of age of majority

- 98 USD for passport with the validity of 5 years – for persons of age from 3 to 18 years

- 74 USD for passport with the validity of 3 years – for persons of age under 3 years of age

- 61 USD for passport with the validity of 1 year – in case of loss of passport more than one time      

* One photograph (please consult the attached instructions accurately and warn the photographer about the requirements!)

- Size of the photograph: 3,5 x 4,5 cm

- Facial image shall not comprise more than 70% of the photograph (on all of the four sides has to be 3 to 5 mm of empty space from head to the edge)

- The photograph can be black and white or color, the background light brown or light blue, in any case not white or dark blue

- The person must not show his or her teeth 

- Head has to be leveled, nose in the middle of the photograph

- Sharpness and contrast are important

- Face has to be evenly brightened and without shadows

- A persons, who wear glasses, must ensure that the frames do not cover eyes and that there is no visible reflection on the glasses

- On the photos of children shall not be seen hands of parents or toys (the best way to photograph them is in lying position) 

- best photograph for fair-haired or white-haired persons is black and white

* completed application (available here)

* prepaid express courrier envelope (i.e. US Postal Service, UPS, etc.; must have tracking number) addressed from the Embassy to your address, if you wish to receive the passport back by mail. The Embassy cannot take the responsibility for a lost passport. If you wish to receive the new passport by mail please submit the statement (available here). If the prepaid express courrier envelope is not provided with the application, the passport must be collected in person at the Embassy. No exceptions!

 

Use of biometric data

Use of individual biometric characteristics represents the most modern trend of using modern technology in fight against abuses such as forgery of money or falsification of documents, and it also represents important step in fight against terrorism.

Control of biometric data

Control of biometric data that are written on the chip can be implemented solely at the border crossing, and namely by comparing biometric characteristics of a person who is crossing the border with biometric characteristics facial image and fingertips, written in the chip of a passport.

EU regulation determines issue of biometric passports with biometry of facial image and two fingertips

Issue of biometric passports with the biometry of facial image and two fingertips is determined for all the member states by the EU Regulation, adopted in 2004. All member states of the EU, including Slovenia, were obliged to commence with the issue of biometric passport of the first generation with added biometry of facial image by 28 August 2006, and by 28 August 2009 all of the member states of the EU must start with the issue of biometric passports of the second generation with biometry of two fingers.

Regulation is implemented in the Amending Act about passports and in Rules about enforcement law on passports. Thus the Slovenian legislation regarding biometry of fingertips determines:

- Age requirement for capture upon filing an application is 12 years

- When citizen lodges the application, the electronic devise (special fingertips reader) captures   fingertips of left and right index finger. If in case of health reasons this is not possible, the fingertip of another finger is taken (print of the middle finger, ring finger or a thumb).

- If it is impossible to take a citizen’s fingerprints owing to an acute medical condition (e.g. burns, cuts or other injuries which are expected to heal within a year), a passport containing only facial image biometric data is issued with the validity of 12 months.

- If it is impossible to take a citizen’s fingerprints owing to a lasting medical condition (e.g. a person without fingers or with lifelong injuries), a passport containing only facial image biometric data is issued with a standard validity.

- Taken fingertips will not be preserved in the passport records and they will be deleted after being issued and handed;

- the fingertips will be preserved as a biometric record, merely in the chip of the  individual passport and will be used solely for the purpose of border controlling, which assures the highest possible protection of the individual in terms of use of his biometric data.

More information is available at the Ministry of the Interior Web site.