VisaWorkers changing employers in Slovenia need consent for the new job
A current-rule guide for holders of an employer-linked single permit, including filing responsibilities, job documents and conflicting official descriptions of written approval.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Check what your existing permission actually covers
A worker in Slovenia with an employer-linked single residence and work permit should check the accompanying information sheet before accepting a new employer’s start date. The Employment Service’s recipient leaflet says employment is restricted to the employer and work identified there. A valid residence card alone does not establish permission to perform a different job. This guide addresses an existing holder changing employer, rather than someone applying for their first permit or moving from student work.
The leaflet distinguishes personal consent under Article 14, which provides free labour-market access without specifying an employer or employment type on the information sheet. Establish which consent you hold before treating a change application as necessary. For employer-linked holders, the leaflet requires a still-valid single permit and previous consent that has not been withdrawn. Keep the current information sheet available for the administrative unit to identify the permission being replaced.
File through the administrative unit despite older wording
The Employment Service’s Slovenian single-permit procedure says the worker or employer submits the change request on Form 2/1 at the administrative unit. The Service then issues consent and an information sheet to the employer or the worker’s authorised representative. Filing with the administrative unit remains part of the procedure even though the substantive employment consent comes from the Service.
Some official English material still describes a separate administrative-unit decision granting written approval. The government’s 28 March 2023 explanation of the legislative amendment instead describes changes during a valid permit on Employment Service consent alone, without that ruling. The recipient leaflet and detailed Slovenian procedure follow the consent route. Ask the receiving unit which evidence will document your approved change; do not interpret the simplified process as permission to begin merely because an application has been submitted.
Have the prospective employer prepare the job evidence
The Service’s detailed employer-change checklist calls for an employer-signed contract, proof of the worker’s required education or qualifications, and the employer’s signed accommodation declaration. For an employer registered for less than six months, it also lists a declaration and evidence of at least EUR 50,000 invested in the activity in which the worker will work. These are employer and job checks, rather than a price paid by the worker to buy consent.
The same guidance requires conditions including suitable registration of the business, active operations, settled tax obligations and no suitable unemployed person for the post. A new contract does not by itself settle these conditions. Use the employer-change portion of the linked guidance when gathering evidence; its separate renewal checklist concerns continued employment with the same employer in the same job and should not be substituted for the change file.
Separate the decision period from the registration deadline
The Service’s general Slovenian procedure gives a 15-day period for deciding change consent after receipt of the request with evidence of the legal conditions. This concerns the consent stage, rather than a guarantee measured from an incomplete submission. It separately allows insurance registration on the received consent and information sheet, requiring the employer to register the worker no later than 30 days after their service.
This change-specific 30-day instruction should be distinguished from the recipient leaflet’s ten-day domestic and fifteen-day overseas delivery instructions for a single permit. Give the new employer the actual consent documents and service date so it can apply the relevant registration rule. Obtain the M1 registration evidence: the leaflet identifies this as the employer’s proof of social-insurance registration. A proposed starting date should be reconciled with those documents, rather than assuming one deadline covers every permit procedure.
Resolve costs and approaching expiry before the move
The recipient leaflet states that workers and jobseekers must not be charged permit-acquisition costs or associated costs. The sources examined did not establish a current standalone administrative fee for this particular change request. Have the employer identify any official charge and its legal basis before agreeing to reimburse a recruiter or other intermediary.
Changing employer and renewing an expiring residence card are separate questions. Infotujci’s single-permit guidance requires an extension application at the administrative unit before the current permit expires. A change request should not be treated as an evidenced automatic extension of residence. If expiry is close, ask that unit how to coordinate both files and what document proves lawful stay while any application remains pending.
