Retraining and Education for Foreign Nationals in Slovakia: Who Can Receive Financial Support?
If you are looking for work in Slovakia, want to change careers or develop additional skills, a retraining or educational course may be one option. Through selected projects, Labour Offices in Slovakia provide financial support for this type of education. However, an important condition applies to foreign nationals: eligibility for financial support also depends on your residence and legal status in Slovakia.
For foreign nationals looking for work in Slovakia or trying to find employment in their field, one obstacle may be the difference between their previous experience and the requirements of the Slovak labour market. In some cases, they may need to develop professional skills, obtain a new qualification or prepare for work in a different field.
Retraining or further education can help in such situations. Slovakia has programmes through which financial support for a course may be obtained under certain conditions. One of the main current programmes is the national project Skills for the Labour Market.
For foreign nationals, however, eligibility also depends on their residence and legal status. It is therefore important to understand who can apply for this support and how to proceed.
Not everyone who legally lives or works in Slovakia automatically has access to all Labour Office services under the same conditions. Before choosing a course, it is therefore advisable to find out whether you can be registered with the Labour Office as a jobseeker or as a person interested in employment. The current support provided through the Skills for the Labour Market project is linked to these two categories.
Which foreign nationals have the same status as Slovak citizens?
Under the Slovak Employment Services Act, certain groups of foreign nationals have the same status as citizens of the Slovak Republic when using employment services.
These primarily include citizens of European Union Member States, as well as people from countries belonging to the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
Under specified conditions, some third-country nationals also have the same status. These include, for example, family members of EU or Slovak citizens who are legally resident in Slovakia, people who have been granted asylum or subsidiary protection in Slovakia, and people who have been granted EU long-term resident status in Slovakia. Special rules also apply to EU Blue Card holders and certain UK nationals whose rights have been preserved under the EU–UK Withdrawal Agreement.
If you belong to one of these groups, you may use Labour Office services, including education and retraining opportunities, provided that you meet the other applicable conditions.
What if you are a third-country national?
For other third-country nationals, the situation depends on the specific type of residence and other circumstances.
Simply holding a residence permit and being entitled to work in Slovakia does not necessarily mean that you automatically have access to all forms of support available to registered jobseekers or people interested in employment.
For example, if you hold temporary residence for employment, study, business or family reunification purposes, we recommend checking with the relevant Labour Office before applying to determine whether you can be entered in the necessary register and whether you belong to the target group of the specific project.
Labour Offices also provide services to foreign nationals and EU citizens, but eligibility for a particular form of financial support always depends on the conditions of the relevant measure or project. General information on the employment of foreign nationals is available on the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family website.
Jobseeker or person interested in employment?
When considering support for education, it is important to distinguish between two categories.
A jobseeker is generally a person registered with the Labour Office as someone looking for employment. Under the Skills for the Labour Market project, retraining support for jobseekers is intended for this group.
You can find further information on how to register as a jobseeker. Application forms, including English- and Ukrainian-language versions, are available in the Employment Services application forms section.
A person interested in employment does not have to be unemployed. This may be someone who is already employed but is looking for another job, considering a career change or needs to develop additional skills. You can ask the Labour Office to enter you in the register of people interested in employment.
Separate educational support for people interested in employment is currently available through the Skills for the Labour Market project. Under the current conditions, applications have been accepted since 16 March 2026.
This means that eligibility for support is not necessarily limited to unemployed people. However, you must always meet the conditions of the specific project.
What types of education can be supported?
The purpose of the support is not to fund any course of your choice. The selected education should help you enter or progress in the labour market, change careers or develop skills required by employers.
Eligible options may include professional or vocational courses, digital skills training, selected language courses, or other forms of education with a clear connection to your employment prospects.
When deciding whether to provide support, the Labour Office therefore considers not only the course itself but also whether completing it makes sense in view of your employment situation and prospects.
If you want to change careers, for example, the current list of occupations experiencing labour shortages may help you choose a course. The Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family regularly publishes this list for the individual regions of Slovakia.
How can you apply for financial support?
Once you have confirmed that you belong to the target group, the next step is to select an appropriate course and training provider.
You generally choose the specific course yourself. The training provider then completes the required confirmation that the education will be provided, which must be attached to your application. The current instructions and downloadable forms are available on the relevant project pages for jobseekers and people interested in employment.
The application is submitted to the relevant Labour Office. Under the current projects, it may also be submitted electronically through the slovensko.sk portal.
It is important to apply sufficiently far in advance. Submitting an application does not mean that the cost of the course will automatically be reimbursed. The Labour Office must assess the application first, and there is no automatic legal entitlement to the financial contribution.
You should therefore not begin or pay for the course on the assumption that the Labour Office will reimburse the cost later. First check the conditions of the relevant project and wait for the Labour Office’s decision and the conclusion of the necessary agreement.
What applies to people from Ukraine with temporary protection?
People who have been granted temporary protection in Slovakia have access to the Slovak labour market and may work under the specified conditions without a standard work permit.
In the past, dedicated educational support was also available to them through the national project Helping Displaced Persons. This project allowed people with temporary protection to apply for financial support for an educational course.
However, this option is no longer available. The Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family states on the official Education for Displaced Persons project page that, as the project is coming to an end, new applications for financial support for educational courses for displaced persons are no longer being accepted.
If you have temporary protection and are looking for funding for a course, we therefore recommend checking directly with the Labour Office to find out whether another current form of support is available to you.
Check your status before enrolling in a course
For foreign nationals, the precise type of residence or protection they hold in Slovakia may be decisive. It is therefore safest not to assume that residence in Slovakia or the right to work here automatically creates an entitlement to financial support.
Before choosing a paid course, contact the Labour Office and check:
- whether you can be registered as a jobseeker or a person interested in employment;
- whether you belong to the target group of the current project;
- whether the selected course is eligible for funding;
- which documents you need to submit with your application.
The conditions of individual projects may also change over time. Contact details and opening hours for Labour Offices throughout Slovakia are available in the official Labour Office directory.
Where can you find current information?
The Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family publishes the current conditions for retraining and educational support on its website in the section dedicated to the Skills for the Labour Market project.
Separate information is available for:
- registered jobseekers interested in retraining;
- people interested in employment who wish to complete supported education.
If you are unsure which group you belong to, it is best to contact the relevant Labour Office directly. For foreign nationals, eligibility for a particular form of support may depend on a combination of several circumstances, including residence status, employment situation and the conditions of the current project.
Conclusion
Retraining or further education can be a good way to expand your employment opportunities in Slovakia, obtain a qualification for a new occupation or develop skills required by employers.
For foreign nationals, however, eligibility for financial support is not automatic and also depends on their legal and residence status. It therefore makes sense to begin by checking your options with the Labour Office rather than immediately choosing a course.
Only after confirming that you meet the conditions of a specific programme should you select a course and submit your application. This will help you avoid ordering or paying for education before knowing whether financial support can be provided.
