The total stock of foreign citizens residing in Slovenia rose to 116 000 in April 2017, accounting for close to 6% of the total population (about 2 million). In 2016, the inflow of foreign nationals to Slovenia remained moderate and stable. According to the National Statistical Office, immigration in 2016 (16 600 people) increased by 8% compared to 2015 (15 400). About 15 600 people emigrated in 2016, a slightly higher number (+4%) than in 2015. Consequently, net immigration of more than 1 000 people in 2016, up from 500 in 2015, was the highest since 2011. In 2016, for the seventeenth year in a row, net migration of Slovenians was negative; close to 6 000 more persons left the country than returned to it. However, the net migration of foreign nationals was positive for the eighteenth consecutive year: in 2016, 7 000 more foreign nationals immigrated to Slovenia than emigrated from it.
In 2016, as in previous years, Slovenia’s immigrants with foreign citizenship arrived predominantly from countries of the former Yugoslavia. The largest group was from Bosnia and Herzegovina (35%), followed by Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bulgaria and other EU countries.
More than a quarter (27%) of Slovenian citizens emigrating from Slovenia went to Austria. Other common countries of next residence were Germany (20%), Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Foreign nationals emigrating from Slovenia most commonly chose Bosnia and Herzegovina (22%) as their next country of residence, followed by Germany (11%), Croatia (10%) and Serbia (9%).
In 2016, Slovenia issued 19 900 temporary residence permits for employment and/or work purposes, compared to 21 400 in 2015. Over the same year, 2 700 temporary permits were issued for students pursuing their studies in Slovenia and close to 5 600 for family reasons. Claims for humanitarian protection noticeably increased in 2016, compared to 2015, with 1 300 applications. By the end of September 2017, more than 1 000 persons had already applied for international protection. In the first nine months of 2017 the main countries of origin of asylum seekers were Afghanistan (46%), Algeria (10%), Pakistan (8%) and Syria (8%). Women made up less than 10% of the applicants. International protection status was granted to fewer than 130 applicants (12%) compared to 170 in 2016 (13%) and 45 in 2015 (16%). As part of the EU relocation effort, Slovenia pledged to relocate 567 persons. By the end of September 2017, 217 of them had already been relocated. Of these, 199 decisions had been made: 182 were granted refugee status and 10 subsidiary protection status. Slovenia also fully joined the EU solidarity efforts in 2017, pledging to resettle 60 Syrian refugees from Turkey as outlined by the EU-Turkey statement of March 2016.
In 2017, the Aliens Act was amended to update and transpose EU directives and regulations into national legislation. Other proposed changes included the possibility of obtaining a residence permit for people who cease to be eligible for international protection under the International Protection Act and for the holders of subsidiary protection. The amendments also enabled shortened procedures for persons intercepted at illegal border crossings; refusal of entry and readmission; as well as certain limitations in granting international protection. A temporary residence permit allowing stay in Slovenia for at least 24 months may now be issued to persons for whom deportation is not possible. The changes also aim at harmonising legislation with the Social Assistance Benefits Act in order to provide sufficient means of subsistence in cases of family reunification. Additionally, there is a new possibility of issuing a separate temporary residence permit for victims of domestic violence.
Amendments to the Employment, Self-Employment and Work of Aliens Act (ZZSDT) also changed conditions for seasonal workers and ICTs (intra-corporate transferees). They allow capital-linked companies to make the best use of their human resources and make it easier to move them within a group of affiliated companies. With the transposition of Directive 2014/36/EU, a single residence and work permit for seasonal work may now be issued for seasonal work longer than 90 days. As of January 2018, the Cross-border Provision of Services Act brought important changes for cross-border provision of services and the posting of workers to other EU and EFTA countries, with the aim of preventing abuse and violation of posted workers’ rights (mainly regarding working conditions and access to social security). New bilateral agreements on the employment of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, implemented in 2017, have eased labour migration. Finally, in July 2017, an amendment to the Citizenship Act allowed the acquisition of Slovenian citizenship for persons whose naturalisation is of a particular interest to the state, but who do not meet the standard requirements.
