Public Administration / Trade Licensing / Služby

Recognition of professional experience

An authorized person can provide an alternative poof of having met the professional qualification requirement for selected regulated trades. Alternative professional competence shall mean the professional competence requirements set out by Trade Licensing Act in part 5 B in uniform manner:

  in Section 66i for trades included on the list I
  in Section 66i for trades included on the list II
  Section 66k for trades included on the list III

An alternative proof of professional qualification and its recognition refers to the selected regulated trades listed in one of the annexes to the Trade Licensing Act No. 1 and 2 and that are also included on one of three lists I to III. In reality it means that an alternative proof of meeting and recognizing the professional competence requirements cannot be applied to all activities referred to in Annexes to the Trade Licensing Act but it applies only to those (crafts and regulated) trades that are also included on one of the lists I, II, II (the lists of trades for which different alternative professional competence requirements are set out and also a different way of its recognition in compliance with the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2005/36/EC of 7 September 2005 on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications as amended by the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2013/55/EU of 20 November 2013).
A person authorized to provide a proof of professional competence in order to pursue a certain selected regulated trade is a natural person - EU member state national or state which is the party to the Agreement on EEA national and Swiss Confederation national (hereinafter referred to as the "member state') and every legal entity established under the member state law having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the territory of such countries. A person from the Community is a natural person who is a member state national or a legal entity established under the member state law having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business in the territory of member state.
Alternative provision of a proof and recognition of professional competence for pursuing a certain selected trade applies also to the Slovak persons (natural persons and legal entities), natural persons having the status of Slovak Republic citizen and legal entities established in Slovakia.

The criterion for providing a proof of professional qualifications is only the nationality. An alternative proof of professional competence and recognition of evidence of professional competence of natural persons for selected regulated trades is not governed by the criterion of residence of persons interested in conducting the business in the territory of Slovakia but by the criterion of nationality. The citizens of EU/EEA and Swiss Confederation may provide an alternative proof of professional competence if their residence is in the territory of any other (non-member) state. However the above does not apply to the citizens who are not EU/EEA member states nationals and Swiss Confederation nationals even though they are residents in one of these countries.
An alternative proof of professional qualifications for selected regulated trades is a decision on the recognition of professional experience (another option is a decision on the recognition professional qualifications). Department of Sole Proprietorship Business of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic is competent to act in the matter of recognizing professional experience in compliance with Section 66 (e) of Trade Licensing Act.
When applying for recognition of professional experience the procedure and requirements related to the Slovak person and the person who is the national of other member state shall be distinguished.

Procedure for EU/EEA member state citizen:

procedure for recognizing professional experience commences on the date of delivery of application for recognition of professional experience to pursue a trade included in Annexes 1 and 2 and on Lists I to III of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic,
by submitting an application an obligation to pay fees arises. An administrative fee of EUR 30 is paid for issuing a decision on the recognition of professional experience under Act No. 145/1995 Coll. on Administrative Fees as amended, Administrative fee tariffs, item 148 (j),
proof of applicant's citizenship and certificate of nature and duration of activity issued by the competent authority or member state authority shall be attached to an application. Evidence of educational qualifications shall be attached as well unless provided otherwise by this Act (Act No. 422/2015 Coll. on Recognition of Evidence of Educational Qualifications and Professional Qualifications as amended). Documents shall be submitted along with their official translation to the official language.
certificate of nature and duration of business issued by the competent authority or member state authority shall comply with Sections 66i, 66j and 66k according to the inclusion of regulated trade in the respective list (e. g. for regulated trade locksmithing included on the list I a certificate shall be issued in compliance with a certain provision of Section 66i, subsection 1 of Trade Licensing Act, for freight forwarding services included in the list II a certificate shall be issued in compliance with a certain provision of Section 66j, subsection 1 of Trade Licensing Act, for catering and production of ready meals for canteens included in the list III a certificate shall be issued in compliance with a certain provision of Section 66k, subsection 1 of Trade Licensing Act, etc.)
Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic shall decide on an application within 30 days from the receipt of a complete application.

Procedure for the Slovak citizen – for proceedings for the recognition of professional experience the manner in which professional experience was gained is demonstrated in a different manner

procedure for recognizing professional experience commences on the date of delivery of application for recognition of professional experience to pursue a trade included in Annexes 1 and 2 and Lists I to III of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic,
by submitting an application an obligation to pay fees arises. An administrative fee of EUR 30 is paid for issue of a decision on recognition of professional experience under Act No. 145/1995 Coll. on Administrative Fees as amended, Administrative fee tariffs, item 148 (j),
for the purpose of Trade Licensing Act professional experience shall mean the actual and statutory pursuit of professional activity as an employee for a specified weekly working hours or corresponding duration of employment with shorter working hours.
the actual pursuit of professional activity concerned is demonstrated by providing evidence of the pursuit of activity for a period set out by the applicable provisions of Sections 66i, 66j, 66 k of Trade Licensing Act, the minimum acknowledged time unit usually refers to three months and business documents, contracts, invoices and any other documents providing a proof of actual pursuit of professional activity concerned by an applicant can be used as evidence and the burden of proof for all confirmed facts and the decision on selection of evidence pertains to the applicant,
the statutory pursuit of professional activity concerned in case of trade pursued by a responsible representative shall be demonstrated by providing evidence of employment relationship with a responsible representative (employment contract). Evidence shall be provided for the same period corresponding to the actual demonstrated pursuit of professional activity concerned,
professional experience cannot be recognized if the natural person acquired a trade license certificate authorizing the pursuit of a certain regulated trade included in lists I to III, however he/she did not pursue this activity at all or did not pursue it at the period required,
professional experience cannot be also recognized if the person authorized to pursue a regulated trade actually pursued the trade, however he/she did not pursue it in compliance with Trade Licensing Act and applicable provisions. In reality it is the pursuit of trade without appointing a responsible representative or without concluding a statutory employment contract with a responsible representative for specific weekly working hours,
to provide a proof of actual and statutory pursuit of professional activity concerned, the copies of evidence required is sufficient. Documents that have been submitted in an official language do not have to be officially certified,
Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic shall decide on an application within 30 days from the receipt of a complete application.
Application for recognition of professional experience can be sent also through an online Central public administration portal general agenda (www.slovensko.sk). You can find the procedure for sending an electronic application here.

You can ask for recognition of professional experience by this form:

Form for recognition of professional experience (RTF, 183 kB)(in SK only)

You can ask for recognition of professional experience also using online general service on portal www.slovensko.sk.

Professional competence for trade activities included on the list I

A person from the Community who pursued the activity concerned for the period below meets the professional competence requirement for trades included in the list I:

six consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager or
three consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager also providing a proof of having previously attained at least three year educational qualifications or
four consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager also providing a proof of having previously attained at least two year educational qualifications or
three consecutive years as a self-employed person also providing a proof of having pursued the activity concerned as an employee for at least five years or
five consecutive years as a manger having at least three years duties of technical character and responsibility for at least one division of enterprise and also providing a proof of having previously attained at least three year education for the activity concerned

For instances under (a) and (d) the pursuit of activity concerned may not be terminated for more than ten year prior to submitting an application for trade license certificate.
The provision of subsection e) for a trade Men, ladies and children hairdressing shall not apply.

Professional competence for trades included on the list II
A person from the Community who pursued the activity concerned for the period below meets the professional competence requirement for trades included in the list II:

five consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager or
three consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager also providing a proof of having previously attained at least three year educational qualifications or
four consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager also providing a proof of having previously attained at least two year education or
three consecutive years as a self-employed person also providing a proof of having pursued the activity concerned as an employee for at least five years or
five consecutive years as a self-employed person also providing a proof of having previously attained at least three year educational qualifications for the activity concerned or
six consecutive years as an employee also providing a proof of having previously attained at least two year educational qualifications for the activity concerned or

For instances under (a) and (d) the pursuit of activity concerned may not be terminated for more than ten year prior to submitting an application for trade license certificate.

Professional competence for trade activities included on the list III
A person from the Community pursuing the activity concerned for the period below meets the professional competence requirement for trades included on the list III:

three consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager or
two consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager also providing a proof of having previously attained educational qualifications for the activity concerned or
two consecutive years as a self-employed person or as a manager also providing a proof of having pursued the activity concerned as an employee for at least three years or
three consecutive years as an employee also providing a proof of having previously attained educational qualifications for the activity concerned.

For instances under (a) and (c) the pursuit of activity concerned may not be terminated for more than ten years prior to submitting an application for trade license certificate.
Previous educational qualifications for the activity concerned under Sections 66i through to 66k of Trade Licensing Act shall be demonstrated by

providing a certificate recognized by the state or other evidence of previous educational qualifications attained in the member state that the competent professional organization judged as valid or
evidence of successful completion of professional training in a non-member state along with the member state evidence or recognition of professional training for the purpose of the pursuit of activity concerned and three-year professional experience with the activity concerned in its territory.

Crafts included in one of the lists I to III:

Regulated trades included in one of the lists I to III:

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Recognition of professional experience

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