Renewing a single permit in Slovenia, the deadlines that decide
A first Slovenian single permit runs two years at most, a renewal three. The ZRSZ decides on consent within 15 days and on the PDM-KTD test in five days.
A renewal application is filed by the worker or the employer at the administrative unit, before the current permit expires. According to the Employment Service of Slovenia (ZRSZ, 2026), a first single permit is issued for the duration of the employment contract and for two years at most, while a renewal runs for up to three years. The ZRSZ decides on consent within 15 days.
Who files, and when
The procedure rests on the Aliens Act (ZTuj-2) and the Act on the Employment, Self employment and Work of Foreigners (ZZSDT), both published in the Slovenian legal information system PISRS. The administrative unit receives the application and then asks the ZRSZ for consent to the renewal. The application has to arrive while the existing permit is still running. Once it expires without a timely filing, the worker no longer holds the right to work and the employer may not keep them on the job.
Plan against three blocks of time. Before the application, the labour market test is run on form PDM-KTD, and the ZRSZ decides on it within five working days. The administrative unit then accepts the renewal application and requests consent, which the ZRSZ issues within 15 days of receiving that request. Only after consent does the administrative unit issue the renewed permit and produce the card. Each block starts from a complete file, not from the day the decision to renew was taken.
On cost, the employer pays an administrative fee at the administrative unit and the production cost of the biometric permit card. The tariff is published by the competent administrative unit and is paid when the application is filed, not when the card is collected. Consent from the ZRSZ carries no fee of its own. The real cost of this procedure is the time lost when the file goes in late.
The conditions sit with the employer
Renewal is not automatic, and the checks run against the company as much as against the worker. Article 17 of the ZZSDT requires that at least one person has been employed by the employer and included in compulsory social insurance for a minimum of six months before the application is filed, and that the employer has no outstanding tax liabilities on the day of filing. Both are verified in public records, so a tax debt of a few dozen euro blocks the file as effectively as a large one.
The labour market test is the second filter. The ZRSZ checks whether a suitable unemployed person is registered for the advertised post. How the form is completed and what counts as a suitable candidate is set out in the guide to the PDM-KTD labour market test. Some occupations are exempt from the test, and those are listed in the note on shortage occupations exempt from the labour market test.
| Step | Decided by | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Labour market test, form PDM-KTD | ZRSZ | 5 working days |
| Consent to the renewal | ZRSZ | 15 days from the administrative unit's request |
| Issue of the renewed permit | Administrative unit | After ZRSZ consent |
| Validity of a first permit | Administrative unit | 2 years at most |
| Validity of a renewed permit | Administrative unit | 3 years at most |
The mistake that costs weeks
The costly error is counting the deadlines backwards from the expiry date instead of forwards from preparation. An employer reads the 15 day consent deadline and concludes that filing a fortnight before expiry is enough. Ahead of those 15 days sit five working days of labour market testing, before that the contract and the supporting evidence, and after consent the card still has to be produced at the administrative unit. Start a month out and you are budgeting three weeks of processing with no margin for a single request to complete the file.
The second recurring failure is a change on the employer side during the life of the permit. If the company has since been left with no insured employees, or has fallen behind on contributions, the Article 17 conditions are not met on the day of filing even though the first permit was issued without friction. Check the records before you tell the worker they are staying.
Anyone running this for the first time should read the base procedure in the guide to the Slovenian single permit for employers. A renewal follows the same logic, except that the evidence concerns an existing employment relationship and the wages actually paid over the period the permit covered.
The deadlines here are statutory ceilings rather than service promises. A complete application filed at least two months before expiry is the difference between a worker who is on the line next Monday and a worker sitting at home. Where several workers renew in the same quarter, the only reliable instrument is one calendar of expiry dates, held in a single place and reviewed every month, rather than a reminder filed in each worker's personnel folder.
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