ABOUT THE LAW ON CITIZENSHIP OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia on December 14, 2004, (”Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 135/04) which came into effect on December 29, 2004, and was implemented starting February 27, 2005.

With the commencement of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia, the Law on Yugoslav Citizenship (”Official List of FR Yugoslavia”, No. 33/96 and 9/01) and the Law on Citizenship of the Socialist Republic of Serbia (”Official Gazette of the SRS”, No. 45/79 and 13/83) ceased to be valid.

On September 24, 2007, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed amendments to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia (”Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 90/07), which came into effect on October 9, 2007.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed additions to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia (”Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 24/18), effective as of April 3, 2018.

The Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter referred to as the Law) regulates the acquisition and termination of citizenship of the Republic of Serbia, re-acquisition of citizenship, determination of citizenship, the process of acquiring citizenship, jurisdiction, and the maintenance of citizenship records.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs decides on applications for acquiring and terminating citizenship of the Republic of Serbia in accordance with its competencies established by the Law.

EXPLANATION OF PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS

Applications for acquiring and terminating citizenship are submitted to the internal affairs body at the place of residence or stay of the applicant or their representative. Applications can also be submitted through the competent diplomatic or consular representation of the Republic of Serbia, which will promptly forward it to the ministry responsible for internal affairs.

The application for acquiring and terminating citizenship of the Republic of Serbia is submitted in person or through a representative. For persons deprived of business capacity, the application is submitted by the guardian, and for a child under 18, the application is submitted by a parent with the consent of the other parent. For children older than 14, their consent is also required.

If the party submits the application through a representative, the representative needs to attach properly certified power of attorney for acquiring or terminating citizenship (lawyer’s or notary’s), as well as a valid identification document of the representative, and for a lawyer, valid lawyer identification.

The applicant for acquiring and terminating citizenship is issued a confirmation of the submitted application.

The application form for acquiring citizenship, depending on the legal basis and the possibility of acquiring citizenship determined based on the attached documentation, is submitted to the organizational unit of the ministry of internal affairs or the competent diplomatic – consular representation of the Republic of Serbia, in the manner provided by the Law.

The form of the written statement recognizing the Republic of Serbia as one’s country is submitted along with the application for admission to the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia.

The amount of the fee depends on the legal basis and is prescribed by the Law on Republic Administrative Fees.

If the decision relates to the simultaneous acquisition or termination of citizenship of family members (spouses, minor children, and unemployed members of the same household up to 26 years of age), one fee is paid.

The duration of the procedure depends on the completeness and consistency of the attached documentation (the personal data of the party to whom the application relates must be consistent in all attached documents) and whether the necessary documentation is attached to the application or if this Ministry is obligated to obtain it officially.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs issues certificates on citizenship status upon request to verify whether a person is a citizen of the Republic of Serbia or not. The applicant, along with a clearly filled request for verification of citizenship status with all sections, attaches a copy of the identification document, as well as a payment slip generated on the eGovernment portal.

Citizens can obtain extracts from the registers of births, marriages, and deaths, as well as certificates of citizenship at any registry office in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, regardless of which registry office recorded these facts, as well as at diplomatic-consular representations of the Republic of Serbia abroad.

All documents issued by foreign bodies need to be legalized in accordance with the regulations on the legalization of public documents. Note that the original extract from the register of births, marriages, or deaths by a foreign body can be submitted on an international form (according to the Paris or Vienna convention or a bilateral agreement), and if they are issued on a form of a foreign country, they must be properly certified and translated into Serbian in accordance with the rules of the Serbian language and Cyrillic script.

BASIS FOR ACQUISITION AND TERMINATION OF CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia is acquired:

• By origin
• By birth on the territory of the Republic of Serbia
• By admission
• Under international agreements.

Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia is terminated:

• By release
• By renunciation