and here’s who will get it first
Since the war in Ukraine started, about 140,000 Russians and about 23,000 Ukrainians have moved to Serbia.
They could soon get Serbian citizenship through a faster process. Unofficial sources say that rules are being made so that some Russians and Ukrainians who work for companies registered in Serbia will have priority when it comes to getting Serbian papers.
This rule will also apply to people who have lived in Serbia for at least a year on an approved temporary stay and then applied for citizenship. This rule will almost certainly be passed, and it will only be a matter of time before it is passed and made known to the public.
Even though the regulation will spell out the specific criteria and conditions, it is already known that some of the requirements have to do with recognizing foreign diplomas or working for a company that has been given money to hire people who just moved to the Republic of Serbia and fill a need that can’t be easily met on the local labor market.
If you need more news on what is considered a company that has received incentives for employing newly settled individuals in the Republic of Serbia for whom there is a need that cannot be easily met on the domestic labor market then click here.
Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, recently said that Russians and Ukrainians will soon be able to get Serbian citizenship. In this case, getting Serbian documents will be easier for Russians and Ukrainians who own businesses in Serbia, employ a certain number of Serbians, and make a certain amount of money. We’ll figure out later what the minimum number of employees and amount of money the company has to “turn over” for its owner to get Serbian documents.
Serbia is a good place for newcomers from northern Europe to start businesses. This is shown by the fact that almost every eleventh new business in our country this year was started by a Russian citizen. The Business Registers Agency says that in the first 10 months, 797 companies were started by people from Russia. They mostly work in the IT field. This was recently confirmed by the Serbian Business Registers Agency, which said that most of the companies started by Russians have registered activities for computer programming, consulting services related to business and management, consulting services in the field of information technology, and non-specialized wholesale trade.
So, Russians and Ukrainians will get Serbian citizenship if they hire a certain number of Serbs and make a certain amount of money in these companies. But it’s still not clear if the previous condition will be loosened even more after the regulation is passed.
As the President of Serbia said at the end of last year, they will get this right through a faster process, which will probably mean cutting down the time limits for getting documents that are set by law. According to the law, a foreigner who wants to become a Serbian citizen through admission to citizenship must be at least 18 years old, have never been stripped of their legal rights, and have lived in Serbia for at least 3 years.
A foreigner can also become a citizen of our country if they have been married to a Serbian citizen for at least three years and have been given permanent residency in Serbia, as long as they submit a written statement saying that they consider Serbia to be their country.
Still to be seen is how much this general condition will be changed by specific rules, but that too will happen soon.
PS. And who else, next to Russians and Ukrainians residing in Serbia, may qualify for VIP Serbian citizenship.
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