How to get Serbian Citizenship?
How to obtain the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia on the basis of marriage with a Serbian citizen?
The Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia (“Official Gazette of the RS“, No. 135/2004, 90/2007 and 24/2018, the “Law“) provides for 4 grounds for acquiring Serbian citizenship:
- origin;
- by birth on the territory of the Republic of Serbia;
- admission to citizenship;
- on the basis of international agreements.
In practice, the most common way to acquire Serbian citizenship is to become a citizen of the Republic of Serbia by admission to the citizenship.
According to the general conditions for admission to citizenship, the foreigner may, at his request, be admitted to citizenship, if:
- has permanent stay in the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the regulations on the movement and residence of foreigners;
- has reached the age of 18 and has not been deprived of legal capacity;
- has a release from foreign citizenship or submits proof that he will receive the release if he is admitted to the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia;
- until the submission of the request, had continuously registered residence in the territory of the Republic of Serbia for at least three years;
- submit a written statement that he considers the Republic of Serbia as his state.
In addition to the stated general conditions, the Law on Citizenship prescribes several reliefs for foreigners who are admitted to citizenship, among which is the relief that refers to the fact of marriage with our Serbian citizen.
Namely, a foreigner who has been married to a citizen of the Republic of Serbia for at least three years does not have to meet all the above conditions for admission to the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia, but only two
- that he was granted permanent residence in the Republic of Serbia and
- to submit a written statement that he considers the Republic of Serbia as his state.
The application for citizenship of the Republic of Serbia is submitted in person or through a proxy in the police administration at the place of residence or stay of the applicant, and can also be submitted through the competent diplomatic and consular mission of Serbia.
The request must be accompanied by the following documentation:
- Birth certificate;
- Citizenship certificate;
- Marriage certificate;
- a photocopy of the identity document;
- signed statement that he considers the Republic of Serbia as his state (on the prescribed form, which can be obtained at the police station),
- for a child older than 14 years, his presence is required, in order to give consent,
- proof of paid tax and
- if the request of one parent is accompanied by the request of a minor child, it is necessary to enclose the consent of the other parent for admission to the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia.
The competent authority ex officio, with the consent of the party, obtains data from the official records of personal status of citizens (birth register, marriage register and death register), records of citizens of the Republic of Serbia (certificate of citizenship of the Republic of Serbia) and other official records bodies in the Republic of Serbia in which the data necessary for decision-making are contained.
Of course, this does not prevent the applicant from obtaining all the necessary documentation in order to speed up the process of admission to citizenship.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia decides on the requests for acquiring the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia by admission in the form of a decision, and the procedure itself is urgent.