Serbian passport

Updated on Sep 23, 2024

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Issued by Serbia Purpose Identification		Type of document Passport Eligibility requirements Serbian citizenship

Date first issued 7 July 2008 (biometric passport booklet) Expiration 10 years after acquisition for adults; 5 years if issued to a person between 3 and 14 years of age; 3 years for person under 3 years old

Serbian passports are issued to Serbian citizens at any age, and it is the primary document of international travel issued by Serbia.

Passports are issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs or, if the citizen resides abroad, at the embassy. Besides serving as proof of identity and of citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from Serbian consular officials abroad, if needed. Citizens can not have multiple Serbian passports at the same time.

Serbian biometric passports were introduced on 7 July 2008.

Design

Current passports are issued in accordance with the "Law on Travel Documents" from 2007. Serbian passports have a burgundy red cover, in line with the EU standard, and have two inscriptions in golden letters - РЕПУБЛИКА СРБИЈА ("Republic of Serbia") at the top and ПАСОШ ("Passport") at the bottom divided by the coat of arms. The biometric passport symbol, alerting to the presence of a RFID chip inside the document, is at the very bottom of the cover page. The inside cover features the Serbian coat of arms in navy blue ink, while the first page contains the name of the country and the word "passport" in three languages - Serbian (Cyrillic script), English, and French. The inside back cover contains information on consular assistance in the three aforementioned languages.

Identity information page

The Serbian passport includes the following data:

Type (‘P’ - Passport)

Code for issuing country ("SRB" - Serbia)

Passport serial number

Name of bearer

Nationality ("Srpsko" (Serbian))

Date of birth (DD.MM.YYYY)

National identity number ("JMBG")

Sex

Place of birth

Place of residence

Issuing office

Date of issue (DD.MM.YYYY)

Date of expiry (DD.MM.YYYY)

Signature and photo of bearer

The identity page also contains the RFID chip.

Languages

The data page is printed in Serbian (Cyrillic script), English and French, while the personal data is entered in Serbian (Latin script).

Visa pages

The passport contains further 32 pages suitable for visas and border stamps. They feature a range of light colors, predominantly red, green, yellow and blue, and have the Serbian coat of arms in the middle. They are perforated with the passport's serial number on the bottom, and have watermarks with page numbers.

Types

Passports that can be issued are:

Regular passport is issued to all citizens.

Valid for 10 years, or for 5 years if issued to a person between 3 and 14 years of age and 3 years for person under 3 years old.

Maximum processing time is 30 days for regular applications (60 days at diplomatic-consular missions), and 48 hours for urgent applications. Fee is RSD 3,600.00.

Diplomatic passport is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to diplomats, high-ranking officials, members of the parliament and persons traveling on official state business, as well as to immediate family members of the above.

Validity is determined by the nature of the position held - diplomats and officials will usually receive the passport covering their mandate in office.

Official passport is identical in all aspects to the diplomatic passport, but lacks the privileges of diplomatic immunity. It is issued to mid and low-ranking officials, as well as to non-diplomatic staff at the embassies and consulates.

In case of loss of a passport abroad, an emergency travel document is issued by the consulate, which is used by citizens of Serbia to return to the country.

A seaman's book is also considered a travel document.

International travel using Serbian biometric ID

Serbian identity cards can be used instead of a passport for travel to some neighboring countries of Serbia that have signed special agreements with the Serbian Government. Serbian ID does not feature contact-less RFID chip, so it is not fully ICAO9303 compliant biometric travel document.

Visa requirement for Serbian citizens

In 2016, Serbian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 115 countries and territories, ranking the Serbian passport 43rd in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

Serbian passport is one of the 5 passports with the most improved rating globally since 2006 in terms of number of countries that its holders may visit without a visa.

Inhabitants of Kosovo

People born in Kosovo or otherwise legally settled in Kosovo are by law considered Serbian nationals and as such they are entitled to Serbian passport. However, these passports are not issued by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior. Instead they are issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate. These particular passports do not allow the holder to enter the Schengen Area without a visa for a stay of less than three months within half a year, while Serbian citizens with passports issued by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior enjoy such a privilege. Bearers of passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate require Schengen visa for travel to Schengen area since they are not covered by the Annex II list of countries allowed visa free entry to the Schengen Area. The European Union considered it impossible for Serbia to evaluate the issuing of breeder documents needed to apply for a passport and the integrity of the procedures applied by Serbia to check the authenticity of documents provided by applicants for that purpose.

References

Serbian passport Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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