Serbian passport (Serbian: Пасош Србије, romanized: Pasoš Srbije) is the primary document of international travel issued to nationals of Serbia. Passports are issued and renewed by the Serbian Police on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or, if the citizen resides abroad, by the Serbian diplomatic missions. Besides serving as proof of identity and of citizenship, it facilitates the process of securing assistance from Serbian consular officials abroad, if needed.
The Serbian biometric passports were introduced on 7 July 2008 and were handed out in the beginning of August in the same year.[5] All outdated Yugoslav passports became invalid on 31 December 2011.[6] Citizens can not have multiple Serbian passports at the same time.
Appearance
Cover
Serbian passports have a burgundy red cover, in line with the EU standard, and have inscriptions in golden letters in three languages - Serbian Cyrillic script, English and French: РЕПУБЛИКА СРБИЈА, REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, and RÉPUBLIQUE DE SERBIE[a] at the top, and ПАСОШ, PASSPORT, and PASSEPORT at the bottom divided by the Serbian lesser coat of arms.[b] 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 the three aforementioned languages. The inside back cover contains information on consular assistance in the three aforementioned languages.[7]
Data page
The Serbian passport includes the following data:
Type (‘P’ - Passport)
Code for issuing country ("SRB" - Serbia)
Passport serial number
Name of bearer
Nationality ("Republike Srbije" - Republic of Serbia)
The data page also contains the RFID chip and is printed in the Serbian Cyrillic script, English and French, while the personal data is entered in the Serbian Latin script.
Visa and border stamp pages
The passport contains further 32 pages suitable for visas and border stamps. They feature a range of light colours, predominantly red, green, yellow and blue, and have the Serbian lesser coat of arms in the center. They are perforated with the passport's serial number on the bottom, and have watermarks with page numbers.
Validity is determined by the age of the holder: 10 years for adults, 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),[9] and 48 hours for urgent applications. Fee is RSD 3,600.
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 country. A seaman's book is also considered a travel document.
As of 2024, Serbian citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 140 countries and territories, ranking the Serbian passport 37th overall in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index and among the five passports with the most improved rating since 2006.[10][11]
International travel using Serbian identity card
Serbian identity card
Serbian identity cards can be used instead of a passport for travel to some Balkan countries and territories that have signed special agreements with Serbia.
Under Serbian law, people born in Kosovo or legally residing are by law considered Serbian nationals and as such they are entitled to a Serbian passport.[18] However, these passports are not issued by the Directorate of the Administrative Affairs of the Serbian Police but by the Coordination Directorate for Kosovo and Metohija of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs.[19] Bearers of these passports used to require a Schengen visa for travel to the Schengen Area since they were not covered by the Annex II list of countries allowed visa free entry to the Schengen Area.[20] In April 2024, European Parliament adopted a resolution that exempts visa requirements for Serbian citizens with passports issued by Coordination Directorate for Kosovo and Metohija, finally putting an end to Schengen visa requirements for all citizens of the Western Balkans.[21]
At the same time, UNMIK issues its own travel documents.[22][23] It is possible to hold both a Serbian passport and a UNMIK document. Serbia does not recognize the legitimacy of the UNMIK document nor the Kosovo passport.[24] Kosovo does not recognize the Serbian passports and only allows the identity cards for entry.[25] The European Union considered it impossible for Serbia to evaluate the issuing of birth records 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.[citation needed]
