How to get Serbian citizenship in 2026

What are the ways to get Serbian citizenship

Six years in the country and giving up your old citizenship: that is the price Serbia sets for an ordinary foreigner. A descendant of Serbs can get the same passport without living a day in Belgrade and keep the old one. Between these extremes sit five more legal routes, and the choice decides everything: time, money and the fate of the first passport.

All routes are set out in the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia (Zakon o državljanstvu Republike Srbije), published in the Official Gazette (Službeni glasnik RS) under numbers 135/2004, 90/2007 and 24/2018. The text has not changed since 2018. Decisions on admission to citizenship are made by the Serbian Ministry of Interior (Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova, MUP) and, in special cases, by the government.

In every case except registration by descent and admission under Article 19, the applicant signs a written statement (izjava) that they consider the Republic of Serbia their state. It is often sold as a separate route to a passport. It is not: the statement is mandatory for almost everyone but grants nothing on its own.

And the key caveat. Article 41 allows the ministry to refuse even when all conditions are met, if the interests of the Republic of Serbia require it. Apart from registration by descent, the law gives no automatic right to a passport.

What changed in 2023-2026

The biggest news of recent years is what did not happen. A liberal citizenship bill in 2023 was withdrawn under pressure from Brussels, and in 2026 the 2018 version of the law still applies. The practice around the law, however, has shifted noticeably, especially for Russians.

The takeaway is simple: waiting for the law to soften makes no sense. The 2023 attempt ran into Brussels, and after the new European Union regulation the pressure has only grown.

How many years in Serbia before citizenship

At least six, even though the citizenship law itself says three. The Law on Foreigners requires three years for permanent residence, and the Law on Citizenship then requires three more years living with it. On the ordinary route, neither money nor connections shorten this.

Article 14 of the Law on Citizenship sets four conditions:

1. Permanent residence. Approved permanent residence (stalno nastanjenje).
2. Age and legal capacity. 18 or older, not deprived of legal capacity by a court.
3. Three years of registered domicile. At least three consecutive years before applying with a registered permanent address (prijavljeno prebivalište). A foreigner gets this registration only together with permanent residence, so years on a temporary permit do not count.
4. Leaving the previous citizenship. A release document (otpust) or proof that it will be granted once the applicant is admitted to Serbian citizenship. The exceptions are covered below.

Plus the written statement recognising Serbia as one's state. The law requires no exam in language, history or the constitution. For comparison, Germany requires German at B1 level and a test. Serbia is softer on exams but tougher on time and on giving up the previous passport.

How the six years add up

Example calculation for a freelancer who moved to Belgrade in January 2026 and registered as a sole trader: temporary residence until January 2029, permanent residence application at the end of 2028, three years with domicile until roughly 2032, then the citizenship application and leaving Russian citizenship. A realistic passport date is 2033 or later.

Collecting the three years on a temporary permit is covered in Serbian residence permit in 2026 and on the pages residence through business registration and residence through business investment.

Do you have to give up your citizenship for a Serbian passport

For naturalization, yes. The number of new Serbian citizens from Russia fell almost threefold in a year: 532 Russians received a Serbian passport in 2023 and only 188 in 2024, according to Serbian Interior Ministry data. Of those 188, just 94 went through the ordinary route based on residence or marriage, 73 received passports under Article 19 and 21 on the basis of Serbian origin.

Serbia itself does not ban dual citizenship. Article 5 of the law only states that a Serbian citizen holding a second passport is treated as a Serbian citizen on Serbian territory. But naturalization under Article 14 requires leaving the previous citizenship. There are three caveats:

• the condition is met if, under the law of the applicant's own country, that citizenship is lost automatically on acquiring Serbian citizenship;
• if the country does not allow release or sets conditions that cannot be met, a statement renouncing the previous citizenship after acquiring Serbian citizenship is enough;
• renunciation is not required if it is impossible or cannot reasonably be expected.

For Russians, arguing impossibility is hard: Russian law does provide a procedure for leaving citizenship. In practice the Serbian ministry issues the Article 15 certificate, the applicant leaves Russian citizenship through a consulate and waits for the Serbian decision.

The risk of ending up stateless

By December 2025, at least 32 Russians and Belarusians had received preliminary approval, left their previous citizenship and were left with nothing. Before autumn 2023, that gap lasted 2-4 months; now it stretches beyond two years. Science journalist Mikhail Kovalenko left Russian citizenship in October 2023 and more than two years later was still without a passport.

The practical conclusion: leaving Russian citizenship before the Serbian ministry's decision is final means risking years without any passport at all. Nobody names the timeline in advance.

Who does not have to renounce. Spouses of Serbian citizens (Article 17), emigrants and their descendants (Article 18), members of the Serbian people (Article 23) and those admitted in the state's interest (Article 19). That is why these routes account for a sizeable share of passports issued to Russians.

How dual citizenship works in other countries is covered in our review dual citizenship in 2026.

How to get Serbian citizenship by marriage

Marriage to a Serbian citizen saves three years and keeps the previous passport. Article 17 requires just three things: at least three years of marriage, approved permanent residence and the statement recognising Serbia as one's state. There is no requirement to leave the previous citizenship and no three years of domicile after permanent residence.

The catch is in the words permanent residence. Article 68 of the Law on Foreigners does not list spouses of Serbian citizens among those who get permanent residence without three years on a temporary permit, so a spouse has to live those three years like everyone else. The temporary permit is issued for family reunification, and its fee is half the standard one: about $120 instead of $225.

If the marriage took place before the move, the three years of marriage and the three years on a temporary permit run in parallel. Example calculation: in that case a passport is realistically possible in about four years including the review, against six-plus on the ordinary route.

A sham marriage for a passport is a bad idea, and not only morally. Article 45 allows the ministry to annul the acquisition of citizenship if it was based on false documents, statements or incorrect facts. The only exception is where annulment would leave the person stateless.

The spouse of someone who became a citizen through the emigrant route (Article 18) or in the state's interest (Article 19) can also be admitted on simplified terms, without leaving their previous citizenship.

Serbian citizenship by descent and Serbian roots

The law is most generous to descendants of Serbs: no residence in the country and no leaving the previous citizenship. In 2024, 21 Russians received a passport this way. The main work here is not waiting but gathering documents that prove the roots.

Three different grounds

The current Article 18 sets no generational limit. The 2023 bill proposed limiting descendants to the second degree of kinship in the direct line, meaning children and grandchildren, but it was withdrawn together with the other amendments.

How to prove Serbian roots

According to the Serbian Interior Ministry's list, an Article 23 application can rely on a citizenship certificate of a parent or ancestor, or a public document stating the Serbian nationality of the applicant or an ancestor, or one in which they declared themselves Serbian. It is worth searching the family archive early for anything that records nationality: parents' birth certificates, church records, military papers. Documents from Russia, Ukraine and other countries need an apostille and a translation by a court translator (sudski tumač) in Serbia.

Serbian origin and residence permits

The law also helps those who want to move first. Article 68 of the Law on Foreigners allows permanent residence for people of Serbian origin without three years on a temporary permit, and a government decree on special categories of foreigners gives them a separate ground for temporary residence.

Serbian citizenship by investment and special merit: Article 19

Serbia has no citizenship-by-investment program: no fixed amount, no list of assets, no way to pay for the outcome. What exists is Article 19, which allows a foreigner to be admitted if their admission is in the interest of the Republic of Serbia. In that case there is no need to leave the previous citizenship, register a domicile or live three years in the country.

The decision is made not by the Interior Ministry but by the government of Serbia, on a proposal from the relevant ministry. No state fee is charged on this ground: the tariff of republic administrative fees says so expressly. The law does not define what counts as the state's interest, which makes this a purely political decision.

Who has received a passport by government decision

Some well-known examples:

The most telling case of 2026 is Yakub Zakriev, a nephew of Ramzan Kadyrov under US and UK sanctions. He was granted Serbian citizenship in April 2026, and four days later the government revoked its decision. The government gave no explanation.

Can an investor count on it

Article 19 has long been open to athletes and artists, but for an investor it is harder: the outcome cannot be bought, there are no transparent criteria and the decision depends on politics. Anything sold as Serbian citizenship by investment at a fixed price is at best a residence permit and at worst a scheme.

Brussels is narrowing this path. In 2023 the European Commission secured the withdrawal of Serbia's fast-track citizenship bill, and since 30 December 2025 such schemes are expressly a ground for suspending visa-free travel to the European Union.

The legal entry point for an investor is a residence permit; details are on the pages Serbian residence by investment and residence through business investment. Buying property also gives only a residence permit, not a passport. A similar special-merit mechanism exists in the European Union: Austrian citizenship under Article 10(6).

How much does Serbian citizenship cost in 2026

Admission to citizenship itself costs about $250, and a single fee covers the whole family. The amounts are set by the Law on Republic Administrative Fees (Zakon o republičkim administrativnim taksama), tariff number 39, as indexed for 2026. The fees are set in Serbian dinars and converted to dollars at the official rate of the National Bank of Serbia.

An important detail of the tariff: when family members are admitted at the same time - a spouse, minor children and unemployed children up to 26 - the fee is paid for one decision. For a family of four, that is the same $250.

On top come costs outside the tariff: apostilles and translations, certificates from the country of citizenship, leaving the previous citizenship at that country's rates and support from Murblz specialists. A new Serbian passport has cost about $45 since 21 March 2026.

Example calculation for a family on the naturalization route: about $250 for citizenship, and before that about $230 per applicant for permanent residence plus the temporary residence fees. The main expense is not the fees but six years of living in the country. Taxes for those years are covered on the page taxes in Serbia.

Compare with all programs: second passport cost in 2026

How to apply for Serbian citizenship: documents and timelines

The law calls the admission procedure urgent (hitan postupak), but sets no deadline by which the ministry must answer. In practice in 2026 it takes anything from several months to a year, while Russians waiting after leaving their previous citizenship have waited more than two years.

Step by step

Basic document package

According to the Serbian Interior Ministry's list, the application must include:

• the application form, available from the police;
• an extract from the register of births or a birth certificate;
• a certificate of current citizenship no older than six months;
• a marriage certificate, if married;
• a copy of an identity card or passport;
• the signed statement recognising Serbia as one's state, on the prescribed form;
• proof of payment of the fee under tariff number 39.

For Serbian roots, proof of origin is added; for refugees, a document confirming status.

The law requires no language exam, but all correspondence with the ministry is in Serbian.

What a Serbian passport gives: visa-free travel in 2026

The Serbian passport opens 135 destinations without a visa or with a visa on arrival. For a Russian, that is a real jump: the Russian passport opens 114 destinations. For a Ukrainian, it adds almost nothing: the Ukrainian passport opens 142.

A rare combination of the Serbian passport is visa-free access to Schengen, China and Russia at the same time. For families who travel both to Europe and to Russia, this is the main practical advantage.

What a Serbian passport does not give. Serbia is a European Union candidate, not a member, so there is no right to live and work in the European Union, only trips of up to 90 days. And visa-free travel to the European Union is not permanent. The revised suspension mechanism in force since 30 December 2025 lets the European Union suspend it for misalignment with European Union visa policy or for selling citizenship. Serbia keeps visa-free entry for Russians, and the European Commission openly calls the growing number of Russians with Serbian passports a risk. A detailed comparison of passports is in the article passport ranking 2026.

Serbian citizenship: differences by country of origin

The law is the same for everyone, but Russians and Ukrainians start from different positions: from the length of visa-free stay to what a Serbian passport actually adds.

Travel. A Serbian passport brings visa-free Schengen at the cost of six years and giving up Russian citizenship. With Serbian roots or a marriage to a Serbian citizen, those routes are the better choice: the Russian passport stays.

Life in the country. A Serbian passport matters more for life in the country than for travel. Before applying, it is worth checking how Ukrainian law treats a second citizenship.

Taxes and military service

A passport on its own does not change tax residence. A Serbian tax resident is someone who has spent 183 days or more in the country in any 12-month period or whose centre of vital interests is here, and residents pay tax on worldwide income. Rates and rules are on the page taxes in Serbia.

Men should factor in the army. Compulsory conscription has not applied in Serbia since the end of 2010, but the authorities have announced the return of 75-day service for young men, and money for it is in the 2026 budget. Before applying, check whether the conscription law has been adopted and whom it covers.

Alternatives: where to get a second passport without giving up your own

If six years and leaving the previous citizenship do not work, here is what to compare Serbia with.

All second citizenship options are collected in the section second citizenship, and if the passport is not urgent and a legal status matters most, see the section residence permits.

Who Serbian citizenship suits and who it does not

A Serbian passport is a good finish line for those who plan to live in Serbia anyway, and a poor goal for anyone who needs a second passport quickly and without relocating.

It suits descendants of Serbs and of emigrants from Serbia, spouses of Serbian citizens and those already living in the country on a residence permit who see it as home for years to come.

It does not suit those who want to buy a passport: no such program exists. Russians without Serbian roots or marriage who are not ready to part with Russian citizenship. And those who spend a couple of months a year in Serbia: the years to permanent residence are counted by actual residence.

How we help

We start with an analysis: which ground in the law really fits the family, how many years the path will take and what risks come at the stage of leaving the previous citizenship. We help obtain residence permits, open a personal bank account in Serbia, gather proof of Serbian origin, and translate and apostille documents. Legal representation before the Serbian Interior Ministry is handled by Murblz specialists together with partners licensed locally.

All of the country's programs are on the page Serbia. If Serbia does not fit, we say so directly and suggest a country where the goal is reachable faster.

What Serbian citizenship gives

How to get Serbian citizenship by naturalization

FAQ

135 visa-free destinations with a Serbian passport