The Serbian Interior Ministry has drafted a bill on acquiring citizenship after a year of work in a local company
The draft law does not require renunciation of previous citizenship, which was previously mandatory
On March 30, the Serbian Ministry of Interior published draft amendments to the law on local citizenship acquisition. It simplifies the procedure for children and spouses of Serbs and those who work in the country.
According to the draft law, those who have lived in Serbia for a year on a residence permit, have confirmed their higher or secondary education documents with local authorities, and have officially worked for a year in a Serbian company will be able to apply.
The foreigner must also write a statement that he or she "considers the Republic of Serbia to be his or her country."
At the same time, according to the current law, in order to obtain a passport, one must live in the country for three years, not one, and renounce his or her previous citizenship.
The rationale for the draft law states that the new rules will help "eradicate statelessness" and reduce the number of "legally invisible persons." For example, Russians can enter the country without a visa for 30 days, then leave for a few hours and renew their visa-free stay an unlimited number of times.
The new rules will also allow "attracting highly skilled personnel and representatives of scarce professions."
Public discussions on the draft will last until April 21.
In December 2022, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced a simplified procedure for Russians and Ukrainians to obtain citizenship because "the country lacks labor," the Serbian newspaper Novosti quoted him as saying. In the first ten months of 2022, Russians registered 797 companies in the country, most of them in the IT sector.
According to the Serbian Interior Ministry, 140,000 Russians and 22,700 Ukrainians registered in the country from February 24 to November 2, 2022.
Background. Earlier, the President of Serbia promised that all Serbs who fought in the Wagner PMC would go to prison.
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