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Carta Serbica – A New Repatriation Initiative Introduced by the Serbian Government

Carta Serbica – A New Repatriation Initiative Introduced by the Serbian Government

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The new repatriation program – Carta Serbica – has been recently introduced allowing people with Serbian roots to obtain temporary residence and possible citizenship in the land of their ancestors.

Carta Serbica program was established on the basis of amendments to the Regulation on the criteria for determining the categories of foreigners who can be granted temporary residence in the Republic of Serbia, regardless of the general grounds for granting temporary residence.

Like other European countries, Serbia faces a labor shortage which surely motivated the Serbian government to proceed with this initiative.

Under the new Carta Serbica program, foreign nationals with Serbian roots who were born abroad or have left Serbia due to certain circumstances and renounced Serbian citizenship can obtain a one-year residence permit in Serbia. Furthermore, they can apply for citizenship, meaning that they can live, work and retire in Serbia.

A simplified procedure for temporary residence can be applied to the following categories of foreign citizens:

- persons of Serbian origin born in the former Yugoslav federal republics;

- persons of Serbian origin born in the diaspora;

- persons of Serbian origin who cannot acquire Serbian citizenship by other means.

Furthermore, new incentives are also introduced, such as tax and customs facilities and the possibility of providing housing loans to non-residents in collaboration with the state-owned Postanska stedionica bank.

It is considered that many of these repatriates will bust the economy by investing, starting a new business, or by introducing advanced know-how.

Carta Serbica was modeled by the similar program earlier introduced in Poland achieving exceptional results.

By Nenad Cvjeticanin, Cvjeticanin & Partners

Serbia Knowledge Partner

Committed to redefining a law firm's role in an emerging regional market, Gecić Law is a full-service law firm that advises international and local clients from the public and private sectors in navigating the complex legal landscape of the region across multiple practice areas. Members of the Gecić Law team have graduated from leading universities in the US and Europe. They have extensive local and international experience, with a particular focus on EU regulatory frameworks and international trade and a proven track record in providing innovative and practical solutions in the most complex of matters.

Gecić Law is an exclusive member of two leading global alliances, TerraLex and TAGLaw, extending its international footprint. The firm and its lawyers have continuously been recognized in several practice areas by elite global directories, including The Legal 500, Chambers and Partners and Benchmark Litigation. Gecić Law was named Law Firm of the Year: South Eastern Europe 2021 and Law Firm of the Year: Eastern Europe and the Balkans 2020 at The Lawyer European Awards and was repeatedly nominated in other practice areas.

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