Serbia tourist visa and visa-free entry

Serbia publishes its visa regime country by country on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For each nationality the table states whether ordinary, diplomatic and official passport holders need a visa and, if not, how long they may stay; for Türkiye, for example, it gives 90 days within a six-month period counted from the first entry. Check the table for your own nationality before booking.

Under a government decision of 30 October 2014, nationals of countries that normally need a Serbian visa may still enter, transit and stay without one for up to 90 days in six months if they hold a valid Schengen, UK, EU member state or US visa, or a residence permit of the Schengen area, an EU state or the United States. The stay must also fit within the validity of that visa or permit. Travel documents for refugees and stateless persons always need a visa, whichever country issued them.

The short-stay visa C allows entry, transit and a stay of up to 90 days in any 180 days for tourist, business and other trips, with one, two or multiple entries. It cannot be used to switch to temporary residence unless the law says otherwise. The general file is a completed application form, a passport valid at least 90 days after the planned departure with two consecutive blank pages and issued in the last 10 years, a 3.5 x 4.5 cm photo, the fee, proof of the purpose of the trip and adequate travel medical insurance.

For a tourist trip the purpose is shown with a voucher or payment receipt from a travel agency; for a private visit with an invitation letter certified by the competent Serbian authority. You also prove accommodation, means of subsistence for the stay and the return, and your intention to leave before the visa expires. Missions may ask for more and do not accept incomplete files.

Every visitor, with or without a visa, must meet the general entry conditions: a valid travel document, a Serbian visa where required, and enough money for the stay. Serbia treats EUR 50 per day as sufficient, proved with cash or a bank statement. The government portal recommends health insurance covering medical costs of at least EUR 20,000 for the whole stay, and border officers may ask to see it together with a return ticket, a hotel booking or the private address where you will stay, a tour voucher or an invitation letter.

Entry is refused to people without a valid document or visa, without sufficient funds, with an active entry ban or removal measure, with an international criminal record, or where officers reasonably suspect that the trip is for another purpose than declared.

You can apply in person at a Serbian embassy or consulate or online at evisa.welcometoserbia.gov.rs. The online route needs an account on the electronic identification portal eid.gov.rs; you choose the travel purpose, enter personal, family, employment, passport and trip data, upload documents of up to 5 MB each and pay EUR 90 in dinars at the last step. Only then is the application forwarded. You follow its status on the portal and receive notices by email. After approval you contact the mission to arrange how the visa sticker is placed in your passport, unless your nationality receives a digital travel authorisation.

Hotels, hostels, apartments and other paid accommodation register foreign guests electronically in the eTourist application within 24 hours. A private person you visit must register you within 24 hours of your arrival. If you stay neither in paid accommodation nor with a host, you register your own address at the police station for your place of stay within 24 hours of entry or of moving; foreigners’ stays can also be registered online on the eUprava portal. Keep the confirmation, as you may be asked for it when leaving.

A visa-free stay or a visa C is limited to 90 days. Visa-exempt nationals who want to stay longer, study or work apply for temporary residence or a single permit on the Welcome to Serbia portal; nationals who need a visa first obtain a D visa for the same purpose. Transit through Serbia also falls under visa C: you need the entry visa for the next country or documents explaining the purpose of the onward trip.

Under the Law on Foreigners, a refused visa or a refusal of entry can be appealed within eight days of receiving the decision, in writing, in Serbian and after paying the fee, to the authority that issued it. The foreign ministry decides on appeals against mission decisions, and the Ministry of the Interior on border decisions, within 60 days; the appeal does not normally suspend the decision.