Marriage to a Serbian citizen and spousal sponsorship to Canada under the marriage immigration initiative is a complex process.
This page is designed to guide you through your marriage to a Serbian citizen and the spousal sponsorship process.

Marriage to a Serbian Citizen

Every country has its own laws that apply to its citizens marrying a person from a different country. Getting married to a Serbian citizen with the goal of eventually bringing them to Canada to live is a process with many steps.

If you want to bring your Serbian spouse or partner to live in Canada, you must then file a sponsorship application for them to become a permanent resident. If they would like to visit you in Canada while their application is in process, they must also apply for a visitor visa. For more information, please see our family sponsorship page and our visitor visa page.

 

Processing Time

If you file a Canadian sponsorship application for your Serbian spouse or partner, this application takes an average of 10-12 months.

A visitor visa application for your spouse or partner to visit you in Canada while the sponsorship applications are processing takes an average of 3 –14 days.

Please see our pages on family sponsorship and Canadian visitor visa for more information on the processing times of these applications.

 

Serbian Marriage Basic Requirements

The law in the Republic of Serbia recognizes only civil marriages. Application for marriage is made at a municipal registrar’s office in the city where you wish to marry. The marriage ceremony will take place two to three days after all documents have been submitted.

Documents to be submitted:

1. Valid Canadian passport as a proof of Canadian citizenship
2. Birth Certificate. You should submit a certified copy of the birth. The birth certificate must be notarized with the “Apostille” seal under the terms of the Hague Convention. The birth certificate must be translated by a court interpreter. The interpreter will affix his/her official seal on the translated copy
3. Statement that he or she is free to marry. This statement is made in front of the Canadian Consular Officer in Belgrade.
4. Certificate issued by Canadian Consular Officer that the marriage contracted in the Republic of Serbia will be valid in Canada
5. Proof of termination of any previous marriages (divorce decree or death certificate). This document must also be translated to Serbian
6. Documents under 3 and 4, after being notarized by the consular officer, are taken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for the final notarization. The MFA address is Bircaninova St. No. 3, Belgrade.

Marriage Certificate

The marriage is recorded in the civil Registry. A Serbian marriage certificate will be issued. One version will be in Serbian and the other in so-called international form (which includes English). In order to use a Serbian public document in Canada it must be certified with an Apostille under the terms of the Hague Convention.

 

Family Members

If your Serbian spouse has dependent children, this does not affect the Serbian Marriage document application.

If you have dependent children, they have no effect on the application to marry a Serbian citizen.

 

List of Serbian Consulates in Canada

Click here

Calling Serbia from Canada

011 – 381 – Area Code – local number

Area Codes of Serbia (landlines only)

Belgrade	11	Kraljevo	36	Pirot	10	Smederevo	26
Bor	30	Kruševac	37	Požarevac	12	Užice	31
Čačak	32	Leskovac	16	Prijepolje	33	Valjevo	14
Jagodina	35	Niš	18	Prokuplje	27	Vranje	17
Kragujevac	34	Novi Pazar	20	Šabac	15	Zaječar	19

 

Area Codes of Vojvodina (landlines only)

Kikinda	230	Pančevo	13	Sremska Mitrovica	22	Zrenjanin	23
Novi Sad	21	Sombor	25	Subotica	24

 

Cellular Codes

• Telekom Serbia: 64, 65 or 66
• Telenor Serbia: 62, 63 or 69
• VIP Mobile: 60, 61 or 68

 

Calling Canada from Serbia

00 – 1 – Area Code – local number

Follow the dialing format shown above while calling Canada from Serbia.

• 00- Exit code for Serbia, and is needed for making any international call from Serbia
• 1 – ISD Code or Country Code of Canada

Area Codes of Canada

Province	Code	Province	Code
Alberta	403 / 587 (southern Alberta) 587 / 780 (central and northern Alberta)	Nunavut	867
BC	236 / 250 / 778 (majority of BC) 236 / 604 / 778 (Metro Vancouver)	Ontario	226 / 519 (southwestern Ontario) 249 / 705 (northeastern Ontario) 289 / 365 / 905 (Greater Toronto Area) 343 / 613 (eastern Ontario) 416 / 647 (Toronto) 807 (northwestern Ontario)
Manitoba	204 / 431	PEI	782 / 902
New  Brunswick	506	Quebec	418 / 581 (eastern Quebec) 438 / 514 (Montreal) 450 / 579 (Greater Montreal) 819 / 873 (remainder of Quebec)
Newfoundland and Labrador	709	Saskatchewan	306 / 639
Northwest Territories	867	Yukon	867
Nova Scotia	782 / 902

 

Time Difference

Serbia is on Central European Time (GMT+1). As with the rest of Europe, Serbia uses Daylight Saving Time but observes it over a slightly different period. During late March and late October the time differences below are off by an hour. Saskatchewan does not participate in DST and so the time difference is an hour greater in the summer.

Canadian Time Zone	# of Hours Serbia is Ahead
Pacific (BC, Yukon)	9 hours
Mountain (Alberta, western Nunavut, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan)	8 hours
Central (Manitoba, Northwest Territories, central Nunavut, northwestern Ontario, Saskatchewan*)	7 hours
Eastern (most of Ontario, most of Quebec)	6 hours
Atlantic (Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, eastern Quebec)	5 hours
Newfoundland	4.5 hours

 

Emergency Information for Canadians in Serbia

Embassy of Canada in Belgrade Kneza Milosa 75 111711 Belgrade Serbia Telephone: 381 (11) 306-3000 Fax: 381 (11) 306-3042 Email: [email protected] Website: serbia.gc.ca

View Larger Map

 

Emergency Numbers

• 19191 – BIA (Security Information Agency)
• 192 – Police
• 193 – Fire Department
• 194 – Ambulance
• 195 – Exact time
• 1961 – Telegram service
• 19011 – International calls
• 1976 – Military ambulance
• 19771 – Landline technical support
• 1987 – Road assistance (AMSS – Automobile and Motorcycle Association of Serbia)
• 11811 – Subscribers numbers
• 19811 – Wake-up service
• 19812 – Various information centre
• 19813 – Landline phone company info centre
• 19822 – Meteorological data (option 1), National lottery (option 2), Liturgical calendar (option 3)
• 19860 – Military police

Canadian Government’s Travel Alerts for Serbia

 

Sponsoring Your Serbian Spouse

The sponsorship process is lengthy and can be frustrating. To learn more about it, click the button below:

For travel alerts, click here

Want to know more about marrying in Serbia? Let us know

Sponsorship Review

Immigroup will review your completed spousal sponsorship application.. Immigroup will make sure you have not made any mistakes on your application or in gathering the documentation of your relationship. We will assess your sponsorship letter and give you peace of mind that you are submitting an application with a very good chance of success. Don’t lose sleep at night worrying about whether you’ve done enough. Call us at 1-866-760-2623 for a review.