Serbia and the Netherlands at a glance
- Stamp
- Apostille, Hague Convention in force for Serbia since 27 April 1992
- Issued by
- The basic court (osnovni sud) with jurisdiction over the notary or authority that issued the document
- Language
- Serbian, sworn translation
- Register
- Business Registers Agency (APR) (online)
- Tax treaty
- Signed 1982, in force 1983 (Rijksoverheid, 1 October 2026)
- EU trade
- Stabilisation and Association Agreement, 2013
- Moving here
- Residence permit needed
Documents from Serbia
Passport copy, certified by a notary in Serbia.
Proof of address in Serbia, at most three months old.
Power of attorney. Sign the power of attorney before a Serbian javni beležnik (public notary), then take it to the basic court for the apostille.
Ownership statement, one page from us.
The apostille. The basic court (osnovni sud) with jurisdiction over the notary or authority that issued the document. The court president or an authorised judge signs the apostille. For notarial documents, this takes a few days.
Good to know. Go to the court in the notary’s district. Only that court will apostille the document. Serbian documents are in Cyrillic or Latin script. Make sure the Latin spelling of names matches the passport.
If a company from Serbia becomes a shareholder
Register extract, at most three months old: Business Registers Agency (APR). Order an extract showing directors and members. The basic court apostilles certified extracts. Plus articles, signing authority and ownership chart.
Trade between Serbia and the EU
Serbia's trade in goods with the European Union (EU) reached €47.1 billion in 2025: EU exports of €25.9 billion and imports of €21.2 billion. The EU accounted for 57.1% of Serbia's trade in goods and 61.3% of its exports in 2025.
Machinery and transport equipment led trade both ways in 2025, with 36.4% of EU imports and 31.6% of EU exports, followed by manufactured goods classified by material.
The Stabilisation and Association Agreement, in force since 1 September 2013, gives duty-free access both ways for most goods. On 5 May 2026, 18 banks in Serbia joined the Single Euro Payments Area schemes, for faster and cheaper euro transfers.
Serbia applied for EU membership in December 2009 and became a candidate country in March 2012. Accession negotiations started on 21 January 2014. Since December 2021, 22 of 35 chapters have been open and 2 provisionally closed.
Import duties: Access2Markets.
Your next step from Serbia
Get free first advice Your own document list · How a Dutch BV is set up