Is biometric ID mandatory in Serbia?
Executive summary
Serbia operates a modern identity ecosystem in which biometric travel documents and biometric residence/work permits are standard, citizens over 16 are legally required to carry an identity card, and biometric data is treated as a special category under national law [1] [2] [3] [4]. The available reporting indicates that biometric capture is compulsory in specific administrative contexts (passports, residence permits, e‑government access), but the sources do not present a single statutory line that says “every Serbian identity card must be biometric” for all cases beyond those documented contexts [5] [6].
1. What the law and practice already require: passports, residence permits and e‑services
Serbia has issued biometric passports since 2008 and the Ministry of Internal Affairs issues biometric travel documents through police authorities, making biometric passports a standard official document [1] [7]. For foreign nationals, the unified Serbia residence‑and‑work permit is explicitly issued in the form of a biometric ID card and the authorities collect biometric data — photos, fingerprints and signature — during the residence permit process [2] [8]. For digital government services, the eCitizen platform requires a valid biometric document (ID card or passport) for registration as an eCitizen, which makes biometric documents a practical prerequisite to access many online public services [6].
2. Citizens’ identity cards: obliged to carry an ID, but the biometric detail is mixed in the sources
Serbian law obliges all citizens over 16 to carry identity cards and subjects non‑compliance to fines, establishing a legal duty to possess an identity document [3]. Multiple government and legal guidance pages discuss “biometric ID cards” and procedures for applying for them, implying the state uses biometric formats for identity documents in practice [5]. However, the descriptive detail in the sources is not wholly uniform — one source notes that the Serbian identity card does not include a contactless RFID chip and is not fully ICAO9303 compliant as a biometric travel document, which suggests variations in how “biometric” is implemented across document types [3]. The available materials therefore show practical expectation and broad adoption of biometric documents, while not providing a single source that frames an absolute, one‑sentence statutory mandate covering every type of domestic ID beyond the cited contexts [3] [5].
3. Biometric data is classified as sensitive and legally restricted, which shapes how the state can make it compulsory
Serbia’s data protection legal framework treats biometric data used for uniquely identifying a person as “sensitive” or a special category of personal data, meaning its processing is subject to stricter conditions and legal safeguards [4] [9]. That classification shows why biometric capture is typically tied to clearly defined administrative procedures (passports, residence permits, police‑issued documents) rather than an unconstrained grab of biometric identifiers across everyday life [4] [9].
4. Public debate, surveillance fears and government backtracking
Attempts to expand biometric surveillance laws and to introduce mass biometric capture in public spaces have sparked civil society pushback and resulted in the government retracting or redrafting proposals; critics warned that draft internal‑affairs laws would legalise mass facial recognition and non‑selective surveillance [10] [11]. Journalists and privacy monitors likewise note that while law forbids biometric public surveillance in principle, concerns persist about drone and CCTV deployments and about proposals that have been floated and then paused after public pressure [12] [10].
5. Bottom line — mandatory in practice for specific documents and services, not a single blanket pronouncement in the material reviewed
The sources collectively show that biometric documents are standard and required in concrete, documented situations — biometric passports for international travel, biometric residence/work permits for foreigners, and biometric documents as a precondition for eCitizen accounts and many official procedures [1] [2] [6]. Citizens are legally obliged to carry identity cards [3], and government and legal commentary discusses “biometric ID cards” [5]. However, the provided reporting does not include a single, explicit statutory quote that says all Serbian ID cards must be biometric in every circumstance; instead the evidence points to a system where biometric capture is mandatory in key areas and tightly regulated as sensitive personal data [2] [4].