U.S. Citizen Services

The American Citizen Services Section (ACS) assists with passport applications, registration of Americans visiting or living in Serbia and in Montenegro, birth reports for children of American citizens born in Serbia and in Montenegro, notarial services, voter registration, income tax forms, emergency service to American citizens. A fuller description of our services is available through links to specific topics.

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TIPS FOR U.S. CITIZEN STUDENTS ABROAD

Before you go: There is much that you can do to prepare for your trip abroad. The best way to ensure a carefree and relaxing trip is to prevent problems before they happen. The more you learn about passports, visas, customs, immunizations, and other travel basics, the less likely you are to have difficulties during your travels. The links at the left offer information about travel to Serbia. For all the rest of your travel plans, the following link has useful suggestions: http://studentsabroad.state.gov.

Consular Newsletter, Issue 12, Spring 2008

Upcoming Change in Passport Issuance to Minors Under Age 16

Notice Regarding Filing of Immigrant Visa Petitions

Recent legislation has led to changes in the procedures American citizens resident abroad will follow if they wish to sponsor an immediate relative (spouse, parent or minor child) for an immigrant visa.

As of January 22, 2007, consular offices abroad were instructed to cease accepting certain immigrant visa petitions because consular officers lacked the means to perform the required criminal background checks on American citizen petitioners, as required by the Adam Walsh Act.

Subsequently, the Department of State and US Citizenship and Immigration Services worked to develop a mechanism whereby USCIS will perform these required "Adam Walsh Act" checks for any petitions accepted abroad by consular officers.

Effective immediately, consular posts abroad will accept petitions for immediate relative immigrant classification from American citizens who are resident in their consular districts, including members of the armed forces, as well as true emergency cases, such as life and death or health and safety, and others determined to be in the national interest. We cannot predict how long processing of petitions will take.

Examples of family emergency include minor children who would be unexpectedly left without a caretaker.

Examples of national interest include facilitating the travel of United States military and other US government direct-hire employees assigned overseas who are pending transfer on orders and need to petition for immigrant classification of their spouse and minor children at posts overseas.

To demonstrate residency in a consular district, the American Citizen petitioners must be able to show that they have permission to reside in the consular district and that they have been doing so continuously for at least six months before filing the petition. Individuals who are in the country on a temporary status, such as student or tourist, would not be considered to meet the residency standard.

All lawful permanent residents, and American Citizens resident in the United States or with a permanent address in the United States, will file I-130 petitions at the USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over their place of residence (as indicated on the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130.pdf).

Avian Flu

We have received several requests for information concerning Avian Flu, also known as Bird Flu. Extensive information is available from the following sources:

State Department’s Avian Flu Fact Sheet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/health/health_1181.html,
as well as the CDC’s page at
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm,
and the WHO’s page at
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/.

For the latest reporting on the spread of the virus, as well as U.S. and international efforts to contain it, please see the State Department’s Global Issues page at http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/global_issues/bird_flu.html.

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