The red biometric passports of citizens of the Republic of Serbia are the same as passports of the citizens residing in Kosovo. However, only because of the two words on the first page of the travel document, they are completely different. Indication Koordinaciona Uprava (Coordination Authority) means that a person who holds such a passport must go in Pristina or Belgrade in order to get visa. That depends on whether the destination country recognized Kosovo or not.
Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic says that the Serb representatives in the Kosovo institutions are always “urging” in the diplomatic missions in Pristina. “After our urging, most of the people received positive responses. However, there are some cases, as it was recently, when members of the ensemble “Venac” didn’t receive visas for a trip to Switzerland,” says Stojanovic.
He points out that in the case of group visa applications, like departure of students and professors abroad, it is very important that the applicants make contact with representatives of Serbs in Kosovo institutions before applying.
However, the students of the Faculty of Philosophy, of the University of Pristina did not travel to Greece on a traditional competition in philosophy, although they applied for it according to the rules.
Travel agencies in the southern province spend almost half of their working time on issues with visas. “It is almost impossible to make an appointment for a German visa, because everything is done electronically, and a few months in advance. All are familiar with the problem, but the solution can be found only if the competent authorities are approachable for our proposals,” was said in one of the agencies.
