Serbian/Croatian translation in Belgium - Certified sworn translator

Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian certified translation in Belgium is among the most frequently requested services for the large ex-Yugoslav diaspora established here over decades. With an estimated 50,000 or more individuals of Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin origin in Belgium, this community generates substantial and varied demand for certified document translation. TranslateBE provides sworn translations accepted by all Belgian authorities, with sworn translators registered with the Belgian Courts of Appeal.

The ex-Yugoslav diaspora in Belgium: a community with deep roots

Belgium's ex-Yugoslav community did not form overnight. Its roots go back to the 1960s and 1970s, when Belgium actively recruited labour migrants from Yugoslavia - particularly from Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia - to work in the steel industry of Wallonia (Liège, Charleroi, La Louvière), the coal mines of Limburg, and later in Brussels' service sector. A second, larger wave arrived in the 1990s as refugees from the wars of Yugoslav dissolution, settling across Belgium with the right to international protection.

Today, the community includes first-generation migrants, their children born in Belgium (who may hold dual nationality), recent economic migrants from Serbia (which remains a non-EU country requiring a visa for Belgium), and citizens of Croatia (an EU member since 2013) and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo (non-EU but with varying visa arrangements). This diversity of legal statuses creates diverse translation needs:

• Family reunification: Serbian nationals in Belgium regularly need certified translations of Serbian civil documents (birth certificates, marriage acts) for OE/DVZ family reunification procedures
• Naturalisation: long-resident ex-Yugoslav nationals applying for Belgian citizenship must submit a full dossier of their home-country civil documents in certified French or Dutch translation
• Diploma recognition: degrees from Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian universities submitted to NARIC for Belgian equivalency require certified translation
• Criminal record extracts: uverenje o nepostojanju krivičnih osuda (Serbia) or its equivalents in other successor states are routinely requested for employment and immigration
• Property and inheritance: ex-Yugoslav nationals handling inheritance or property matters in their country of origin generate a steady demand for translations of Belgian documents into Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian

The dual-script challenge: Cyrillic and Latin in Serbian documents

One of the most distinctive features of Serbian is its use of two official scripts. Serbian is officially written in both Cyrillic (ćirilica) and Latin (latinica), and official documents may appear in either script - or sometimes both. This creates a specific challenge for Belgian authorities and clients alike.

In practice, Serbian official documents - passports, birth certificates, court decisions, criminal records - are issued in Cyrillic. More recent administrative documents and digital formats sometimes use Latin script. Croatian and Bosnian are written exclusively in Latin script. Montenegrin uses both. A sworn translator working with Serbian must be able to read both scripts fluently and produce an accurate translation regardless of which script the original document uses.

The linguistic reality is that Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian are mutually intelligible and structurally very close - linguists often refer to them collectively as Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS). Vocabulary differences exist (Serbian tends to use more words of Slavic origin in some domains; Croatian more Latin-derived forms), and script preferences differ, but a specialist translator in any one of these varieties can work with all three. TranslateBE's translators handle documents from all successor states of former Yugoslavia: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

Apostille and authentication: country-by-country differences

The apostille process differs significantly across the successor states of former Yugoslavia, and this has direct practical implications for Belgians seeking certified translations:

• Serbia: Serbia has signed the Hague Apostille Convention. Serbian public documents can be apostilled by the competent Serbian authority (courts, the Ministry of Justice) before translation. Serbia is an EU candidate country but not yet a member
• Croatia: as an EU member state since 2013, Croatian documents benefit from the simplified EU document circulation rules under Regulation 2016/1191 for certain categories. An apostille may not be required for covered document types between Croatia and Belgium
• Bosnia-Herzegovina: Bosnia has signed the Hague Convention. Documents from the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina entity and the Republika Srpska entity are apostilled through the respective entity's competent court
• Montenegro: a Hague Convention signatory; apostille available through Montenegrin courts
• Kosovo: Kosovo has not signed the Hague Convention. Documents from Kosovo require full legalisation through the chain: local authority → Ministry of Foreign Affairs → Belgian Embassy → Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This makes Kosovo documents significantly more complex to authenticate

TranslateBE advises clients on the appropriate authentication chain for each country and document type, ensuring the certified translation is submitted with the correct supporting documentation.