Guidance

Kosovo: Knowledge Base profile

Published 4 September 2025

About: Kosovo

This document contains useful information about Kosovo which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the guidance has factual errors then email HM Passport Office’s Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 2.0
• published for Home Office staff on 1 September 2025

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated with formatting changes.

Kosovo: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Kosovo.

Names in Kosovo consist of a:

• forename
• surname

Some characters used in names in Kosovo do not appear in the English alphabet. As a result, names may be spelt differently on official documents from Kosovo when compared to English.

Some names which originate from Albania may include the following letters which do not appear in the English alphabet:

• ë, which appears as ‘u’ in English
• ç, which appears as ‘ch’ in English

Some names which originate from Serbia may include the following letters which do not appear in the English alphabet:

• б, which appears as ‘b’ in English
• ц, which appears as ‘c’ in English
• ч, which appears as ‘c’ in English
• ћ, which appears as ‘c’ in English
• д, which appears as ‘d’ in English
• џ, which appears as ‘dz’ in English
• ђ, which appears as ‘c’ in English
• ф, which appears as ‘f’ in English
• г, which appears as ‘g’ in English
• и, which appears as ‘i’ in English
• л, which appears as ‘l’ in English
• љ, which appears as ‘lj’ in English
• њ, which appears as ‘nj’ in English
• п, which appears as ‘p’ in English
• ш, which appears as ‘s’ in English
• в, which appears as ‘v’ in English
• з, which appears as ‘z’ in English
• ж, which appears as ‘z’ in English

Change of name

Name changes must be registered through the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the Civil Status Office in the place where the customer’s home address is registered.

Kosovo citizens can change their name multiple times, provided they wait at least 5 years from their previous name change.

Kosovo: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in Kosovo.

Dual nationality is recognised in Kosovo.

Kosovo: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in Kosovo.

Legitimacy

Kosovo recognises a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

 A child will be considered:

• legitimate if:
  • the parents were married at the time of the birth
  • the parents marry after the birth
• illegitimate if the parents never marry

Parental responsibility

Parental responsibility is shared equally between both parents in Kosovo.

Kosovo: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Kosovo.

Adoption is legal in Kosovo.

Kosovo: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Kosovo.

Surrogacy is not allowed in Kosovo.

Kosovo: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Kosovo.

Transgender citizens are recognised in Kosovo.

Kosovo: civil partnerships and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships and marriage in Kosovo.

Civil partnerships and same sex marriages are not recognised in Kosovo.

Civil marriages are legal in Kosovo.

Religious and customary marriages are allowed in Kosovo, but they are only legally recognised if they are registered as civil marriages.

Kosovo: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents in Kosovo.

In Kosovo, birth, death and marriage certificates are issued in Albanian, Serbian and English.

Birth certificates

Since 2008, the Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affair issues birth certificates to everyone:

• born in Kosovo
• born outside Kosovo and registered with a consulate overseas

Since 2012, all births are centrally registered.

Parents must register their child’s birth within 30 days. Late registrations are allowed.

If a parent identifies an error on a birth certificate, the authorities will correct it and give them a new certificate.

The hospital the birth occurs in gives the parents and the local registrar’s office a copy of the birth notification.

Marriage certificates

Marriages in Kosovo must be registered within 15 days of the ceremony. Late registrations are allowed with administrative approval.

Marriage records are kept locally by each municipality.

Marriages are recorded in the marriage register held by the registration office. A marriage certificate is issued at the time of the marriage.

Death certificates

There is no central registry for deaths in Kosovo, every municipality has its own Registry Office.

Deaths must be registered within 30 days. Late registration is allowed.

Identity document

The Kosovo identity card scheme is mandatory for anyone aged 18 or older and for foreign nationals resident in Kosovo. These are issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Office for Registration of Foreigners.