North Macedonia work visa and residence for employment

The Law on Foreigners divides temporary residence for work into three purposes: employment, seasonal employment and posted workers. Employment covers a foreigner employed by a company registered in North Macedonia and also a foreigner working in his or her own company. There is no separate work permit to obtain first: the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVR) asks the Employment Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia for an opinion on whether the conditions are met and approves residence only if that opinion is positive, unless a ratified international agreement provides otherwise.

A foreigner with residence approved for work may only do the work for which it was approved. Nationals who need a visa receive a single-entry visa D from the mission after approval so that they can travel in and collect the permit; for visa-exempt nationals the residence services only require a valid visa where the visa regime demands one.

The employer must be registered in the Central Register of North Macedonia and give a written explanation of why it needs to employ the foreigner. Employer and worker sign an employment contract under the labour laws, and the worker shows suitable education or specific professional qualifications for the job. In self-employment the contract and the qualification evidence are not attached. The general conditions also apply: valid passport, secured accommodation, means of subsistence and health insurance, no entry ban, no threat to public order, security, public health or international relations, and no conviction or pending criminal proceedings in the country where you lived in the year before the request.

Several categories are not tied to the labour market because of the nature of the work: managers, founders, athletes, people working in culture, scientists, editors, staff of diplomatic missions without privileged status, and foreigners who have worked for more than one year for the same employer in the same post. For them the Employment Agency gives its opinion regardless of current labour shortages.

The services portal lists four payments for a first approval: MKD 50 for the request, MKD 1,230 for the decision approving residence (an administrative tax of EUR 20), MKD 930 for the residence permit (EUR 15) and MKD 4,000 for the permit form, set by the decision on MVR form prices published in Official Gazette 71 of 3 April 2025. The total is MKD 6,210. The euro-based taxes are converted at 61.5 on the payment slips, but you pay the denar equivalent at the daily rate.

The request can be filed by the foreigner, by the company that will employ him or her, or by its authorised representative. It goes either to a North Macedonian diplomatic or consular mission, together with the visa D application where a visa is needed, or directly to the MVR. The ministry obtains the Employment Agency opinion and the security checks itself. It decides within 30 working days of receipt, or 60 working days when the request came through a mission, and may extend this by 30 working days in exceptional cases. The decision is collected in person or by an authorised person, or through the mission.

Whoever uses the work of a foreigner must register its start and end with the Employment Agency: within one day of the start when an employment relationship is concluded, or one day before the work starts when there is no employment relationship. The agency issues a form that must be kept at the place of business for the whole period and shown to inspectors on request. Because the residence is tied to the approved work, a different job requires the conditions to be assessed again.

Extensions are requested only at the MVR, before the current permit expires, and each one lasts up to one year. The services portal states a window of no earlier than 90 days and no later than five days before expiry; you may stay until a final decision and receive a certificate confirming this. A worker whose residence for employment is approved for one year can bring a spouse and minor children through family reunification, and the Employment Agency can issue work permits to family members residing on that basis.

A refusal is issued as a written decision. The services portal names the State Commission for Decision-Making in Administrative Procedure and Employment Procedure in Second Instance as the appeal body for this service, with eight days to appeal and 30 days for the appeal decision. Check the instructions on legal remedies in your own decision, which govern your case.