Serbia intra-company transfer permit

You qualify if you have been employed by a company abroad in a managerial or specialist position for at least one year and that employer temporarily assigns you to work, for a fixed period, in its branch, representative office or subsidiary registered in Serbia. The documents must prove both the length of prior employment and the managerial or specialist nature of the job.

If you are instead an employee of a foreign company sent to a separate Serbian company under a business and technical cooperation contract, the ground is "referred person". It also needs at least one year of employment with the foreign employer, but no managerial or specialist level, and the contract between the two companies must state the place and time limit of the work.

For a D visa or single permit for movement within the company you submit the passport, photo, invitation letter (for the visa), the registration certificate of the Serbian branch, office or subsidiary, a confirmation from the foreign employer that you have worked there for at least one year in a managerial or specialist job, the foreign employer’s act sending you to Serbia for temporary work in such a job, both with a certified translation, a power of attorney if the Serbian entity files for you and the landlord’s statement for address registration.

For a referred person, the file instead contains the contract between the Serbian company and the foreign employer with the place and time limit of the work, the Serbian company’s registration certificate, the foreign employer’s confirmation of at least one year of employment and its act of referral, all foreign documents with certified translations.

Nationals who need a visa apply for a D visa for employment with the transfer ground; it allows work from arrival for up to 180 days. Visa-exempt staff go straight to the single permit. The single permit request is filed only on Welcome to Serbia, by the employee with an eID account or by the Serbian entity on the employee’s behalf, and costs RSD 430 plus RSD 22,770. A complete request is decided within 15 days, after which the employee gives biometric data at the police.

The address must be registered within 24 hours of arrival. The permit is tied to the transfer: you must stay in line with that ground, and if it ends early you contact the police foreigners’ office. An extension is filed no earlier than three months before expiry and no later than the expiry date, and the new period starts the day after the old permit ends. Long absences can count against an extension if not justified.

A spouse, extramarital partner or child of a foreigner with temporary residence can apply for temporary residence for family reunification. Visa-required family members first get a D visa for family reunification. Adults who hold residence for reunification with an adult foreign citizen automatically have the right to work in Serbia.