Serbia permanent residence

You qualify after at least three consecutive years of lawful temporary residence or temporary residence and work (single permit) immediately before the application, during which you actually lived in Serbia. Several absences totalling up to ten months, or a single absence of up to six months, are allowed. If part of the period was residence for study or schooling and you then changed ground, only half of that study time counts. Three continuous years with asylum, while living in Serbia and holding a valid ID card for persons granted asylum, also qualify.

Special cases need no three-year period: a minor on temporary residence whose parent is a Serbian citizen or a permanent resident; a foreigner originating from Serbia, for example born there with Serbian citizenship or with Serbian citizen parents; a foreigner of Serbian origin who can prove it; and another foreigner if it is in the interest of Serbia. In special cases you can apply during any lawful stay.

You submit the application form, a photograph, your valid passport for inspection with a photocopy, proof of means of subsistence, proof of health insurance, proof that the application is justified on the ground of your stay, your registered residential address in Serbia (the address of your temporary residence) and proof of the administrative fees. Proof of justification depends on your previous ground: a real estate ownership extract, proof of employment in Serbia, civil register extracts showing kinship with a Serbian citizen or permanent resident, the marriage register extract and the spouse’s citizenship record, a marriage document with a permanent resident, or evidence of an extramarital union.

Means of subsistence can be shown by a salary statement, an employment contract, pension payments, registration of an agricultural holding, a bank balance equal to the Serbian minimum salary, or a certified guarantee from the employer or a household member with proof of funds. Requests for minors are signed by both parents or include the other parent’s certified consent.

Under the general rule you apply at the earliest 60 days before and at the latest on the day your temporary residence or single permit expires, in person at the police administration for foreigners of your registered address, after booking an appointment. A timely application allows you to stay in Serbia until the procedure ends. The fees are set by tariff number 37 of the Law on Republic Administrative Fees and by the Ministry of the Interior regulation on service fees; the amount was not shown on the official page checked.

If approved, you give biometric data at the police and receive a certificate that the foreigner ID card is being issued. The card is valid five years and is renewed on request; minors receive a card valid two years, and children under 12 are not fingerprinted.

Permanent residents have free access to the labour market without a single permit. They must register their domicile and any change of address within eight days. The right ceases if you are a serious threat to public order or security, receive a removal or expulsion measure, gave false information in the procedure, move out of Serbia or live abroad continuously for more than one year, or waive the right. A permanent resident may apply for Serbian citizenship at the competent police station.

Under the Law on Foreigners, a refusal of permanent residence does not affect your continued stay on approved temporary residence if you still meet its conditions. You can appeal within 15 days of receiving the decision, in writing, in Serbian and with the fee, through the authority that decided; the Government decides on the appeal, and the appeal suspends enforcement.