Serbia work visa and single permit

Which route applies depends on your nationality. Foreigners from countries under the visa regime, or who otherwise need a visa D before applying for residence, start with a D visa issued for employment. It allows a stay of up to 180 days and, since the National Employment Service assesses the employment conditions before it is issued, it is also a residence and work permit while valid, so you can start work on arrival. To continue the same job beyond the visa, you request a single permit while the visa is still valid.

Citizens of visa-exempt countries do not need a D visa. They can request a single permit electronically whether they are already in Serbia or not, and the permit is issued for up to 36 months. Visa-exempt workers may still choose a D visa for employment if the job lasts less than 180 days.

Within the employment purpose, a single permit is issued for: employment under an employment contract or another contract under the Labour Law; self-employment; referred persons under a business and technical cooperation contract; intra-company transfer; independent professionals; and training and development, such as specialisation, internships and paid professional practice. For employment under a contract, the employer must start a labour market test with the National Employment Service.

Four other employment reasons lead to a temporary residence permit that already includes the right to work, without a separate single permit: volunteering, accredited foreign journalists, experts on projects with Serbian state bodies, and crew members producing an audiovisual work in Serbia. Students, researchers, property owners, family members of Serbian citizens and several other groups also have the right to work through their residence permit.

For a D visa for employment in the narrow sense you file the form, a passport valid 90 days beyond departure, issued in the last 10 years with two consecutive blank pages, a photo, the fee, an invitation letter, the registration certificate of the Serbian employer, the draft employment contract or other labour contract signed by both sides, an extract from the employer’s job systematisation rulebook (or, for employers with fewer than 10 staff, a statement describing the job and the required qualification), your diploma or other proof of qualification with a certified translation, a power of attorney if the employer files for you, and the landlord’s statement agreeing to register your address.

The single permit file is similar and is uploaded as electronic or digitised documents. The employer must keep the original evidence of the employment conditions, for example the contract at its seat, even when the worker files the request.

The single permit is requested exclusively on the Welcome to Serbia portal (eforeigner.welcometoserbia.gov.rs). The worker can file personally with an eID account, or the employer can file on the worker’s behalf, also for several workers at once. An employer needs a registered eUprava account and must give the filing person the role "Working with Foreign Citizens"; access to the company’s e-mailbox (eSanduče) is assigned separately. The vacancy registration form (PPZ) is completed on eUprava or during the filing.

The portal calculates the fees and the request is forwarded once they are paid: RSD 430 request fee and RSD 22,770 for the single permit. Decisions, requests for additional documents and other notices arrive only in the eSanduče of whoever filed. A properly completed request is decided within 15 days. When it is approved, the worker gives biometric data at the police foreigners’ office and receives a certificate with the foreigner registration number, then the biometric card.

Your address must be registered within 24 hours of arrival or of a move. The landlord’s statement filed with the application should show the same address the landlord or accommodation provider reports to the police. You must live and work in line with the ground of the permit: an extension can be refused if the previous permit was not used for its purpose, and long absences from Serbia have to be justified. A visa-exempt worker may leave and re-enter Serbia while the request is pending.

An extension is requested no earlier than three months and no later than the day the current permit expires; a timely request lets you stay until the decision. The single permit can be extended for up to three years again. You can change employer during the validity of the permit with prior approval of the employment service. If you came on a D visa issued for another purpose, such as family reunification, you cannot switch to a single permit inside Serbia; you must leave and apply for a new D visa for employment.

A request is refused, among other reasons, when the passport is valid less than three months beyond the permit, when the employment service gives a reasoned assessment that the conditions for employment are not met, when there is a justified suspicion that the permit will not be used for its purpose, when documents are false, or for security reasons. Under the Law on Foreigners an appeal against a refusal can be filed within 15 days of receiving the decision, in Serbian and with the fee; it suspends enforcement and is decided by the Ministry of the Interior.