Serbia May Become Your Second Home: Rules in 2023

Serbia has been a popular country for relocation in the past few years due to many reasons.

22:56 23 October 2023

Serbia has been a popular country for relocation in the past few years due to many reasons. First of all, it is actively developing, and the business conditions and living standards are becoming better and better. Second, it is a European country that is about to join the EU: it complies with all EU standards, but the prices are much lower than in the European Union. Another advantage of the situation is that obtaining a residence permit is still easy, but it gives good prospects of obtaining the right to permanent residence and then Serbian citizenship. It can happen in a few years, and it may be EU citizenship by that time!

As you see, Serbia is a unique offer. If you want to read more about it, you can visit our page and search numerous articles on Serbia. Our portal gives a lot of information on different destinations for relocation, business, banking, investment, and more. You can also book an initial free session with our specialist to discuss all the details and find the best solution for you. We will help you analyze your situation and find the option that will suit you best at no fee. And if you want to delegate the administrative issues to us, we will be happy to give you a hassle-free experience.

Staying in Serbia in 2023: Facts a Foreigner Should Know

Serbia no longer requires PCR COVID test and is open to nationals of any country. If you want to acquire a Serbian residence permit, you can do so by buying any real estate (regardless of the price), setting up a company in the country, getting married to a citizen of Serbia, or signing an employment contract with a Serbian company. You will need to live in the country for 5 years before you can apply for permanent residence, and it will entitle you to visa-free access to many EU countries.

If you are a freelancer or an IT specialist, you will have no problem finding a job in Serbia as the labor market is quite active and there are a lot of vacancies available on local websites. If you have any doubts, please click on the above link to contact our experts and share them: they know the current situation and will update you on the matter.

Visa-Free Access to Serbia

There are countries whose citizens can enter Serbia without a visa and stay there for a definite period of time. Let’s look at these:

• Australia and New Zealand
• EU countries
• Seychelles and Tunisia
• USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil
• Post-USSR countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
• Switzerland, Monaco, Norway, Iceland, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Andorra, Macedonia, Vatican, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania.
• Asian countries: Singapore, Turkey, UAE, Hong Kong, Korea, Israel, Macau, and Japan

A foreign passport gives you the right to stay in Serbia for 30 to 90 days. You can make a visa run, an opportunity used by some foreigners (they leave the country and re-enter it). If it seems like a nuisance and you intend to stay in Serbia for some time, you can use the existing immigration programs that will entitle you to stay in Serbia for longer on a legal basis.

Duration of Stay in Serbia Without a Visa

Let’s see some examples just to illustrate:

• If you are an EU resident or you have a valid US, UK, or Schengen visa, you can stay in Serbia for 90 days.
• The citizens of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan can stay in the country for no more than 30 days.
• Holders of Ukrainian, Armenian, and Azeri passports can stay in Serbia for up to 90 days every 6 months.

Duration of Stay for Long-Term and Short-Term Visa Holders

The number of days you are allowed to legally stay in the country depends on the document you have:

• Visa C holders can stay in Serbia for 90 days out of every 180-day period
• Visa D holders are allowed to stay in Serbia for up to 180 days a year
• If you are in transit, you don’t need any special documents. However, your stay should not exceed 24 hours – just enough to change trains, planes, or any other kind of transport, and continue your trip.
• Residence permit holders can legally reside in Serbia for up to 1 year and then renew the document.

Extending your Stay

Let’s see how you can stay in Serbia for as long as you need:

• Visa run. It is technically done as follows: you cross the border to a neighboring state (Bosnia, Montenegro, etc.) and re-enter Serbia, and it gives you the right to stay there for 30 days more. This scheme can be repeated as many times as you want to, so it is very popular.
• Short-Term Visa C is hard to extend as you have to attach supporting documents that explain why you need a longer stay.
• Long-Term Visa D is granted to those who want to obtain a local residence permit, have an employment agreement in Serbia, own real estate in the country, or fulfill some other conditions that give them the right to it. If you want to extend this kind of visa, you will also need to provide the documents that explain the reasons.
• Extending a residence permit is the easiest way to legally stay in Serbia for longer. You will also have to provide some good reasons why you want to live in Serbia for another year, and they may include real estate possession, having a company in Serbia, an employment contract, studies, and so on.

If you have extended your residence permit 5 times, you will have the right to permanent residence.

Use our Help

Here are the issues we can help you with:

• Open a bank account and get a bank card for you in Serbia
• Offer attractive real estate to buy in Serbia to qualify for a residence permit
• Rent an apartment for you in a good district that you will like
• Help with obtaining a residence permit after company setup/re-domiciliation to Serbia

You can try and venture on your own, but it may be challenging if you don’t know how to overcome the local administrative hurdles or you don’t know Serbian well enough. If you want to have a smooth experience, do not hesitate to visit the above link and contact our specialists!