Citizens of only a few national states need to obtain visas to enter Serbia. It is a highly hospitable country and most nationalities don’t need visas if they want to visit Serbia as tourists. Depending on your country of origin, you can stay in Serbia without a visa for 30 or 90 days.
However, if you would like to stay in the country for a longer period, you have to obtain a residence permit. Luckily, you can use a large number of legal grounds to qualify for a residence permit in Serbia.
One of the easiest ways of legalizing your prolonged stay in the country is enrolling in a training program such as a Serbian language class, for instance. This would be enough to qualify for a residence permit. We must note, however, that this method of legal residence acquisition has a serious disadvantage. Namely, your temporary student’s permit cannot ‘graduate’ into a permanent residence permit. When your study program is over, your permit expires.
A second method of legalizing your stay in Serbia is buying some real property there. Few countries grant legal residence to foreigners owning real property on their territories but Serbia does. There is an important restriction, however. You have to live in the apartment or house that you buy in Serbia: the local police officer is going to make sure that you do by paying visits to you. On the other hand, the price of property is not specified in the Serbian legislation, which means that you can buy any residential accommodations as long as they are livable.
A third method of acquiring legal residence in Serbia is starting a company there. Even if you register a sole proprietorship in the country, you will qualify for a residence permit let alone registering an LLC or a corporation. Please note, however, that your company cannot exist on paper only: you will have to supply contracts, bills of lading, and other documents to prove that your company is engaged in some active business. You can find exhaustive information about registering a company in Serbia if you visit the SerbiaWealth web portal.
Legal residence in Serbia: the application document package
There are multiple other ways of acquiring legal residence in Serbia: we have mentioned the most popular ones. The exact list of application documents will depend on the route that you have chosen. The basic application document package looks as follows:
- A valid passport.
- Two color photographs 35 × 45 mm.
- A completed application form.
- A copy of the rental contract for a period of at least six months. There is no need to have it notarized.
- A copy of the property owner’s ID card.
- An extract from the Property Register or another document that proves rightful ownership of the property.
- Your ‘white carton’ (registration card).
- A notarized Letter of Consent from the property owner to register you at the address after you obtain a residence permit.
- A bank statement from a Serbian bank showing the amount of money on your account. The required amount is not specified in Serbian dinars or euros in the regulations: all they say is that it has to be ‘sufficient’. Practice shows, however, that you should have at least 1,500 euros in the bank.
- A medical insurance policy with at least a thousand-euro coverage.
- Receipts for payment of state duty and other fees.
Even though you have to pay certain fees and duties, acquiring a legal residence permit is very inexpensive in Serbia. The total cost is around 300 euros only. You can pay the fees at any Serbian bank.
Previously, if you applied for Serbian residence after finding a job or registering a company in the country, you had to obtain a work permit in addition to a residence permit. Since February 2024, (self)-employed foreigners in Serbia receive a single document – a plastic card with an electronic chip that serves as a residence permit and as a work permit.
Permanent residence permit
In August 2023 and in February 2024, some amendments were made to the Serbian foreigner-related legislation. Thanks to these amendments, foreigners can now acquire permanent residence permits in a faster way. Previously, you could qualify for permanent residence after living in Serbia for 5 years and now the period has been shortened to 3 years.
Comfortable urban environment
There are multiple parks and gardens in Belgrade and Novi Sad and walking along the Danube River bank is a nice way to relax and breathe fresh air. The sidewalks are smooth and well-attended to. Bicycle lanes run along many roads. Novi Sad is especially comfortable for bikers.
Bus stops are located close to each other – 200 to 300 meters and there is the next bus stop. There are dedicated lanes for buses and trolleybuses. Electronic boards show the bus and trolley schedules. Such boards started to appear in Belgrade in 2023 and now you can find an electronic board at any bus stop in the city.
Both Belgrade and Novi Sad are growing and actively developing. Last year, a new train station was opened in Belgrade and a new bus station is about to be opened too. New children’s playgrounds are built, shelters are renovated at the bus stops, new parking lots are equipped, and so on.
You can have a wonderful beach holiday in Serbia even though the country does not have access to the sea. In Belgrade, there is an island called Ada Ciganlija with a lake of the same name and a well-equipped pebble beach. In addition to swimming and lying in the sun, you can go boating, water-skiing, diving, and playing water polo. Besides, there is a soccer field on the island as well as a tennis court, barbeque zones, and several cafes. You could spend the whole day there without getting bored.
Novi Sad also offers multiple recreation opportunities. Štrand Beach is the longest beach on the Danube River. Not far away, you will find an artificial island called Ko Chang because it resembles the Thai island with the same name.
Residential accommodations
The choice of apartments and houses for rent is great both in Belgrade and in Novi Sad. You would be pleasantly surprised by the prices too: renting a studio apartment in the outskirts of Belgrade can cost only 300 euros per month. It is going to cost even less in an uptown area of Novi Sad. A two-bedroom apartment in the city center costs around 1,500 euros in Belgrade and around 1,000 euros in Novi Sad. You could also rent a large detached house in the center of Belgrade but it would be rather costly.
