Permanent residency

The application for an approval of permanent residency  shall be submitted to the Police Directorate for the City of Belgrade-Directorate for Foreign Nationals and regional police directorates, organisational units tasked with residence and movement of foreign nationals in the Republic of Serbia depending on a foreign national’s residential address.

The application for permanent residency shall be submitted in person. Complete documentation, i.e., all specified proofs shall be enclosed together with the application. The application shall be supplemented with additional proofs if required by a sworn law enforcement officer.

Proof of administrative fee payment

Payment orders for administrative fees can be created on the eGovernment portal by selecting the Stranci (FOREIGN NATIONALS) option in the first drop-down menu, and later the administrative fee for the approval of permanent residency after entering the name and surname, personal identification number and short-term/residential address.

More detailed conditions for the approval of permanent residency are prescribed in the Rulebook on Approval of Permanent Residency.

CONDITIONS FOR THE APPROVAL OF PERMANENT RESIDENCY

A foreign national can submit an application for permanent residency after three years of continuous residence in the Republic of Serbia on the grounds of either an approved temporary residency or continuous residence based on the right to asylum.

Continuous residence is considered to be the effective residence of a foreign national in the Republic of Serbia, with the possibility of multiple absences from the Republic of Serbia for either up to ten months or a single absence for up to six months during the course of three years.

The application can be submitted no earlier than 60 days prior to expiration of the prescribed condition of a three-year continuous temporary residency, which meets the necessary three-year period, and no later than expiry of the approved temporary residence, i.e. single permit.

When submitting the application for the approval of permanent residency, a foreign national shall have an approved temporary residency on one of the grounds prescribed for the approval of temporary residency.

A foreign national who has been granted the right to asylum can submit an application after more than three years of continuous residence in the Republic of Serbia on the grounds of granted right to asylum.

In some special cases, irrespective of the prescribed general conditions, permanent residency may also be granted to a foreign national:

• a minor, if one of the parents is either a citizen of the Republic of Serbia or a foreign national with granted permanent residency;
• who originates from the Republic of Serbia;
• who is of Serbian origin;
• another foreign national with an approved temporary residency, if this represents an interest for the Republic of Serbia.

In aforementioned special cases, the application shall be submitted during the course of a foreign national’s legal residence in the Republic of Serbia;

The competent authority shall issue a foreign national’s identity card to a foreign national with an approved permanent residency, which requires a foreign national's presence in order to have his/her biometric data taken.

Neither fingerprints nor signatures will be taken for a minor foreign national until he/she turns the age of twelve. When issuing a foreign national's identity card to a minor foreign national, the presence of one parent, guardian, or legal representative shall be required.

Necessary documentation for the approval of permanent residency

The following specified below shall be enclosed when submitting an application for the approval of permanent residency:

• A valid personal document;
• Proof of subsistence;
• Proof of health insurance;
• Registration of residential address in the Republic of Serbia (registration of address is the residential address where a foreign national has an approved temporary residency);
• Proof of prescribed administrative fee payment;

Aside from the aforementioned documents, some of the following documents below shall also be enclosed, depending on the grounds on which the application for permanent residency is submitted:

• Certificate of real estate acquisition in the Republic of Serbia (real estate folio in the land register and other);
• Certificate of employment in the Republic of Serbia;
• Proof of kinship with either a citizen of the Republic of Serbia or a foreign national with an approved permanent residency (birth certificate);
• Marriage certificate no older than 6 months and citizenship certificate for the spouse if he/she is a citizen of the Republic of Serbia
• A document proving a marital union with a foreign national holding an approved permanent residency in compliance with the national legislation of the country where the marital union was entered into;  
• Single status certificate for both common-law partners, as well as other proofs of a common-law marriage;
• A certificate of origin from the Republic of Serbia (applicant’s birth certificate, birth certificate for one or both parents).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Proof of a foreign national’s subsistence shall be considered as follows:

• Salary certificate (salary slip, etc.);
• Employment contract, a fixed-term contract or other contract that proves a foreign national’s employment in compliance with labor regulations;
• Proof of pension insurance payments;
• Proof of entry into the Register of Agricultural Holdings;
• A certificate of or an excerpt on bank account funds of a bank registered in the Republic of Serbia in the amount of minimum salary in the Republic of Serbia;
• Either a written guarantee by a legal entity or a natural person, who is a member of a foreign national’s household, i.e., of a foreign national who submits the application for the approval of permanent residency, that he/she shall incur financial costs of a foreign national

Proof of a foreign national’s health insurance shall be considered as follows:

• A European health insurance card, i.e. another document proving that a foreign national is covered in his/her country of origin in compliance with regulations on health insurance of the Republic of Serbia;
• A foreign national’s health insurance policy
• Proof of funds covering the costs of either emergency medical care or chronic disease treatment;
• A written guarantee by either a legal entity or a natural person that he/she will cover the costs of emergency medical care, i.e. chronic disease treatment;
• Valid health insurance card of the Republic of Serbia

Proofs not issued by the competent authorities of the Republic of Serbia shall be translated by an authorized court translator.

Statements made by a foreign national, which serve as proof of meeting appropriate legal conditions for granting either temporary or permanent residency, shall be certified by a notary public.

The presence of both parents shall be required for a minor with an approved temporary residency, of whom one is either a citizen of the Republic of Serbia or a foreign national with an approved permanent residency so as to submit an application for the approval of permanent residency. However, if it is not possible to ensure the presence of both parents, in such an event an affidavit by the other parent shall also be enclosed aside from the presence of one parent.