SERBIA: Residence and work permits for Foreigners during the State of Emergency

The expired or expiring temporary residence permits for foreign citizens will be deemed valid while the Decision on Declaration of the State of Emergency (RS Official Gazette no. 29/20) is still in force.

During the state of emergency in the Republic of Serbia, the counters of the Directorate for Administrative Affairs within the Ministry of the Interior will not be receiving any requests for the extension of personal documents. All expiring personal documents of Serbian citizens (ID cards, driver’s licenses, vehicle permits, passports and weapon certificates) shall be considered valid while the Decision on Declaration of the State of Emergency is in force. This also applies to all foreign nationals who need to extend temporary residence in the Republic of Serbia. The expired or expiring temporary residence permits for foreign citizens will be deemed valid within the validity of the Decision on Declaration of the State of Emergency (RS Official Gazette no. 29/20) and/or the Decision on Validity of Personal Documents of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia during the State of Emergency (RS Official Gazette no. 29/20).

However, it is still unknown what position the National Employment Service will take regarding the extension of work permits of foreign nationals. It is still not quite clear whether the automatic extension of personal documents will apply to work permits by analogy or an application for the extension of a work permit will be required, even though the temporary residence permit is considered to be extended under the circumstances.

Find out here what is contained in the final Decision taken by the Serbian Government on this issue.

As a result of lifting the state of emergency in the Republic of Serbia on 6 May 2020, this Order is no longer effective. Find out more here