The unified residence and work permit
Rather than obtaining residence and then separately obtaining work authorisation, applicants now deal with one combined permit covering both. The application runs through the government portal alongside the employer's part of the file.
The practical effect is fewer appointments and less duplicated documentation. The trade-off is that your right to reside and your right to work now sit in the same instrument, so anything that affects one affects the other.
Employer-sponsored versus your own business
Where a Serbian employer hires you, the employer carries much of the administrative load and the permit is tied to that employment. This is the lightest route for the individual and the most constrained.
Where you register your own company or sole proprietorship, you are not an employee being sponsored. The business itself is the ground for your status. More setup and more ongoing obligation, considerably more independence. Which is better depends entirely on whether you have an employer or clients.
The labour market test, and when it applies
Serbian law contemplates checking whether a role could be filled domestically before authorising a foreign hire. Whether this applies depends on the category of permit and the role.
Where it applies it is the employer's obligation, not yours, but it affects your timeline. If an employer is vague about where your application has reached, this is frequently what it is waiting on.
If you do not have an employer yet
The unified permit needs an employer, and most people who want to work here do not arrive with one. We take that on as a separate service: we draw up the list of companies in your field that hire foreign nationals, contact them, find out what they actually need, match you to a role, and then run the permit file from the offer onward. It is the slowest and most labour-intensive thing we do, which is why it is priced per person and not offered below that figure.
It works for profiles the market wants: engineers, IT, healthcare, skilled trades, hospitality management, and anyone with a language the employer needs. It does not work for a profile with no Serbian demand, and we say so at the first call rather than take the fee. What you get is an employer who will sponsor the permit, a signed contract, and the file lodged; the salary is between you and them.
If your passport needs a visa to enter Serbia, the D visa sits between the offer and the move: €150 for our file and about €50 to the consulate, charged in dinars. The unified permit file itself is €450, as on the pricing page.
Changing employers without losing your status
Because the permit is tied to the employment that grounded it, leaving that job puts the permit in question. It does not evaporate the moment you resign, but it is not portable in the way a permanent residence status would be.
The correct sequence is to have the new position's paperwork in progress before ending the current one. Resigning first and sorting the permit afterwards is the version of this that goes wrong, and it goes wrong in a way that can cost you your continuity toward permanent residence.
Documents required
- Passport
- Employment contract or job offer
- Employer's registration documents
- Evidence of qualifications, where the role requires them
- Address registration
- Health insurance
What it costs
| Unified permit application | €450 |
|---|---|
| Employer-side handlingWe act for employers as well as individuals | €350 |
| Employer searchThe list, the outreach, the match and the contract. The permit file is on top | €1,000 per person |
| Change of employer | €450 |
Filing guarantee: if an application is returned or refused because of an error on our side, we correct it and refile without charging our fee again. Approval is the authority's decision, and no honest firm can guarantee it.
Government fees
What the state charges for this, on top of our fee. You pay it yourself, or we pay it for you at cost, with the receipts.
| Application feeWith every residence or unified permit application, paid on the government portal | 430 RSD≈ €4 |
|---|---|
| Unified permit (residence and work)Tariff no. 37. In place of the temporary residence fee when the ground is a job | 22,770 RSD≈ €195 |
| Residence cardTariff no. 37, for issuing the card | 2,190 RSD≈ €19 |
| Card productionMinistry of the Interior, for producing the card, since 12 September 2026 | 2,028 RSD≈ €17 |
| Type D visa (long stay)Paid in dinars at the National Bank's middle rate. Chinese, Armenian, Malian and Syrian passports are exempt | €50 |
| White card (address registration)No fee at the police station | Free |
| Unified permit, in total | 27,418 RSD≈ €234 |
Checked against the tariff on 11 October 2026. The state re-indexes these amounts every July. Euro figures are approximate, at 117 dinars to the euro. Citizens of North Macedonia, Mongolia, Cyprus and Belarus pay only the application fee for residence, under bilateral agreements.
Frequently asked questions
Foreign nationals need work authorisation, which for employees is issued together with residence as a unified permit. Owning and running your own registered business is a different arrangement.
When this is not the right route for you
- You want a work permit without an employer, without registering a business, and without a search.
- You are already working here without authorisation and want that regularised retroactively. It needs addressing, but not by pretending it did not happen.
- Your employer will not participate in the process. Their part cannot be done by you.
This page is general information about Serbian procedure, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and fees change. Confirm anything time-sensitive with us or another qualified adviser before acting on it.