Types of work permits and conditions for their issuance in the Republic of Serbia

The work of foreigners in the Republic of Serbia is regulated by the provisions of the Law on Foreigners (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 24/2018, 31/2019 and 62/2023), the Foreign Nationals Employment Act (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 128/2014, 113/2017, 50/2018 and 31/2019 and 62/2023) and the Rulebook on Issuing a Unified Permit for Temporary Residence and Work of a Foreigner (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 6/2024).

The employment of a foreigner is possible under the condition that he/she possesses a visa for long-term stay based on employment, a temporary residence permit or permanent residence and a unified permit, unless otherwise determined by the Foreign Nationals Employment Act (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 128/2014, 113/2017, 50/2018, 31/2019 and 62/2023).

The Government of the Republic of Serbia may, by decision, limit the number of foreigners who are issued unified permits in the event of labour market disruptions, in accordance with its migration policy and the state of the labour market.

The quota does not apply to a foreigner, i.e. an employer who temporarily employs a foreigner and submits a request for a unified permit for movement within a company.

Types of Work Permits

A work permit may be issued as

• a personal work permit or as
• a work permit

A work permit is issued as:

• a work permit for employment,
• a work permit for special cases of employment, namely:
  a) For seconded persons,
  b) For movement within the company,
  c) For an independent professional,
  d) For training and development;
• a work permit for self-employment.

Personal Work Permit

A personal work permit is a type of work permit that allows a foreign national in the Republic of Serbia to engage in free employment, self-employment, and exercise rights in the event of unemployment, in accordance with the law.

A personal work permit is issued at the request of a foreigner if:

• he/she has a permanent residence permit,
• he/she has refugee status,
• he/she belongs to a special category of foreigners,
• he/she has been granted temporary residence based on family reunification.

A foreigner who is a member of the immediate family of a foreigner who has been issued a unified permit, granted temporary residence, or granted asylum in the Republic of Serbia, acquires the right to work from the day of approval of the first temporary residence based on family reunification with a foreigner who has been issued a unified permit, i.e. a foreigner with the right to work, in accordance with the law, without being issued a unified permit, during the period of validity of the approved temporary residence.

Unified Permit for Temporary Residence and Work of a Foreigner

The unified permit implies a permit for temporary residence and work, which is issued in accordance with regulations governing the entry, movement, and residence of foreigners by the competent organisational unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Police Directorate – external offices, which perform tasks related to the movement and residence of foreigners.

The organisation responsible for employment matters conducts an assessment of the fulfilment of conditions for employment, special cases of employment, and self-employment of a foreign national, as a preliminary step in the procedure for issuing a unified permit for temporary residence and work.

The assessment involves evaluating whether the conditions for employment, special cases of employment, and self-employment of foreigners have been met, which is carried out by the organisation responsible for employment matters, in accordance with the law.

The procedure for issuing the unified permit for temporary residence and work is digitised. The application for issuance or extension of the unified permit, as well as evidence of meeting the conditions for employment, special cases of employment, and self-employment of a foreigner, is submitted electronically by the foreigner, the employer on behalf of the foreigner, or an authorised person, via the unified web portal, within the service intended for issuing the unified permit to a foreigner, in the manner and in accordance with the instructions for using the service designed for issuing the unified permit to a foreigner.

The provisions of the Rulebook on Issuing a Unified Permit for Temporary Residence and Work of a Foreigner (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 6/2024) prescribe detailed conditions for submitting and processing applications for issuing the unified permit for temporary residence and work of a foreigner electronically, detailed conditions for issuing the unified permit, as well as the design of the unified permit form.

Assessment

The provisions of the Foreign Nationals Employment Act prescribe the conditions whose fulfilment is assessed by the organisation responsible for employment affairs in the process of issuing a unified permit for temporary residence and work of foreigners.

The assessment by the organisation responsible for employment affairs is carried out by grading “meets” or “does not meet” the conditions for the employment of a foreign national, special cases of employment of a foreign national, or self‑employment of a foreign national. The assessment “meets” includes the time period for which the assessment is made, depending on the fulfilment of the conditions in accordance with the law.

The assessment “does not meet” includes explained reasons why the conditions for employment, special cases of employment, or self‑employment of a foreign national are not fulfilled.

The organisation responsible for employment affairs also performs the assessment and submits it to the organisational unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Police Directorate — external offices, which carry out tasks related to the movement and residence of foreigners, as the competent authority, in accordance with regulations governing the entry, movement, and residence of foreigners, within 10 days from the receipt of a valid request for the issuance of a unified permit for temporary residence and work of a foreign national.

Assessment for Employment

The assessment of employment shall be carried out based on the state of the labour market and the assessment of the fulfilment of the following conditions:

1. That the employer, within 90 days before submitting the request for a unified employment permit, did not fire employees due to technological, economic or organisational changes in the workplaces for which a single employment permit is requested, in accordance with employment regulations;
2. That the employer has initiated the implementation of the labour market test, in accordance with the law;
3. The existence of a proposal for an employment contract or another contract that implements rights based on work, in accordance with the law.

Labour Market Test

An organization responsible for employment affairs, at the request of an employer, shall conduct a labor market test, i.e. interregional mediation in employment (hereinafter: labor market test), by mutatis mutandis application of regulations in the field of employment, in such a way as to determine whether the records of the organization responsible for employment affairs contain persons who correspond to the requirements of the employer’s request for a specific workplace, i.e. persons who exercise the right to work in accordance with the Foreign Nationals Employment Act (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 128/2014, 113/2017, 50/2018, 31/2019 and 62/2023) and who meet the requirements of the employer’s request for the specific workplace.

Employment of Student

An employer may employ a student in accordance with the law, provided that the activities performed during the period when school courses are taking place may not exceed 20 hours per week, or 80 hours per month.

Conditions for carrying out seasonal jobs are that the foreign national possesses:

1. Regulated residence of a foreign national;
2. Concluded employment contract with the employer;
3. Decision of the employer determining the manner of accommodation and board for the duration of residence and work in the Republic.

Assessment of Seconded Persons

The assessment of seconded persons shall be carried out based on the assessment of fulfillment of the following conditions:

1. The existence of a contract on business and technical cooperation between the employer and the foreign employer;
2. That the seconded person has been employed, i.e. hired to work with a foreign employer for at least one year and registered for compulsory social insurance with a foreign employer;
3. The existence of a document between the employer and the foreign employer involving secondment to temporary work in the Republic of Serbia, which determines the way of exercising rights and obligations from work, and which necessarily contains the conditions of work, i.e. professional training and development, the way of ensuring wages and their amount, salary compensation, work hours, method of exercising the right to annual leave, safety and health conditions at work, period of work, i.e. period of professional training and development in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the method of providing accommodation, food and transportation for arrival and departure from work for the duration of assignment to temporary work in the Republic of Serbia; The employer shall ensure the realisation of the rights and obligations established by the said document. The seconded person may not exercise fewer rights than those prescribed by the law regulating work in the Republic of Serbia, concerning the mandatory content of the established way of exercising rights and obligations as outlined in the said document.
4. That the foreign national shall be returned to work at the foreign employer who temporarily assigned him to the Republic of Serbia after the expiration of the temporary secondment.

The assessment of the seconded persons shall be carried out for a period of up to three years and can be extended for a maximum of three years.

Assessment of Internal Movements in a Company

The assessment of internal movements in a company registered abroad shall be given for the purpose of temporary secondment, i.e. moving an employee to work in a branch, representative office, i.e. a subsidiary company registered in the Republic of Serbia, who has been employed, i.e. hired for work by a foreign employer for at least one year on managerial or specialist jobs.

A manager shall mean a person who performs management tasks, who is a director or manager in a foreign company, or is a member of the management of a foreign company or manages, i.e. heads an organizational unit, based on the decisions and instructions of the management or shareholders of the company or performs tasks of monitoring and controlling the work of professional or managerial staff.

A specialist shall mean a person who possesses special professional knowledge required for the business operations of a foreign company, which implies that he has a high degree of professional competence, or appropriate professional experience and possibly membership in an authorized professional association. Exceptionally the assessment of movement within a company registered abroad shall be carried out for the purpose of temporary secondment, i.e. transfer to a branch, representative office, or subsidiary company registered in the Republic of Serbia, of trainees with higher education.

The assessment of internal movements in a company shall be made on the basis of assessment of the fulfillment of the following conditions:

1. That the seconded person is employed, i.e. hired for work by a foreign employer for at least one year, i.e. at least three months in the case of a trainee, and is registered for mandatory social insurance with a foreign employer;
2. The existence of a document involving assignment for temporary work in the Republic of Serbia on the jobs of manager or specialist, whereby the way of exercising rights and obligations from work is determined, and which necessarily contains the conditions of work, i.e. professional training and development, the way of ensuring the salary and its amount, salary compensation, working hours, way of exercising the right to annual leave, safety and health conditions at work, period of work, i.e. the period of professional training and development in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the way of providing accommodation, food and transport for arrival and departure from work for the duration of the assignment to temporary work in the Republic of Serbia; The employer shall ensure the realisation of the rights and obligations established by the said document. The seconded person may not exercise fewer rights than those prescribed by the law regulating work in the Republic of Serbia, concerning the mandatory content of the established way of exercising rights and obligations as outlined in the said document.
3. That the foreigner shall be returned to work at the foreign employer who temporarily seconded him to the Republic of Serbia, after the expiration of the temporary assignment.

The assessment of movement within a company shall be carried out for a period of up to three years and can be extended for a maximum of three years.

Assessing an Independent Professional

The assessment involving an independent professional shall be made on the basis of assessment of fulfillment of the following conditions:

1. The existence of a contract on the provision of contracted services with the employer or the end-user of services, which necessarily contains a time limit for performing the work;
2. Work experience of at least three years in a specific field that is the subject of a contract on provision of services;
3. Possession of a professional qualification in cases where it is necessary for the performance of services in accordance with the regulations governing the provision of services in the Republic of Serbia;
4. Existence of registration of an independent professional.

Assessment of Training and Development

Assessment of training and development shall be carried out for the purpose of training, internship, professional practice, working practice, professional training i.e. development.

The assessment of training and development shall be performed on the basis of assessment of fulfillment of the following conditions:

1) The existence of a contract with an employer on carrying out training, internship, professional practice, work practice, professional training, i.e. development, which contains the place and duration;
2) Fulfillment of other conditions in accordance with a special law.

Assessment of Self-Employment

The assessment of self-employment shall be made based on the assessment of the fulfillment of the requirements regarding the appropriate qualifications of a foreign national for the performance of a specific activity, i.e. regarding the structure of a person who plans to employ, i.e. hire.

A foreign national who receives a single permit for self-employment shall start performing the tasks for which the single permit was issued, within 90 days from the date of obtaining that permit.

Consent

A foreign national shall work in the Republic of Serbia on jobs for which he was issued a unified permit for employment, for special cases of employment, i.e. for self-employment.

During the validity of a unified permit, a foreign national, i.e. an employer on behalf of a foreign national or a legal or natural person authorized by a foreign national or an employer, can submit a request for a change of basis of work, a change of employer or for employment with two or more employers, electronically on the Single Portal, in within the service intended for issuing a unified permit to a foreign national, in the manner and in accordance with the instructions for using the service intended for issuing of a unified permit to a foreign national.

Last update 27. 09. 2025.

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