New preconditions for approval of permanent residence in the Republic of Serbia

In order to legally reside on the territory of Serbia, foreign citizens often apply for temporary residence, which according to the new legal solution can be granted to a foreigner for a period of up to 3 years.

For foreign nationals who are interested in a longer stay in Serbia, the question arises of the legal framework for the approval of the so-called permanent residence.

Permanent residence implies a long-term stay of a foreign citizen in the Republic of Serbia, i.e. stay for an unlimited time, with the extension of the identity card for foreigners every 5 years, with the fulfillment of other conditions prescribed by the Law on Foreigners.

The request for approval of this type of residence is submitted to the competent service of the Ministry of the Interior, which decides on the request within 60 days from the date of submission of the request.

In addition to assessing the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed by law, the Ministry also assesses whether granting permanent residence to a foreigner represents an acceptable security risk for Serbia.

One of the basic questions that the Ministry of Internal Affairs considers in the procedure itself refers to the period of time of the foreigner’s previous stay in Serbia. A necessary condition is the continuous stay of a foreigner in Serbia for a period of at least 3 years, with the fact that the Law allows certain multiple absences of a foreigner from the country.

Therefore, with the aforementioned changes to the Law on Foreigners that came into force, a foreigner who has been granted permanent residence is issued an identity card and, what is even more important, opens the possibility to obtain a Serbian passport.