There are different types of residence permits, temporary one and a permanent one, but since you must first get in touch with temporary residence permit we will start with it. There are multiple ways by which a temporary residence permit in Serbia could be obtained, so we will mention those which are most used:
- Formation of the company in Serbia (for example LLC) or formation of branch or representation office in Serbia (of your own foreign company);
- Entrepreneurship / Sole Proprietorship;
- Employment in a Serbian company;
- Marriage with Serbian citizen or with a person with Serbian permanent residence permit, including common law marriage (when a couple lives together and act as the married couple without performing a marriage ceremony before that);
- Ownership of real estate in Serbia;
- Study at Serbian universities.
Besides one the above-mentioned grounds for applying for the temporary residence permit in Serbia, you will also have to prove that you are medically insured in Serbia and that you have enough money to sustain yourself while in Serbia. Also, do note that in a majority of cases in order to apply for a temporary residence permit in the first place, your current staying in Serbia must be based on previously issued visa type D.
A temporary residence permit is issued up to one year maximum, but it can be renewed after it expires for as much as you still have some of the mentioned justifications to be in Serbia.
After you renew your temporary residence permit in Serbia several times, you may as well apply for a permanent one which gives your right to live in Serbia indefinitely without the need for constant approval from the authorities. Conditions that you need to fulfill for the permanent residence permit are the fact that you lived in Serbia for five years based on temporary residence permit in case of company ownership, entrepreneurship, employment or studying, while in case of marriage necessary time is shorter ( three years of living in Serbia is enough).
