LAW OFFICE FOR FOREIGNERS

The law office “Ječmenica R. Ivan” deals with the representation of clients in the field of foreigners’ law. Foreigners who plan to stay in the Republic of Serbia face a large number of dilemmas, and potentially difficulties in finding the best legal framework for regulating status issues for themselves, their family members, employees, etc. Our law office for foreigners provides comprehensive legal services starting from the moment a foreigner enters the Republic of Serbia, until the regulation of his legal status in the form of a temporary residence permit and, if necessary, obtaining a work permit.

The rights of foreigners in our country are regulated, first of all, by the Law on Foreigners (“Official Gazette of RS” No. 24/2018) , as well as by the Law on Employment of Foreigners (“Official Gazette of RS” No. 128/2014, 113/2017 and 50/2018).

VISA AND VISA-FREE ENTRY REGIME

Any person who does not have Serbian citizenship is considered a foreigner. Regarding the possibility for foreigners to enter Serbia without special approval (visa), we distinguish between two legal regimes: visa-free and visa-free . The visa regime is a rule, but an international agreement or a government decision can stipulate that citizens of certain countries enter Serbia without a visa.

Consequently, there are a large number of countries with which Serbia has a visa-free entry regime, with the length of visa-free stay varying. Citizens of Schengen Agreement signatory countries, USA, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, etc. they can stay in Serbia without a visa for up to 90 days, with or without interruptions for a period of 6 months starting from the day of first entry. On the other hand, e.g. citizens of the People’s Republic of China, India, the Russian Federation – can stay without a visa for up to 30 days.

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY AND REGISTRATION OF RESIDENCE

In order for a foreign citizen to enter Serbia, certain conditions must be met:

• Possession of a valid travel document – most often a passport, but for citizens of certain countries, ID cards can also be used
• Tourist arrangement (tourist visit) or invitation letter from a local citizen, company or institution.
• Travel health insurance valid for the period during which the foreigner intends to stay in Serbia
• Funds for subsistence during the stay in Serbia and for returning to the country of origin or transit to another country (a smaller amount is required if he has a travel arrangement or an invitation letter stating that another person will bear the costs of his stay).

Our law office for foreigners provides advisory and other technical assistance to foreigners in the phase that precedes their entry into the Republic of Serbia. In particular, we point out to our clients the conditions that they must fulfill in order to enter our country legally, and we go a step further and point out the procedures and conditions that must be met if the client plans to stay longer in the Republic of Serbia.

After a foreigner enters the territory of the Republic of Serbia, it is necessary to register his residence within 24 hours and obtain a residence permit so-called white card . The registration of a foreigner’s residence is done in the duty service of the police station on whose territory is the address of the facility where the foreigner is housed.

The registration of a foreigner’s residence is carried out by:

1. legal entities, entrepreneurs and natural persons who provide accommodation services for a fee , that is, their legal representatives, within 24 hours from the time of providing the accommodation service.

2. legal entities, entrepreneurs and natural persons with whom the foreigner came to visit , that is, their legal representatives or a person authorized by them within 24 hours of the arrival of the foreigner for the visit.

The foreigner’s place of residence is registered by filling out the Foreigner’s Place of Residence Application Form , in two copies, one of which is submitted to the competent authority for the purpose of entering data from the foreigner’s place of residence application into the electronic records, and the second copy is delivered to the foreigner whose place of residence is being registered, as proof of the place and address of residence.

TEMPORARY RESIDENCE OF FOREIGNERS

We already wrote about temporary residence here . Temporary residence is a residence permit of a foreign citizen in the Republic of Serbia and can be granted to a foreigner who intends to stay in the Republic of Serbia for longer than 90 days on one of the grounds provided by law – e.g. family reunification, studying, ownership of real estate, professional specialization, training and practice, etc. One of the bases for temporary stay of foreigners in Serbia is employment . Our law office for foreigners can help you choose the best legal basis for temporary residence , depending on your family situation and business plans.

The new law on foreigners introduced new grounds for obtaining temporary residence, as well as grounds that were applied in practice and were not regulated by law, such as ownership of real estate in the Republic of Serbia. Accordingly, the following are the new grounds for temporary residence: 1) performing a religious service; 2) treatment and care; 3) ownership of real estate; 4) humanitarian work; 5) the status of the presumed victim of human trafficking: 6) the status of the victim of human trafficking.

EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGNERS IN SERBIA – WORK PERMITS

We have already written about the employment of foreigners in Serbia here . Employment of a foreigner is achieved on the condition that he has a temporary residence permit, regardless of the length of stay or permanent residence and work permit. A work permit is an act on the basis of which a foreigner can be employed or self-employed in Serbia.

A work permit can be issued as:

1) personal work permit;
2) work permit

Only one type of work permit is issued for the same time period.

And finally, to summarize, our law office for foreigners offers the following range of legal services:

• Provision of legal advice in the phase preceding entry into the Republic of Serbia, which refers to the fulfillment of all necessary conditions for entry

• Providing legal assistance when applying for residence in the Republic of Serbia

• Preparation and collection of necessary documentation for submitting requests for temporary residence of foreigners in the Republic of Serbia

• Submission of requests for temporary residence of foreigners and their representation before the administrative bodies that decide on the approval of temporary residence

• Preparation and collection of the necessary documentation for submitting a request for permanent residence in the Republic of Serbia

• Submission of applications for permanent residence of foreigners and their representation before the administrative bodies that decide on the approval of permanent residence

• Preparation and collection of the necessary documentation for submitting an application for obtaining a work permit in the Republic of Serbia

• Submission of requests for obtaining a work permit for foreigners and their representation before the administrative authorities that decide on obtaining a work permit

• Legal assistance regarding all other issues in the domain of foreigners’ rights