Serbia residence permit: temporary stay, documents and photo

Who needs a residence permit in Serbia

A foreigner who stays in Serbia longer than 90 days within 180 days, or longer than a type D visa allows, needs temporary residence (privremeni boravak, Law on Foreigners, art. 40). The grounds include employment, study, family reunification, property in Serbia and other justified reasons.

Temporary residence is not the same as the white card, which only registers your address with the police. After 3 years of continuous temporary residence you can apply for permanent residence.

Single permit or temporary residence

• Single permit (jedinstvena dozvola): for employment, residence and work in one document. It is applied for only electronically, through the single portal (art. 46b), and has existed since 1 February 2024.
• Temporary residence permit: for the other grounds (study, family, property and so on). You can apply in person or electronically, also from abroad (art. 41).

Applying online on the Welcome to Serbia portal

Following the portal's official instructions:

1. Create an account on eid.gov.rs. Without it you can't log in to the portal.
2. Log in at eforeigner.welcometoserbia.gov.rs and fill in the application.
3. Upload your documents, and your photo with them. Accepted formats are PDF, PNG, JPEG or JPG, up to 5 MB per file.
4. If the conditions are met, the portal sends the date and time of your biometrics appointment to your eSanduče (e-inbox).

Documents for temporary residence

What goes with the application (Law on Foreigners, art. 43):

• A valid passport, valid at least 3 months longer than the residence you ask for.
• Proof of means of subsistence.
• Proof of your address: a lease or the landlord's consent.
• Health insurance.
• Proof of your grounds (employment, study, family, property…).
• Proof that the fee has been paid; online, the portal calculates the amount.
• A colour photo 35 × 45 mm, see below.

Employees and their family members, and family members of Serbian citizens, do not attach proof of means and health insurance (art. 43a).

The photo: what you upload and what the police take

Two different photos are involved, and it helps to know which is which:

• With the application: 35 × 45 mm, colour. The Rulebook on the single permit (art. 3) requires a colour photo of 35 × 45 mm. Online, you upload it as a file with your documents (PDF, PNG, JPEG or JPG, up to 5 MB). The portal publishes no other technical requirements for the file.
• Paper application: two photos. The Ministry of Interior asks for two colour photos, 35 × 45 mm, full face.
• The photo on the card: taken by the police. At your biometrics appointment, the police photograph you with a digital camera on a plain grey background, the face filling 70–80% of the frame. Your own print does not go on the card.

Biometrics and the card in Belgrade

In Belgrade, applications from foreigners are handled by the Administration for Foreigners (Uprava za strance) of the Belgrade police: Omladinskih brigada 1, phone +381 11 3618956. At the appointment they take your photo, index fingerprints and signature; for children under 12, only the photo.

Validity, extension and deadlines

• Temporary residence is granted for up to 3 years and can be extended for the same period (art. 44).
• Apply for an extension no earlier than 3 months and no later than the day your current permit expires. If you apply in time, you may stay in Serbia until the decision (art. 41).
• By law, the decision is made within 30 days for temporary residence and 15 days from a complete application for a single permit.

Just arrived? Your first step is the white card. All documents and their photos are in Documents in Serbia.