Serbia has brought forward a raft of changes to migrant laws originally scheduled for next year. From August 4th, one-year Serbian residence permits will be valid for three years with a right to renewal for another three years. It will also be possible to sign foreign worker employment contracts of indefinite length, regardless of a contractor’s residence permit. Integrated work-residence permits will have to be issued within 15 days from the online submission of a complete application online, meaning that workers can arrive with the purity of their paperwork being complete. This is in addition to pre-existing tax incentives which have made Serbia very attractive to digital nomads.
The changes raise a question of whether Serbs, whose country is absorbing large numbers of Russian migrants, will be able to retain its visa free travel arrangement with the EU.
The European Commission has expressed concern over the development in a statement.
“Amendments to the Serbian Law on Citizenship could pose a risk to the public policy or security of the European Union, given that citizens of Serbia enjoy visa-free access to the European Union,” it said.
“The problem is that the amendments prescribe a very simplified procedure for obtaining Serbian citizenship after a limited period of stay in Serbia, i.e. three instead of five years. Thus, what could easily happen is that citizens of third countries, who would otherwise need a visa to enter the EU, can now do so without one,” says Sofija Popović.
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Serbia Accelerates Resident Permit Act
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