NEWS & POSTS

Self-employment-through registration of your own company

1. The first step is a limited liability company registration-from 01/06/2023 such registration can be done ONLY online with the use of special software and prior registration with the Serbian Government ePortal. This firm has fulfilled all these requirements. All signatures are electronic signatures, all documents, if available in paper format will have to be digitalised for online submission. For our international clients we prepare incorporation documentation in 2 languages (Serbian-English, Serbian-Russian). More detail in our article “Sole entrepreneur and company registration in Serbia”.
2. The founder of the company can be its director as well. The director can be employed by the company, or he can act as a director without being employed. In case of employment, the company needs to sign an employment contract with the director.
3. Registered office and accountant-the company needs to have a registered office in Serbia and an accountant to look after company’s tax and accounting affaires.
4. Residence permit application is submitted with supporting evidence after the company registration – in addition to the advisory fee there will be payable the residency application fee of ~€160 + translation, notary and other associated fees which should normally be paid by the company. This also means the company will need to open a bank account with one of the commercial banks in Serbia before submitting the residence permit application. This is a separate procedure since the bank will have to carry out certain background checks of the company and its owner as required by law as well as the financial viability of the client in accordance with the bank’s internal policy. We can assist for a fee in opening a bank account in Serbia.
5. Place of residence, a house or an apartment – as evidence a rental agreement for the place of residence is required. It would be prudent to assume a rental fee of €500 a month for one bedroom flat in Belgrade + utility costs (heating, electricity, water, sewage etc) of about €100 per month. We can assist you for a fee in finding a place of residence.
6. Work permit application-is submitted after the residence permit application in 2 phases – a) market testing and b) if the market testing is negative work permit application is submitted. There is the employment application fee ~€100 + translation, notary and other associated fees.
7. Family member residence and work permit applications-if the residence permit and work permit is issued to the applicant, his close family members (spouse, children etc) will be entitled to apply for a residence permit and personal work permit.
8. Company's post registration expenses-the applicant is a shareholder and a director in the newly incorporated company. He may or may not be employed by the company. If hi is employed, the company will have to pay him a salary and taxes and social contributions (medical care, pension payment). If not in the employment, the company will still have to pay tax and social contributions for the director which at present amount to about €200 a month.

As a conclusion, the likely costs of this route for a residency and work permit in Serbia is composed of 2 types of costs:

1. Registration expenses
2. Post registration expenses

On the top of the above costs, you will need to plan for the living expenses (food, accommodation etc).

Self-employment through registration as sole entrepreneur

1. Registration as a sole entrepreneur (“SE”) is similar to company registration with the exception:
1. it is still possible to do it by submitting the registration in paper format without having to digitalise all documentation and
2. in online format where all documents will have to be digitalised.

We send to the applicant a questionnaire to obtain all necessary information and documentation.

2. Registered office and accountant – SE needs to have a registered office in Serbia and an accountant to look after company’s tax and accounting affaires. The applicant may choose to pay a flat rate monthly tax and social contributions fee (medical and social security care payments) which at present are about €400 per month for which SE does not need an accountant. However, we advise the use of an accountant for the first 3 months of operations to set up the payment system. If the applicant elects to pay tax depending on his earnings, the accountant is needed. The registered office and accountant will cost €100-300 per month for each service.
3. Residence permit application-is submitted after the SE registration. In addition to our advisory fee, there will a residence permit application fee of ~€160 + translation, notary and other associated fees which should normally be paid by the SE himself. This also means he will need to open a bank account with one of the commercial banks in Serbia BEFORE submitting the residence permit application. This is a separate procedure since the bank will have to carry out certain background checks of the SE as required by law as well as the financial viability of the client in accordance with the bank’s internal policy. We can assist for a fee in opening a bank account in Serbia.
4. Place of residence, a house or an apartment – as evidence a rental agreement for the place of residence is needed. It would be prudent to assume a rental fee of €500 a month for one bedroom flat in Belgrade + utility costs (heating, electricity, water, sewage etc) of about €100 per month. We can assist you for a fee in finding a place of residence.
5. Work permit application submission with appropriate documentation as evidence, translated and notarised.
6. Family member residence and work permit applications-if the residence permit and work permit is issued to the applicant, his close family members (spouse, children etc) will be entitled to apply for a residence permit and personal work permit.

As a conclusion, the likely costs of this route for a residency and work permit in Serbia is composed of 2 types of costs:

1. Registration expenses
2. Post registration expenses

On the top of the above costs, you will need to plan for the living expenses (food, accommodation etc).

Before registration we send the applicant a questionnaire to obtain all necessary information and documentation for registration.

Our assistance

We can provide company registration or SE registration services as well as residency and work permit services as described above. Please contact us for further information.

Please note we do not offer visa on its own for any nationality. We only do work permits and residence permits for businesspeople. Visa service assistance can be done only as a part of our residence and work permit assistance.

We do not provide employment services (finding suitable jobs or employer) but we provide consultancy advice for residence and work permit.

If you are interested in our company registration services as a corporate service or a part of immigration service, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We accept payments in RSD, USD, Euro or RUB