If your spouse, partner or close relative lives in Serbia lawfully, you can obtain a residence permit through family reunification. Here is who is eligible, which documents you will need and where the difficulties lie.
Who can get a residence permit through reunification
You can obtain a residence permit through family reunification if your close relation is a Serbian citizen, or a foreigner holding temporary residence, permanent residence or asylum in Serbia. Below is who counts as a family member under the law.
Husband or wife
If both spouses are foreigners, the proof is the marriage certificate issued by the country where the marriage was registered. If one spouse is a Serbian citizen, the entry in the Serbian register of marriages is used for the application. A marriage to a Serbian citizen concluded abroad has to be registered in Serbia first.
A partner without a registered marriage
In Serbia such a union is called a vanbračna zajednica — a shared family life without a formally registered marriage. For a residence permit you need proof that both partners are free of any other marriage and that they live together. Statements by the partners themselves, certified statements by two witnesses and a shared address of residence are all accepted as evidence. If the couple have a child together, the child's birth certificate can also serve as proof of the relationship.
Children
Reunification covers natural and adopted children, as well as stepchildren under 18. An adult child may also obtain a residence permit on this ground if they are unmarried and, because of their state of health, cannot provide for their own needs.
Parents of minor children
A parent or adoptive parent may obtain a residence permit by joining their child under 18.
Relatives in need of care
This may be the parent of an adult, a brother, a sister or another relative. For a residence permit you have to prove that the person depends on the relative in Serbia and is not receiving the necessary care in their country of origin.
What you need to do
The route is the same in every case: prove your relationship with the person living in Serbia, gather the documents, file the application and attend for biometrics. Which documents you need depends on whether you are joining a spouse, a partner, a child or another relative; how you file also depends on the applicant's age.
Gather the documents that prove your relationship
The spouse of a foreigner — a document confirming the marriage. If it was issued outside Serbia and is not in Serbian, you will need a translation by a court-certified translator.Find a court-certified translator
Partners without a registered marriage — documents showing that neither is in another marriage, and evidence of living together. Statements by the partners themselves, a shared registered address and certified statements by two witnesses, for example. If the couple have a child together, the child's birth certificate can also serve as proof.Download a template for the witnesses' statement
A minor child — a birth certificate. If the document is not in Serbian, it has to be translated.
Another relative applying on exceptional grounds — documents proving the family link, together with proof that they depend on the person in Serbia and are not receiving the necessary family care in their country of origin, or that their state of health prevents them from providing for their own needs.
Prepare the documents
In every case you will need:
- the passport of the person the permit is for;
- a colour photograph, 35 × 45 mm;
- registration in Serbia;
- the documents proving the ground for the permit;
- the receipt for the fee.
MUP may ask for the owner's statement consenting to your living and registering at the address. A ready-made statement can be generated online: enter the owner's details, the address and the occupants, download the PDF and give it to the owner to sign.Generate the owner's statement
In that statement the owner confirms that they have no objection to a foreigner living and being registered at their address.
Your passport must be valid for at least three months longer than the period you are applying for.
Foreign documents that are not in Serbian are submitted with a translation by a court-certified translator — a specialist authorised to certify translations for Serbian government bodies.
Check whether proof of income and insurance are needed
They are needed if you are joining a foreigner whose residence permit is based not on employment but on property, study or another ground. Income can be proved by a salary certificate, an employment contract, a pension or a bank statement, for example.
If a spouse, a relative or someone else is covering your costs, a guarantee of financial support can be drawn up. For a guarantee from a private individual, the rules require certification and proof that the guarantor has sufficient funds of their own.Template for the statement of financial support
Register on eID if you are applying online
eID is the state electronic identification system through which foreigners access the portal for residence applications. To register you have to upload a photograph or scan of your passport and give an email address — it becomes your username. After registering, confirm the address through the link in the message.Register on eID
File the application
An adult applicant may file it through the state portal Welcome to Serbia, or in person at the MUP department for their registered place of residence. If the permit is for a child, both parents must be present when it is filed. If one of them cannot come, their notarised consent is required. Consent is not needed if, for example, the other parent has died, is unknown or has been deprived of parental rights. Any such circumstance has to be proved with documents.The Welcome to Serbia portal
If you are joining a foreigner who is still applying for their own permit, the procedure depends on how they filed. If they did it online and the application has already been accepted, you can file for reunification straight away — there is no need to wait for the finished residence card. In the form choose “stranac u procesu” — a foreigner whose residence application is under consideration — and give their application number.
If the main applicant filed their documents in person at a MUP office, you have to wait until they receive their residence card before you can apply to join them.Filling in the application step by step
Watch for messages and attend for biometrics
After an online filing, notifications about the application arrive in eSanduče — the electronic mailbox for messages from Serbian government bodies. Information about the progress of the case and the next steps appears there.Log in to eSanduče
Once the online application is accepted, a confirmation with the application number arrives. That number is used to track the case and, in some situations, to apply for family members to join you.
After approval you have to attend MUP in person at the appointed time and give your biometric data. An officer checks the passport, after which the plastic residence card goes into production. When the card is ready, you collect it at MUP.
What it costs
The fee depends on who you are joining: a foreigner living in Serbia on a residence permit, a single permit or permanent residence, or a Serbian citizen — through marriage, an unregistered partnership or kinship. Only one line differs, but it differs by half.
| Fee | With a foreigner | With a Serbian citizen |
|---|---|---|
| Filing the application | 430 | 430 |
| Approval of the permit | 23,450 | 11,725 |
| Issue of the biometric card | 2,190 | 2,190 |
| Production of the card | 2,028 | 2,028 |
| Total | 28,098 | 16,373 |
The first two lines are paid on filing and on approval, the last two when you collect the finished card.
Points to bear in mind
If you are getting a residence permit as the family member of a foreigner with temporary residence or a single permit, your permit will run no later than the expiry date of theirs. If your spouse's single permit has eight months left, for instance, you will not be given a three-year permit through reunification.