Adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Amendments to the Law on Employment of Foreign Citizens(“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, no. 31/2019)
On April 29, 2019 Serbian National Assembly adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Amendments to the Law on Employment of Foreign Citizens, which came into force on April 8, 2019.We would like to emphasize the most significant changes introduced byLaw on Amendments to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Amendments to the Law on Employment of Foreign Citizens which will affect legal practice in Serbia in this legal area.
Firstly, significant and relevant changes introduced by Law on Amendments to the Law on Foreigners are as follows:
- It is prescribed that foreigner to whom it was issued Long-Term Visa based on employment shall be entitled to employment in accordance with the regulations governing the employment of foreigners.
- Regardless of the basis for temporary residence, a temporary residence may be granted to certain categories of foreigners. Within 6 months of the entry into force of this Law, the Government shall adopt a regulation laying down criteria for determining the category of foreigners as well as the category of foreigners themselves.
- Application for a temporary residence permit or the extension thereof shall be submitted personally by a foreigner or electronically. Foreigner also can submit an application for temporary residence permit from abroad. This is a very significant and useful change which will simplify, modernize and speed up the procedure.Also, it is no longer prescribed the deadline of 90 days of the last entry, or the validity period of the long-stay visa for a foreigner to apply for temporary residence.However, this amendment shall begin to apply from January 1, 2020.
- The most significant amendment is new Article 41a which prescribes Unified Request for Temporary Stay and Work Permit. Article 41a prescribes that application for a temporary residence permit or the extension and application for work permit can be submitted together by a foreigner personally or electronically. This is a very important amendment because this way foreigner will be able to obtain a temporary residence permit and work permit at the same time, and this will speed up both procedures. However, the provisions of this Article 41a shall begin to apply from December 1, 2020.
- Finally, Law on Amendments to the Law on Foreigners prescribes the provisions on a special identity card which is issued as a diplomatic, official, consular or service identity card, as well as provisions on the form of a special identity card.
Secondly, significant and relevant changes introduced by Law on Amendments to the Law on Employment of Foreign Citizensare as follows:
- Firstly, it is prescribed that employment of a foreigner shall be exercised on condition that he/she hasa Long-Term Visa based on employment, a long-term residence permit based on employment, temporary residence permit or permanent residence and work permit, unless otherwise provided by this Law.
- Secondly, an Article 15a is added and it prescribes that a work permit issued based on a long-stay visa based on employment is issued the longest period of validity of a long-stay visa based on employment.
- And finally, it is prescribed that a foreigner who has a long-term visa based on employment or a temporary residence permit for a foreigner has a condition for issuing a work permit.
Abovementioned amendments shall apply from January 1, 2020. If you have any questions or need further information please contact AnaPopović, partner at ana.popovic@zslaw.rs or Teodora Budanović, trainee attorney at law at teodora.budanovic@zslaw.rs, or any of our regular contacts at Živković Samardžić.