Serbian Residence Permit via Sole Proprietorship: Is It Worth It?

Contents

• Residence permit: common pros and cons
  • Pros:
  • Cons:
• Start with the obvious: come and live here
• Opening a sole proprietorship — yes, it’s fast
  • The main thing:
  • A real address for the sole proprietorship requires:
• Bank accounts
  • About the personal account:
• What’s the catch with the accounts
• Finance and taxes
• Bottom line
• Example of real expenses

Residence permit: common pros and cons

Let’s recall why you might need it at all. Below are the most frequent pros and cons (without cultural features or personal criteria).

Pros:

• Taxes are really low — for IT it’s 250–350 EUR depending on the activity code.
• Opening a sole proprietorship is fast.
• You can apply for a Schengen visa from Serbia (after 6 months of residence).
• Geographically close to Europe.
• The residence permit is issued immediately for 3 years.
• No need to make visa runs every 30 days.

Cons:

• The process takes 3–5 months (very individual).
• Unreasonable bureaucracy (details below).
• The cost for two adults on the basis of a sole proprietorship is from $1000.
• Limitations of the banking system (functionality, currency exchange).
• Raiffeisen Bank will not open an account without resident status (and even then it’s not guaranteed).

Start with the obvious: come and live here

My advice is to live here at least a month before deciding on a residence permit.
Perhaps you won’t like it — or, on the contrary, you’ll like it so much that pros and cons will fade into the background.
More about the city itself — in the next article.

Opening a sole proprietorship — yes, it’s fast

You register a sole proprietorship at APR. Fill in the application — if everything is in order, it will be opened in about a week.

The main thing:

You need a legal address.

Formally you can enter any address — literally any, and it isn’t checked.
But if it comes to closing the business or the tax office wants to inspect, a hefty fine may arrive.

Most people, including myself, registered at a virtual address on Yuri Gagarin Street in New Belgrade (the link was in Oleg’s guide).
The problem is that an inspector may come to the specified work address — and you must be there.
In early 2025 someone came there and found only the virtual office staff.

After that the hassle began: without changing the virtual address to the actual one (the apartment where you really live), residence permits stopped being issued.

A real address for the sole proprietorship requires:

• A contract with the landlord (they may refuse or simply not live in Serbia).
• Payment of rent tax (you still have to calculate it).
• When moving — change the address again: register the new one with APR, obtain a new tax decision, notify the bank within 3 working days.

👉 If you want a residence permit via a sole proprietorship — immediately look for housing where the host agrees to provide an address and sign a contract.

Bank accounts

For the residence permit you’ll need two accounts. I opened them at Poštanska štedionica:

• Personal account (EUR only, Visa) — needed to get a statement for the residence permit. Foreign banks won’t work; only a Serbian bank.
  Opening takes at least 1 month.
• Business account (for the sole proprietorship, EUR and RSD) — opening also takes from 1 month.

There is also Raiffeisen Bank in Serbia, which many see as reliable and familiar.
But don’t even try — they won’t open an account. According to their policy they open accounts only after obtaining resident status (1 year with a residence permit), and even then they may refuse without explanation.

About the personal account:

It is almost useless:

• you can’t transfer funds,
• no Apple Pay,
• the online cabinet is only for viewing the transaction history.

It is opened only for one purpose — to get the statement that must be included in the residence permit application.

What’s the catch with the accounts

How salary is credited if you work on a contract:

1. Salary arrives in EUR.
2. The bank sends a notification (“inflow”).
3. You attach the invoice and wait for the crediting.
4. Before 13:00 you must manually convert euros to dinars via the online cabinet.
5. Didn’t make it — wait for the next day.

After currency exchange you need to withdraw cash, because you can’t pay with the business card.

💳 Withdrawal limit — 150 000 RSD per day.
An ATM gives 50 000 at a time → three withdrawals → exchange office (if you need EUR) → convert back to euros.
Why? You have a physical Visa card in EUR:

• you can top it up only via the cash desk,
• you can withdraw only in RSD.

So: euros are converted three times — business account → exchange office → topping up the physical account → conversion when paying for purchases inside Serbia.
The card turned out almost useless within Serbia. No Apple Pay, no convenience. But you still have to open it — for one purpose: the statement for the residence permit application.

Finance and taxes

• Taxes depend on the activity code and city; on average 250–350 EUR.
• Access to the tax cabinet — only after obtaining a residence permit.
  • Use pausal.rs — it helps with the tax decision, certificates, etc.
  • Or hire an accountant.
• The tax decision must be obtained annually, separately from registering the business.
• Each year the rate grows by about 10% — it’s more profitable to open in January.
• There is an eco tax — fixed 5000 RSD per year (filed separately at the end of the year).

Bottom line

If you seriously want to apply for a residence permit, double‑check why, and once more:

• 🕓 Schengen visa — only after 6 months of residence with a permit.
• 🏦 Personal bank account will start working normally only after obtaining residency (at least a year).
• 🌍 Closeness to Europe? Yes, but it doesn’t give much. What matters is the Schengen visa, not the distance to the border.

Example of real expenses

📎 Below is a screenshot of my real expenses (in RSD) for opening a sole proprietorship and obtaining a residence permit in 2025.: