Basically renewing a temporary residence in Serbia is applied the same way than the first one, with few small exceptions.
This is how we did it.
And what wouldn’t I do for you my dear reader, I even went to court to test how the process goes!
Starting the Application Process
Time flies and suddenly it was again the time to renew our one-year temporary residence permits. Collecting all the needed documents on time is always the taughest part of the process.
Everything else is pretty simple and straightforward process.
I even read my own post I wrote last year to make sure we definitely have all the documents on our hands and won’t have to go to Savska MUP five times as was the case for us last year.
Note: If you are applying for the first temporary residence permit in Serbia, please read my post How to Stay Over 90 Days in Serbia (legally).
If you applying for the second time, continue reading here.
With a file full of original documents plus two copies of each we made our appointment to MUP in Savska 35.
We were given the appointment on May 27th.
To make your appointment send an email to this address: upravazastrance@mup.gov.rs
Just to make sure we wouldn’t be late we left home very early and arrived one hour in advance to MUP. We asked the quard on the stairs if we could go in, but he told us to wait for our appointment. We decided to go to a nearby café to wait and tried again 15 min before our scheduled time and this time we were let in.
Being a bit nervous we waited to be called in thinking what could be that one missing paper this time.
Too Many Papers
We were called in from the hallway. We sat queitly in front of the police who was going through our documents.
Then she started to hand over my documents, one by one.
– This one isn’t needed, this one is needed only the first year, also this… Have you changed your address? No? Then I don’t need the white paper either. No photos needed, we will use the one from the last year. It’s all here.
– Ummh… okay. Nothing missing, really? Too many papers?
That has certainly hasn’t happened before. To anyone. Never.
What Documents Are Needed for Temporary Residence in Serbia
So what was it that we needed? Here’s a checklist for you!
- An actual application document
- The document of proof for your reason to stay (aka work contract, marriage certificate…)
- Document from the local bank proving you have enough money to support yourself (officially minimum salary x months of stay)
- A health insurance certificate
- A slip from the bank to show you have paid your fees and taxes for the residency (This used to be 3 different bills, from this year they are combined on one bill) The price is bit higher too, 18320 rsd for one year.
- Your passport
Also, just in case, I would take your rental agreement with you and also copy of landlord’s ID and a proof that he owns the apartment, plus the white card (beli karton), but as we hadn’t changed our address at least for us they were not needed this time. Anyway the police checked those papers before handing them back to us. Also a CV written in Serbian is only needed for the first application.
That’s it. Or was it..?
You’ll Need to Go to Court
Then she says we are too late. – But don’t worry about it. You’ll just have to go to court.
My colleague will make the papers and we will keep your passports.
We’ll just have to go to court? Ummh, that’s definitely not ”just something” in our native country, but in Serbia it seems to be like any routine visit to any office to run your errands.
We were asked to arrive in front of the judge the next day at 12.28 pm.
Our former residence permits were still valid, but the second applications should’ve been left no later than at least 30 days before they were due. Oops.
She said the judge will return our passports and that we can come to pick up our renewed residence permits in June 10that 12.30 so at least it looked like everything will be fine.
In Front of the Judge
The next day we sat on the wooden bench waiting to be called inside the court room.
The court is by the way situated on Bulevar Despota Stefana 107.
We were not the only foreigners waiting there.
After a while we were called in. No big room with audience and stern looking judge, but just a regular office room.
A secretary writing notes and a smiling judge.
We had written an explanation why we were late, but the judge didn’t want to have it.
He started to speak in perfect English and said, it’s the law that you have to apply at least 30 days in advance to get your temporary residence in Serbia renewed and you can start the process 90 days before, but how should you know, as it’s not written anywhere.
Our details were written down and the judge tells us that we’ll have to pay the minimum fine of 8000 rsd each. He adds that there will be no harm to us, no effect towards our next permits, after all, you have done nothing illegal and your previous permits are still valid.
Why did we have to pay then, wonders the translator we took with us just in case.
But off we go with our bills to pay those in the bank. Next we returned to show that we have paid.
We were given the papers to sign and got back our passports.
Simple as that.
This experience I’m trying to avoid in the future, so no more upcoming posts on this topic.
Sorry, but I’ll rather have a nice dinner in some fancy restaurant for that money and write about that.
On the way home we saw a nice chair on the window of an interior design shop.
The type of a chair I would need for my home office as I’ve been working on a couch for way too long.
The price was about 8000 rsd. I turn to my hubs with the grin, I guess I’ve used my today’s 8000 rsd budget already, for nothing.
I can happily manage with that old couch.
Note to self: Next year we’ll meet at Savska 90 days before the deadline.
10th of June at 12.30, Savska 35
We are back at Savska.
Well, almost.
My hubs walks down from his work and is early.
My taxi is the slowest in the city and I send message to my fiancé asking him not to wait for me but to enter the MUP office.
I’m giving directions to my driver and some hundreds meters before Savska I ask him to stop and run the last minutes.
I mean ran after paying him.
I got there five minutes before we were called in. Or actually we were not even called in, but to wait in the hallway and our passports were taken inside the office.
A few minutes later a smiling officer walks towards us to return our passports with a shiny new temporary residence permits standing on those.
We are staying!
Hvala Srbija!
Check here the official information of the Ministry of Interior, Republic of Serbia.