Changing employer on a Serbian single permit and the 30 day window
A worker on a valid single permit changes employer through the portal, the National Employment Service decides in 10 days, and a lapsed job allows 30 days.
Since 1 February 2024 a Serbian single permit no longer ties a worker to one job until expiry. Article 11 of the Law on Employment of Foreigners allows a request, during the validity of the permit, to change the basis of work, change employer, or work for several employers, and the National Employment Service decides within 10 days.
That change rewrote the arithmetic for employers who pay for travel, training and housing. The permit stays the same, but the link to the employer became severable, so retention moved from an administrative question to an operational one.
How the change runs
The request is filed electronically through the Unified Portal for Foreigners, by the worker, by the employer on the worker's behalf, or by an authorised representative. The file does not restart: the existing single permit remains in force and the employer or basis of work is amended. The consent is delivered to the applicant through the same portal.
The 10 day period runs from receipt of a complete request, like every other deadline in this procedure. Article 11 also allows the Government, depending on labour market conditions, to exempt certain categories of foreigners in shortage occupations from the consent requirement, which in practice reduces the step to notifying a new employment relationship.
A separate situation is the end of an employment relationship. The Law on Employment of Foreigners gives the worker 30 days from termination to sign a new contract without losing the basis of stay under a permit already issued. If that period passes without a contract, the permit loses its purpose and the stay has to be resolved on another basis.
| Situation | Who files | Deadline for the authority | What happens to the permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change of employer on a valid permit | worker, employer or representative | 10 days | stays in force, the data is amended |
| Work for several employers | worker, employer or representative | 10 days | stays in force, an employer is added |
| Termination without a new contract | the worker | 30 days to sign a new contract | basis lapses after the period |
| First issue | employer or worker | 15 days | a new card is issued |
What the employer has to do the same day
A change of employer is not only a portal file. The previous employer files a deregistration from mandatory social insurance, and the new one files a fresh registration with the Central Registry of Mandatory Social Insurance no later than the day before work starts with the new employer. Where the deregistration is missing, the new registration fails and the worker sits outside the records for days even though consent exists. The sequence is set out in social insurance registration in Serbia.
The second task is the address. If the move comes with a move to different housing, the residence registration is filed again, by the accommodation provider, within 24 hours of arrival at the new address under the Law on Foreigners. Those duties are covered in worker accommodation and employer obligations.
The third task is the labour market file. Where the basis of work changes rather than only the employer, the National Employment Service looks again at whether a test was required for the new position, and its report under Article 16a arrives within four days.
What this means for planning a cohort
Employers bringing twenty or fifty people at once now budget for attrition inside the first year. The answer is contractual and operational rather than administrative: clear terms, a clean payslip, and housing that matches what was promised before departure. The full cost of replacing a worker mid season is set out in the cost of hiring a foreign worker in Serbia.
Contract clauses binding a worker to stay for a set period have no basis in the Labour Law and cannot be enforced, so travel and training costs cannot be recovered as a penalty. What does work is treating travel, training and housing as a cost amortised across the first year rather than an investment that comes back. Employers who budget that way tend to retain more people, because the conversation before departure is about real terms rather than promises.
The reverse direction is worth noting too. The same Article 11 lets an employer take on a worker already in Serbia, with a valid permit and experience on a Serbian site, in 10 days rather than a full 15 day procedure plus a labour market test. For urgent seasonal gaps that is the fastest lawful route to people.
Change of employer therefore cuts both ways. It loosens the tie between a worker and one company and at the same time opens a domestic pool of people who have already cleared the entry procedure. For replacements planned mid season, our employer desk checks which deadlines apply to the specific occupation.
Keep reading
All posts →What a UK sponsor licence costs an employer in 2026
The Home Office charges £1,682 for a medium or large Worker sponsor licence, £525 per Certificate of Sponsorship and £1,320 a year in skills charge.
UK skilled worker salary thresholds and going rates 2026
The Home Office sets an hourly floor of GBP 17.13 under Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations and GBP 12.82 under Table 2, each alongside the going rate.