Serbia: A qualified electronic certificate can now be added on foreigner’s Single or Residence permit
In today's digital age where business operations progressively shift online, a digital certificate has become a necessity. A qualified electronic certificate has endless possibilities and functions inclusive of digital signing of the documents, engaging with government agencies and accessing their portals such as: Tax office, e-Invoice portal – SEF (e-faktura), Central Register of Mandatory Social Security, the e-Government Portal (e-Uprava), company’s e-mailbox (e-sanduče) and the Customs administration, online banking etc.
An electronic certificate offers quick, secure, and legally binding method to authenticate documents. It also serves as identity card in electronic transactions, allowing person to perform tasks that traditionally required physical presence and paper documents.
The certificate can be issued by different certification bodies in the form of plastic card with the chip or digital certificate function can be added on the Serbian national ID card or foreigner’s Single or Residence permit.
Based on recent amendments of the immigration laws in Serbia, a switch from Residence permit sticker in the passport to the biometric documents – plastic cards with the chip enabled possibility of adding the electronic certificate on the existing permit.
How electronic certificate can be obtained for the foreigners
A qualified electronic certificate should be requested from an authorized certification body. Alternatively, foreigners who are Serbian residents and possess Residence or Single permit issued after February 1, 2024, can add electronic certificate function on the valid Residence or Single permit. The process includes the following steps:
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Application for electronic certificate – personal presence of the applicant is required
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Issuance of electronic certificate
- Installation of drivers/software - for the correct use of qualified electronic certificates, it is mandatory to install the software of the certification authority that issued the certificate. Each certification authority published on its website instructions and necessary steps for the successful software installation.