Information for third-country nationals staying in Serbia or in Montenegro

You are hereby referred to the Article 6 of the Visa Code Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (europa.eu)

1. An application shall be examined and decided on by the consulate of the competent Member State in whose jurisdiction the applicant legally resides.
2. A consulate of the competent Member State shall examine and decide on an application lodged by a third-country national legally present but not residing in its jurisdiction, if the applicant has provided justification for lodging the application at that consulate.

The Embassy of Sweden provides migration services (e.g. submitting biometrics, ordering of residence permit cards, application for Schengen visa or residence permit, etc.) to the applicants who are citizens or established residents in the country where the Embassy of Sweden is situated or is a competent authority for. Established residents are persons who have had a residence permit in Serbia or Montenegro for at least 6 months.

Our practice is therefore limited solely to Serbian and Montenegrin citizens, or to established residents in these countries, without exceptions. Other inquiries have to be respectfully referred to other authorities.

If you are an established resident in Serbia or Montenegro and want to apply for Schengen visa in Belgrade, please send the copy of your Serbian/Montenegrin residence permit by email, and specify details of your and your immediate family members´ stay in Serbia or Montenegro: the grounds for your residence permit in Serbia/Montenegro, economy plan, place of stay, future plans after the intended trip to Sweden, etc. You would then be referred to either make a phone call and book time for your application, or to contact the Embassy of Sweden in the country where you legally reside.

Incoming changes

Applications for Schengen visas from applicants residing in Serbia or Montenegro will from January 9th 2025 be handled by the Embassy of Sweden in Skopje, North Macedonia. The Embassy in Sweden in Belgrade will no longer handle applications for Schengen visas from this date.

In practical terms this means that if you that are residing in Serbia or Montenegro and want to apply for a Schengen visa after January 9th 2025, will have to visit the office of the external service provider VFS Global in Belgrade and submit your application there. The application and passport will be sent to the Embassy of Sweden in Skopje that will process and decide in the application.

If you are a resident of Serbia or Montenegro, and want to apply for a Schengen visa can, from January 9th 2025, do so at the office of the external service provider VFS Global in Belgrade. The application and passport will be sent to the Embassy in Skopje which will decide in the application. The passport and decision will then be returned to VFS Global in Belgrade, where you can collect the them. Please note, the Embassy of Sweden in Serbia will not be involved in the visa process. Consequently, questions regarding visas should be directed to VFS Global´s call center.

You will, apart from the visa fee, be obliged to pay a service fee to VFS Global that amounts to 80 Euro. Transport of application and passport to and from Skopje is included in the service fee.

Contact information for VFS Global in Belgrade can be found via the link below (the link for the website of VFS Global’s visa application centre in Belgrade will be activated on January 9th 2025).

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