Serbia Removes Labor Market Test for D‑Visa
Employers are no longer required to prove no local candidates are available for D‑visa roles—streamlining short‑term foreign hiring—while the LMT remains for longer-term Single Permits.
📅 Effective: March 1 2025Serbia Removes Labor Market Test for D‑Visa
Effective March 1, 2025, Serbia abolished the requirement for employers to conduct a Labor Market Test (LMT) when hiring foreign workers under the D‑visa route. This streamlines short-term foreign recruitment—especially for roles under six months—by removing a time-consuming barrier, without impacting the LMT requirement for longer-term Single Permit applications.
Implications for Employers
- Faster hiring: D‑visa roles (up to 6 months) no longer require proof that local candidates were unavailable, reducing administrative timelines.
- Continued compliance: For longer-term positions, LMT remains mandatory at the Single Permit stage to ensure local labor priority.
- Strategic planning: Employers can better match visa routes to job lengths: short-term hires via D‑visa, longer-term roles via Single Permit.
Outlook
This change aligns Serbia’s system with broader EU practice, easing mobility in shortage occupations. A future “shortage occupation list” may further expand exemptions. Employers in fields like tech, healthcare, and finance should prepare to leverage these reforms to reduce talent acquisition friction.
📌 Bottom line: The March 2025 reform accelerates foreign talent onboarding for short-term roles—while preserving labor protections for longer engagements.