Advice on move from USA to Novi Sad or Blacka Planko?

Hello Chase 83 and welcome on the forum of Expat.com

Kindly note that your thread is presently on the Novi Sad forum

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com

Hi i'm an American looking to move to Serbia ,best I can find out so far is I would be welcome for 90 days then have to leave the country for a few hours and reenterfor another 90 days .I have many friends the and did visit last year for 5 weeks ,we rented a cottage in Fushia Gora national Park near a town called Nestin,For food shopping we traveled to Backa Planko to Rowe super market .but after the frist week there Croatia closed the boarder and we where no longer able to get to Backa Planko so we started shopping a small town between Nesti and Novi Sad.It was  wonderful fea-market farmers market on the week-ends and two great butcher shops for fresh meats.l fell in love with Serbia and would love to enjoy my retirement  years there any advice?

Hi, I'm also interested in Serbia and recently emailed their U.S. consulate about residency.  They noted 2 avenues that would allow an American retiree residency.  One was real estate investment.  I forget the amount needed but I don't recall it being a lot.  The other was to get a Serbian citizen to vouch for you as his guest.  The Serbian would either have to show means that he can support you while there or, if not, you can show you have adequate income to live there.  It's one year temporary residency, but after 5 years you can get permanant residency.  And the fee is small.  If you aren't familiar with him look up Charles Cather on Facebook and YouTube.  He's got a huge following and is most likely the most popular American in Serbia.  He's taken the time to answer some of my emails.  He lives in Novi Sad and is very active in the community there.  Good luck!

As far as I know from reading I believe you are only allowed to stay 90 days in an 180 day period.  Would be interested to confirm border runs would work ok.  This is for an American, different rules for Europeans I believe.

Thank You so much for your reply.God bless

You fell in love with the area on the basis of a longer trip - I guess you must have seen some of the negative aspects too, life in Serbia IS very nice when you have even a modest "Western" income, it's true. You probably appreciate the very simple and traditional form of life that people still live here. On the other hand, there are many frustrations with living in Serbia that you HAVE to reconcile yourself with and say "OK, this is not the US, it's just the way things are here". Mainly this relates to 1) bureaucracy (can be difficult and time-consuming getting simple things done that you always took for granted) and 2) the poorly functioning "system" - things just DON'T "work" as well, due to corruption and general ineffectiveness, from holes in the road to not being able to track down the medicine you want. Westerners can find these aspects very difficult to deal with. If you can get over these though, like many westerners who live here have, then you can have a very nice life here, have a house, yard, grow stuff, live more naturally and in a more relaxed way. That's why I have been here 20 years .

As far as I know, in short, ownership of property and proof of some kind of income is one way to secure residency status in Serbia.

By the way, this Charles Cather guy, I have never heard of him, even though I have lived in Novi Sad 15 years! But I would also recommend you ask the same questions on the Facebook groups "Belgrade Foreign Visitors Club" (has the most members) and "Novi Sad Foreign Visitors Club" as you will meet a number of people there in a similar position who can give you more answers.

Thank You for your reply,i live on social sercurity about $1,300.00 a month .So I know how far that would go living there.As I said I rented a cottage in Fushia Gora Nation Park close to the town of Nestin We had the cottage for 5 weeks,shared it with my friend from Serbia.Traveled the country side which was beautiful along the Blue Danube River .It was small towns lots of farms Grapes and Apple;s Had lunch at some very nice resturants over looking the Danbue .one a fish restaurant enjoyed a fish stew.Visited with his family for 5 days in Alexsandrovac.Wonderful people .Got to visit many Monasteries mostely in Fushia Gora .Some beautiful old churches in small villages .I currently live in florida USA planning the move at the end of this year .I just need to buy some winter clothes again .LOL But every where we .traveled was greeted warmly by the Serbian people .We stopped in Valjeo do buy his mother a gift I never go any where with out bring a gift ,did a great fea -market farmers market there got a beautiful set of dinnerware service for 8 for mom,l also made pine apple up-side down cake for his family to enjoy .plus cooked up a meatloaf .and all the vegs for the family while there .I guess I made a nice frist impression on them .His mother was surpised at my cooking dinner for them.Thanks for your input .Best regards Charles

Charles Cather is a good guy who visited Serbia and fell for the place.  Started making videos on YouTube describing places, food, etc there and got a lot of notice from locals.  He's maxed out on number of Facebook friends at 5000 and has over 17,000 following him.  He's appeared on Serbian radio and TV and given speeches around the country.  Has done charitable work with kids and so you don't think he's some kind of scammer he works with a Serbian company at Serbian pay and is headed back to the States this summer to work a temp job to better afford living in Serbia.  Got a bunch of Serbian college kids summer jobs in the States too.  I'm using my company shipping discount to help him get a bunch of used sports equipment down to Florida where a Serbian friend has a ship that'll take it to the nearest port.  You'll find his videos often amusing as he freely admits he rambles a bit.

Hi Chase,

What exactly do you want to know maybe I could help?

$1300 a month will get you far on the countryside, but in Belgrade and Novi Sad.. not so much.

Depends on what you want, the hustle and bustle of the city center, or the farmlife?

In Valjevo, you can get a very nice house with huge land for ~20k

Hi there...
I'm in the same situation I live in the usa and im thinking to move to novi sad with my girl freind....I'm a dentist and i saved a really good amount of money and I'm sick of paying half of my money for taxes so I'm looking for something more relaxing and good quality of life .... so Plz if you anyone can tell me how is it to live there.. how can 2 people live there for 3000 euro a month ??  Just looking for general information if anyone can help me out.. thx

Dear Nimriloie,
For you and other who want to move to Novi Sad or another city in Vojvodina and Serbia, you can check renting prices of flats, apartments or houses here: http://www.solis-nekretnine.com/en

I think you're thinking of Backa Palanka.

As for the 90 of the last 180 days. It is not enforced. You can go. After 90 days cross the border and stay for one day in Croatia. And then cross back the next day and you should be fine. Of course there is always a chance of being denied re-entry but I know of many people who have continually done this and not had any problems so as long as you carry enough cash with you such that if you are denied at the border it won't be an issue, then I would not worry about it.

1300 is plenty for Serbia but if you've only recently retired you must realize that not having work (whether it is a passion or not) to consume your time will cause you to fall into an existential depression. If you don't speak the language and won't truly be able to adapt to the place over the long term you will have some serious problems.