Novi Sad for Digital Nomads: Coworking, Visa Rules and Settling In (2026)
Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and, for a remote worker, arguably the easiest one to settle into: you can walk across the centre in twenty minutes, most passports get 90 visa-free days, and a desk in a coworking space costs from 12 € a day. This guide covers the practical side: how long you can stay, where to work, how to turn a visit into residency and what Novi Sad is like compared to Belgrade.
One thing to know before you fall in love with the city: Serbia has no digital nomad visa. If you want to stay past your visa-free days, the usual route is to register as a sole proprietor and apply for residence on that basis. It is a well trodden path and we walk through it below, but it takes planning, not just a laptop.
Information current as of September 2026.
How long can you stay
Most travellers from the EU, the UK, the US, Canada and Australia can enter Serbia without a visa and stay up to 90 days in any 180 day period. Citizens of several other countries have the same or longer allowances under bilateral agreements. Check the rules for your passport on the official portal welcometoserbia.gov.rs before you book.
Two rules catch people out in the first week.
Address registration within 24 hours. Every foreigner in Serbia must have their address registered with the police, locally known as the white card (prijava boravišta). Hotels do it for you. If you rent an apartment or stay with friends, your host is responsible, and both of you can be fined if it is skipped. Ask for the white card on your first day.
The 90 days are counted, not reset. Crossing into Hungary for a weekend and coming back does not restart the clock. If you plan to stay longer than three months, start the residency process early, ideally in your first month.
Coworking in Novi Sad
Novi Sad has a growing set of coworking spaces used by digital nomads, local freelancers and relocated founders, most of them within a short walk of the pedestrian centre. Prices are modest by European standards: a day pass typically costs from 10 to 15 € and a monthly hot desk from 100 to 200 €, depending on the space and whether a monitor and meeting rooms are included.
At MAXIMUM coworking on Železnička 20, a few minutes from the railway station and the centre, a desk costs from 12 € per day and 150 € per month. The rate includes internet, a kitchen with coffee and tea, scanning, and meeting rooms for members. The full price list is in our article on coworking prices in Novi Sad and Belgrade.
What to look for when choosing a space in Novi Sad, based on what our residents tell us mattered most:
| What to check | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Opening hours on Saturday | Many spaces close at weekends; if you work with US clients, Saturday mornings are useful |
| Meeting rooms included or billed | Client calls in a shared room get expensive if every hour is charged separately |
| Who else works there | A space full of relocated entrepreneurs answers your tax and residency questions over lunch |
| Distance from where you live | The centre, Liman and Grbavica are all walkable; Petrovaradin means crossing the bridge daily |
| Language of the community | English works everywhere; Russian and Serbian communities are large and useful for local knowledge |
Our honest advice: buy one day pass before any monthly plan. Light, noise, internet and the people around you are impossible to judge from photos.
Turning a visit into residency
Since there is no nomad visa, remote workers who want to stay in Serbia usually take one of two routes.
Sole proprietorship (preduzetnik). You register as an individual entrepreneur with the Business Registers Agency (APR), get a registered business address and a bank account, and apply for a temporary residence permit on the basis of self employment. Registration itself takes about five working days. Many remote workers on flat rate taxation (paušal) run their freelance income through this structure. Full details are on our business registration page.
Employment or a company (DOO). If you are moving with a team or want a limited company, a DOO can be registered with symbolic capital and the director applies for residence on that basis. It is more paperwork and accounting than a sole proprietorship, so it suits people who need a company, not just a status.
Both routes need a registered address. That is the service people come to us for most often: a legal address for the business plus mail handling, so a letter from the tax office reaches you the same day it arrives.
For anyone weighing freelancing without registration, read why freelancing in Serbia does not lead to residency before deciding.
Timing matters. Applying for residence while you still have visa-free days left is much calmer than doing it on day 85. Our lawyers see both versions every month, and the first is always cheaper.
Novi Sad or Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital: the international airport, most embassies, big company offices and a nightlife that runs all week. If your work depends on flights or meetings with large Serbian partners, Belgrade is simpler.
Novi Sad is compact, calmer and cheaper to live in. The Danube, the Petrovaradin fortress and the Štrand beach are inside the city, the pedestrian centre is where everyone meets, and the EXIT festival in July puts the city on the map for a week. Cycling is a realistic way to get around, which it is not in Belgrade. Belgrade is about an hour away by road or train when you need it.
For a digital nomad who wants a routine rather than a scene, Novi Sad usually wins. For a founder who needs to be in the room, Belgrade. Plenty of people split the difference and keep a desk in both cities; that is why we have offices in each.
Practical notes for the first month
Money. Serbia uses the dinar. Cards are accepted almost everywhere in Novi Sad, cash is handy at markets and in small cafés. Opening a local bank account as a visitor is difficult; it becomes straightforward once you have a business registration or a residence permit.
Internet. Fibre is standard in city apartments and coworking spaces. Prepaid SIM cards with generous data are sold at any operator shop with a passport.
Language. English gets you through daily life easily, especially with people under forty. Learning a few dozen Serbian words earns real goodwill.
Where to live. The centre and Liman are the most popular with remote workers, Grbavica is quieter and a bit cheaper, Petrovaradin across the river is picturesque but adds a bridge to every commute.
Community. Weekly meetups on software, design and running a business in Serbia happen in coworking spaces, including ours, and they are where digital nomads passing through meet people who moved here for good. This is the fastest way to meet people who have already solved the problems you are about to have.
Common mistakes
Assuming a nomad visa exists. It does not. Plan for a sole proprietorship or a company if you want to stay.
Skipping the white card. It costs nothing and takes twenty minutes; the fine and the trouble at residence application do not.
Waiting until the last visa-free week. Registration and the residence application take time and documents. Start early.
Choosing a coworking space by photos. One day pass tells you more than any website.
Treating Serbian and EU rules as the same. Serbia is not in the EU or Schengen. Days here do not count towards your Schengen limit, which is useful, but the local rules are their own.
Talk to us before you decide
We have worked in Novi Sad since 2020 and helped more than 2,000 people and companies settle, register businesses and get residence permits. If you are thinking about basing yourself here, come in for a day of work and a free consultation: we will tell you honestly whether a sole proprietorship, a company or simply staying within your visa-free days is the right fit for your situation. If there is a simpler way for you than our services, we will say so.
Services and current rates are on the coworking page, the relocation page and the pricing page.
Telegram: @maximumnsrs Phone: +381 63 557 887 Novi Sad: Železnička 20, Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 20:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00 Belgrade: Kralja Milana 15a, Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 18:00