North Macedonia

Degree required

no

Changing employer

The permit is issued against a signed employment contract with a specific employer; for self-employment neither an employment contract nor a justification is required.

Visa types: Residence permit for employment · Residence permit for self-employment · Residence permit for a posted worker (intra-corporate transfer) · Residence permit for work on a strategic project - no quota and no Employment Agency opinion (art. 83-a, in force since 26 September 2025) · Residence permit for seasonal work - up to six months, up to nine in construction, once per calendar year · Work registration certificate: short-term work of up to 90 days without a residence permit

Ministry of the Interior list for a first residence permit for employment: the application (form no. 2), an extract on the employer's registration from the Central Register no older than 6 months, a statement of the need for a foreign worker, a document on the relevant education or specific professional qualification, a signed employment contract, proof of secured accommodation, a certificate of no criminal record and no criminal proceedings from the country of previous residence, a notarised guarantee and a written statement. For self-employment the items on the contract, education and guarantee are not required. Fees: 4,000 denars and 2,150 denars (citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo pay only 4,000). There is no separate work permit in the country: under art. 76(4) of the Law on Foreigners the temporary residence card issued for work is itself the single work and residence permit. It only allows the work for which the residence was granted. Employment, seasonal employment and the posting of workers all require a positive opinion from the Employment Agency within a separate quota for each type; the Ministry of the Interior requests the opinion itself, the Agency must answer within 15 working days, and SILENCE COUNTS AS A REFUSAL. The first opinion is issued for the period stated in the application but for no more than a year, and where no period is stated, for six months. Employment is not tied to the labour market at all for managers, founders, athletes, cultural workers, scientists, editors, non-privileged staff of diplomatic missions, and those who have worked for more than a year for the same employer in the same post. Law 193/2025, in force since 26 September 2025, made it into no consolidated text yet changed a great deal: it relaxed the general conditions of art. 72 (the words «or has means for accommodation» were removed, the criminal record certificate is now required from the state where the applicant lived in the year before the application rather than from the state of citizenship, and the conditions on means and health insurance do not apply at all to close family members of a citizen, to applicants for residence for employment, or to a sponsor's family members); it moved the renewal window from «30 days before expiry or within 15 days after» to «no earlier than 90 days and no later than five days BEFORE expiry» - overrunning is now impossible; it made a notarised employer guarantee a mandatory annex to the application; it introduced art. 83-a on work on strategic projects; and it renamed the competent ministry the Ministry of Economy and Labour. The fees sit in the Law on Administrative Fees, and the tariff table is printed in THREE COLUMNS: description, denars, and euro (payable in the denar equivalent). Approval of temporary residence for more than three months costs EUR 20, up to three months EUR 10, each further three-month approval EUR 15, and approval of permanent residence EUR 60 (tariff item 7); issuing and renewing the card itself for a temporary or permanent resident costs EUR 15 (tariff item 9). Visas at a consulate: A, B and C at EUR 60 each, D at EUR 70 (tariff item 135); children aged 6 to 12 pay EUR 35, while children under six, pupils and students travelling for study, researchers and representatives of non-profit organisations under 25 pay nothing at all.

Permanent residence after

5 years

Citizenship after

7 years

Language

Macedonian. For permanent residence (art. 130 of the Law on Foreigners) and for naturalisation (art. 7(1)(6) of the Law on Citizenship) the law names one and the same level: command of the language sufficient to be easily understood by those around. For citizenship, compliance with that condition is established by a special government commission. A refusal of permanent residence based on the language condition alone NEED NOT BE REASONED (art. 135(3)). Applicants naturalising through marriage, and emigrants together with their descendants, are exempt from the language condition

Dual citizenship

allowed

Dual citizenship: Multiple citizenship is not expressly allowed by law - it follows from the list of grounds of loss. Citizenship of North Macedonia ceases in ONLY two ways (art. 16, formerly art. 19 of the Law on Citizenship): by release on personal application and under international treaties. Acquiring a foreign citizenship is not among the grounds of loss, so a citizen who takes a second passport does not lose the Macedonian one. The reverse direction works differently: naturalisation under the general rule requires renunciation of the previous citizenship, and that condition is lifted only for marriage, for descent from an emigrant, in the special national interest and for stateless persons and refugees. A decision releasing someone from Macedonian citizenship is annulled if the person stays on in the country or, having left, does not acquire a foreign citizenship within one year

Absence limits: For the five-year qualifying period for permanent residence (art. 131 of the Law on Foreigners), continuity is treated as preserved if, in the five years before the application, the foreigner was absent neither SIX CONSECUTIVE MONTHS nor TEN MONTHS IN TOTAL; for special or exceptional reasons of a temporary nature the period may be extended. Time spent studying, on pupil and student exchanges and on specialisation counts only by half. Temporary residence has a limit of its own: it is withdrawn if the foreigner spent, without justification, more than A QUARTER of the period for which the residence was granted outside the country (art. 126)

Naturalisation under the general rule (art. 7 of the Law on Citizenship): age 18, lawful and permanent residence in the country for at least SEVEN YEARS before the application, secured accommodation and a permanent source of subsistence at a level providing material and social security, command of Macedonian sufficient to be easily understood by those around, no sentence of imprisonment of a year or more in cases prosecuted ex officio and no pending criminal proceedings either in the country or in the state of citizenship, no residence ban imposed, no threat to the security and defence of the country, an oath of loyalty, and release from the former citizenship or proof that it will be granted. The seven-year requirement is the result of an amendment: Law 174/2021 replaced the words «eight years» with «seven years» in art. 7(1)(2). Compliance with the language condition is established by a special commission set up by the government. The renunciation condition counts as met if the applicant proves that they are stateless or that under the law of their own country they will lose that citizenship by the very act of naturalisation; and if the foreign state grants no release, or attaches conditions that cannot be met without creating existential or security problems for the applicant and their family, a DECLARATION of renunciation suffices. Anyone who meets every condition except renunciation is issued a guarantee of admission; if proof of renunciation is not filed within two years of its delivery, the application is deemed withdrawn. The authority deciding on release from the former citizenship must decide within six months. The application is filed with the Ministry of the Interior at the place of residence or with a consular post abroad, and the decision is taken by the Minister of the Interior. The administrative fee is EUR 100: EUR 20 on filing and EUR 80 after the decision.

Four easier routes. Marriage: at least three years of marriage and at least one year of continuous lawful residence lift four conditions at once - the residence requirement, accommodation with a source of subsistence, the language, and renunciation of the former citizenship; for those living abroad, eight years of marriage together with a firm and effective connection to the country give the same exemptions. An emigrant from North Macedonia and their descendant to the first generation are free of the residence requirement, the language and renunciation, but re-admission is refused if less than three years have passed since the former citizenship ended. A special scientific, economic, cultural, sporting or other national interest allows admission of a person meeting only two conditions - majority and no threat to security; the criteria of that interest are set by a government regulation and the government also gives the opinion, while the spouse of such a foreigner may acquire citizenship alongside them. For a stateless person and a recognised refugee the requirement is cut to six years, counted not from entry but from the establishment of statelessness or the recognition of the status; renunciation of the former citizenship is not required of them, and criminal record is checked only in North Macedonia. Children under 18 acquire citizenship together with their naturalising parents; from the age of 15 the child's own consent is also needed.

Document certification

apostille

The country is party to the 1961 Hague Convention: a degree or certificate is authenticated with a single apostille in the country that issued it.

Limit

5

Antibody titre test

needed

Preparation

~3 months

About the limit: The limit does not apply to movement for participation in competitions, shows and sporting events

Food and Veterinary Agency: the animal must be older than 3 months, individually identified by a clearly legible tattoo, another permanent means of identification or an electronic chip, and vaccinated against rabies. For countries in Part A of Annex II to the rules — a pet passport; for countries in Part B — a veterinary health certificate. For countries outside the list, a certificate of a rabies antibody titre test carried out at least 3 months before travel is required. A clinical examination and treatment against echinococcosis and ticks are recommended. Entry is possible through any passenger border crossing point. The source does not mention a quarantine requirement — the field has been left empty.

Bread, 500 g

$ 0,76

Milk, 1 l

$ 1,31

Eggs, 12

$ 2,29

Chicken breast, 1 kg

$ 7,53

Cheese, 1 kg

$ 8,71

Rice, 1 kg

$ 1,56

Potatoes, 1 kg

$ 0,88

Apples, 1 kg

$ 1,14

Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 l

$ 1,53

Total

$ 25,7

The same set for every country, so the comparison is fair.

Rent, 1 bedroom

$ 304 a month

Rent, 3 bedrooms

$ 572 a month

Utility bills

$ 134 a month

Home internet

$ 17,8 a month

Monthly transport pass

$ 26,0 a month

Single transport ticket

$ 0,69

Petrol, litre

$ 1,49

Cold medicine

$ 5,90 for a week

Country averages. City prices, where collected, are shown above and are more precise.

Life expectancy

76,6 years2024

Homicides

1,3 per 100k2024

Theft

440,9 per 100k2024

Burglary

1,9 per 100k2024

Robbery

9,8 per 100k2024

Vehicle and vehicle-part theft

12,8 per 100k2024

Road deaths

5,7 per 100k2021

Unemployment

12,3 %2025

Unemployment, ages 15–24

28,8 %2025

Inequality (Gini)

33,52019 · data lags behind

Health spending per person

$ 639 a year

Air pollution, PM2.5

21,8 µg/m³2023

Access to clean water

98,2 %2024

Internet, fixed line

64,3 Mbit/s2026

Internet, mobile

192,5 Mbit/s2026

Governance

Political stability

above average · 0,2

Control of corruption

below average · -0,3

Rule of law

below average · -0,2

Government effectiveness

below average · -0

World Bank estimates on a −2.5 to +2.5 scale, higher is better.

Natural hazards

Earthquakes

6,5 out of 10

River floods

4,2 out of 10

Coastal floods

0 out of 10

Tropical cyclones

0 out of 10

Droughts

3,7 out of 10

Tsunamis

0 out of 10

Policy towards newcomers

Migrant integration, overall score

43 out of 100 · 2019

Family reunification

58 out of 100 · 2019

Permanent residence

69 out of 100 · 2019

Access to citizenship

22 out of 100 · 2019

Access to the labour market

31 out of 100 · 2019

Measures how favourable the law is towards newcomers, not one person's chances of getting a visa.

Each value carries the year it refers to. “Data lags behind” means this country's figure was collected noticeably earlier than the rest. Natural hazards use one 0–10 scale and are meant to be compared against each other.

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