Work Permits

Foreign nationals who want to work in North Macedonia normally need two parallel authorisations: a work permit and a residence permit for the purpose of work. The work permit is the labour-market authorisation and is issued by the Employment Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia (АВРМ). The residence permit is the immigration authorisation and is issued by the Ministry of Interior (МВР).

The two are linked: in most cases, the work permit (or the positive АВРМ opinion that precedes it) is a precondition for the residence permit, and the residence permit determines the foreigner's legal stay in the country. Working without these authorisations is treated as illegal employment under the Law on Employment and Work of Foreigners and exposes both the worker and the employer to fines.

The first step in any employment scenario is to determine whether the position to be filled is qualified or unqualified. Qualified work means a role that requires specific education, licences, or experience — engineers, IT professionals, doctors, university lecturers, regulated trades. Unqualified work covers basic tasks that do not require specialist skills — general construction labour, household assistance, basic agricultural work.

The distinction matters because the labour-market test that АВРМ runs before issuing the positive opinion is more rigorous for unqualified roles. АВРМ checks whether a Macedonian or already-resident worker could fill the position; only when the local market cannot meet the demand does АВРМ allow a foreign hire to proceed. Quotas and protected occupations may also apply to certain sectors.

The second variable is the foreigner's nationality. Citizens of countries with a visa-free regime can travel to North Macedonia without a visa, attend interviews, sign contracts, and even register a company. They still need a work permit and residence permit before they can be lawfully employed.

Citizens of visa-required countries must also obtain a Long-Stay Visa (Type D), which the Macedonian consulate issues only after МВР has approved the residence permit in principle. The work permit dossier is therefore typically prepared first by the employer in Skopje, the residence permit decision is then issued by МВР, the consulate issues the Visa D, and the foreigner enters the country to collect both the residence card and the work authorisation.

There are four common categories of work permit. The standard Employment Work Permit covers a full-time or part-time employment contract with a Macedonian company. The Self-Employment Permit covers founders, owners, and managers of Macedonian companies, as well as some categories of independent regulated professions. The Seasonal Work Permit is a lighter-weight permit for agriculture, tourism, and hospitality, valid for up to nine months per year.

The Intra-Corporate Transfer (ICT) permit is for managers, specialists, and trainees being transferred from a foreign parent to its Macedonian subsidiary, with reduced labour-market checks because the transfer is intra-group. Each of these has its own document set and validity period — the sub-pages below cover the details.

The documentary core of every work permit application includes: a notarised copy of the foreigner's passport (with apostille certification when notarised abroad), a current registry extract of the employing Macedonian company from the Central Registry, the signed employment contract (in original), criminal record and non-prosecution certificates from the foreigner's country of origin (apostilled), an explanatory letter from the company describing why the role cannot be filled locally, the foreigner's diploma (apostilled and translated), supporting professional certificates, a notarised lease or accommodation agreement, valid health insurance, the АВРМ employment-mediation request not older than 30 days, the white police-station card confirming address registration on entry, and the official МВР application form for temporary residence. All foreign documents must be translated into Macedonian by a certified court translator and notarised.

Missing or stale documents are the single most common cause of delay.

Practical workflow at the МВР Sector for Foreigners can be challenging for first-time applicants. Submission is in paper form only, in person or through an authorised representative. There is no number-ticket queue management — applicants line up for hours, particularly in Skopje where the Sector occupies the 9th floor of the MTV building on Boulevard Goce Delcev. Information is sometimes posted in Macedonian on the corridor walls, which compounds difficulty for non-Macedonian-speaking applicants.

For these reasons, employers usually retain a local lawyer or specialised agent to prepare and file the dossier — and even then, the foreigner is often required to appear in person for biometrics and signatures. Applications are processed in administrative order; Article 18 and Article 39 of the Law on Foreigners give a right of appeal in writing within eight days against any negative decision.