Public call for the award of assistance intended to resolve the housing needs of refugees through the purchase of a rural house with a garden plot

Pursuant to Article 7 of the Rulebook on the Conditions and Criteria for Selecting Beneficiaries of Assistance for Resolving the Housing Needs of Refugees through the Purchase of a Rural House with a Garden Plot, and on the Procedure for Selecting Beneficiaries and Awarding Assistance, No. 020-347/2025-09 of 23 December 2025, and in accordance with the Contract on the Award of Grant Funds for the Implementation of Assistance Intended for Resolving the Housing Needs of Refugees through the Purchase of a Rural House with a Garden Plot, concluded between the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter: the Commissariat) and the City of Smederevo (hereinafter: the City), registered at the City under No. 401-5086/2025-12 on 17 October 2025 and at the Commissariat under No. 9-9/575 on 13 October 2025 (hereinafter: the Contract), the Beneficiary Selection Commission for the Allocation of Funds for the Implementation of Assistance Intended for Resolving the Housing Needs of Refugees through the Purchase of a Rural House with a Garden Plot, established by Ruling No. 020-279/2025-09 of 6 November 2025 (hereinafter: the Commission), on 30 December 2025 issues the following

Public call

for the award of assistance intended to resolve the housing needs

of refugees through the purchase of a rural house with a garden plot

Assistance for the purchase of a rural house with a garden plot (hereinafter: the Assistance) may be awarded to refugee families who acquired refugee status in the Republic of Serbia as a result of the events of the period from 1991 to 1995, regardless of their status at the time their housing need is resolved, namely: refugees living in the territory of the City in collective centres or in some other form of collective accommodation, formal or informal, and vulnerable refugees living in private accommodation without a durable solution in their country of origin or in the Republic of Serbia, who need assistance to resolve their housing need through the purchase of a rural house with a garden plot, and who meet the conditions for the selection of beneficiaries set out in this Rulebook (hereinafter: beneficiaries).

I

The applicant under the public call and the members of their family household must meet the following conditions:

1. refugee status in the Republic of Serbia, namely: they have refugee status and have applied for citizenship of the Republic of Serbia, or their refugee status in the Republic of Serbia has ceased and they have acquired citizenship of the Republic of Serbia (NOTE: this condition applies mandatorily to the applicant, and to the members of their family household only if they have or had refugee status in the Republic of Serbia);
2. they have registered permanent or temporary residence in the territory of the City (temporary residence applies only to persons who still have refugee status) at the time the public call is published;
3. they live in inadequate private accommodation;
4. they do not own real estate in their country of origin, another country or the Republic of Serbia with which they could resolve their housing needs;
5. they cannot use real estate in the country of their previous permanent residence or in another country;
6. since acquiring refugee status, they have not renovated, alienated, donated or exchanged real estate in the Republic of Serbia, their country of origin and/or another country with which they could have resolved their housing needs;
7. they are not beneficiaries of another housing programme in the process of integration in the Republic of Serbia, or of a housing provision/reconstruction programme in the process of return to the country of origin, through which they could resolve, or have resolved, their housing needs;
8. they have no income with which they could resolve their housing needs;
9. they are not on the final priority list in other programmes for permanently resolving housing needs;
10. the rural house with a garden plot for which the applicant is applying under the public call meets the basic conditions for living and housing, and the rural house in question and the land on which it stands are registered in the real estate cadastre in the seller’s name and free of encumbrances, except for an annotation of the obligation to pay the fee for the change of land use, an easement on the property being sold, and other annotations of legal facts that do not result in the termination or transfer of rights in rem in the property in question;
11. the rural house with a garden plot for which the applicant is applying under the public call is registered in the real estate cadastre as:
    • property taken over from the land registers, or
    • property built before building regulations were adopted, or
    • property built with a building permit for which a use permit has been issued, or
    • property registered under the Law on the Legalisation of Buildings, and
12. they are not related by blood, marriage or adoption to the seller of the property in question.

II

The applicant submits the following evidence for themselves and the members of their family household:

1. A duly completed and signed application form;
2. A photocopy of the refugee identity card (both sides) or of the Ruling on the recognition, revocation or termination of refugee status in the Republic of Serbia (NOTE: mandatory for the applicant, and for other members of the family household if they had or still have refugee status);
3. A photocopy of a valid identity card of the Republic of Serbia (both sides), or a printout of the identity card data in the case of a biometric identity card with a chip, for all members of the family household aged 16 and over;
4. A certificate of citizenship, or a photocopy of the ruling on admission to citizenship of the Republic of Serbia, or a copy of the submitted application for admission to citizenship, for all members of the family household (does not apply to persons with an identity card);
5. A statement certified by the competent authority that the applicant and the members of the family household: do not own real estate in their country of origin, another country or the Republic of Serbia with which they could resolve their housing needs; cannot use real estate in the country of their previous permanent residence or in another country; have not, since acquiring refugee status, renovated, alienated, donated or exchanged real estate in the Republic of Serbia, their country of origin or another country with which they could have resolved their housing needs; are not beneficiaries of another housing programme in the process of integration in the Republic of Serbia, or of a housing provision/reconstruction programme in the process of return to the country of origin, through which they could resolve, or have resolved, their housing needs; and are not related by blood, adoption or marriage to the seller of the property in question.

The claims in the statement will be checked by the Beneficiary Selection Commission;

6. Proof of the housing situation of the applicant and the members of their family household:
   • for a household accommodated in a collective centre: a certificate from the Trustee for Refugees;
   • for a household living in rented accommodation without basic hygiene and sanitary conditions: a statement certified by the competent authority;
7. Proof of income:
   • a certificate of unemployment from the National Employment Service for unemployed members of the family household registered with the National Employment Service, issued in the month preceding the month in which the application is submitted under the public call; for an unemployed member of the family household who is not registered with the National Employment Service, a personal statement certified by the competent authority must be submitted, confirming that the person is unemployed and has no earnings or other occasional or temporary income;
   • if the applicant or a member of the family household earns occasional or temporary income, a personal statement certified by the competent authority on the amount of the occasional and temporary net income must be submitted;
   • an employer’s certificate of earnings for the month preceding the month in which the application is submitted under the public call (for employed members of the family household);
   • a pension slip for the month preceding the month in which the application is submitted under the public call (this applies both to a pension from the Republic of Serbia and to a pension from the country of origin), or a certificate from the competent service; if the applicant or a member of their family household does not receive a pension, a personal statement certified by the competent authority must be submitted, confirming that the person receives no pension income in the Republic of Serbia, the country of origin and/or another country;
8. For members of the family household aged 15 to 26: proof of education, and if these members of the family household are not in education, the evidence listed in item 7) of paragraph 1 of this Article (proof of income);
9. Proof for a family household with a child with a disability or developmental difficulties: a ruling of the Commission for the Categorisation of Children or an opinion of the inter-sectoral commission for children with physical disabilities or developmental difficulties;
10. Proof of reduced or lost working capacity or of physical impairment: a ruling of the competent commission on the reduction or loss of working capacity or on physical impairment for a family member with a disability;
11. Proof of a disease of major socio-medical importance (malignant diseases, bronchial and cardiac asthma, severe obstructive pulmonary diseases, active tuberculosis, myocardial infarction, decompensated heart diseases, heart transplantation, cerebrovascular accident, epilepsy, severe mental illnesses, progressive neuromuscular diseases, paresis and paralysis, haemophilia, insulin-dependent diabetes, chronic renal failure requiring dialysis, systemic autoimmune diseases, osteomyelitis, HIV infection and the like): a medical report not older than one year;
12. For a single-parent family, the following must be enclosed:
    • a certificate of the spouse’s death;
    • a ruling of the competent court declaring a missing person dead;
    • a birth certificate for children whose paternity has not been established;
    • a divorce judgment or proof of custody of the minor child or children (if the divorce judgment does not decide on custody of the child, or in the case of unmarried partners whose union has ended, a statement by the applicant certified by the competent authority must be enclosed, confirming that the applicant cares for the child directly and provides the means of support independently, that the other parent does not contribute or contributes insufficiently to these costs, and that the applicant has not in the meantime entered into a marriage or a cohabiting relationship);
13. A certificate from the competent authority/organisation for a member of the family household who was killed or went missing in the conflicts in the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
14. Proof of a registered farm (if the applicant or members of their family household have a registered farm);
15. A certified statement by the owner of the rural house to which the assistance relates, agreeing to transfer it to the applicant;
16. Proof of ownership of the rural house: a property title certificate not older than one month in which the seller is registered as the owner of the rural house in question and the land on which it stands, and in which the rural house and land being sold are registered free of encumbrances, except for an annotation of the obligation to pay the fee for the change of land use, an easement on the property being sold, and other annotations of legal facts that do not result in the termination or transfer of rights in rem in the property in question, and in which the rural house is registered as:
    • property taken over from the land registers, or
    • property built before building regulations were adopted, or
    • property built with a building permit for which a use permit has been issued, or
    • property registered under the Law on the Legalisation of Buildings;
17. A certificate from the competent tax authority confirming that the tax liabilities arising from ownership of the rural house and land being sold have been settled;
18. A photocopy of the valid identity card of the Republic of Serbia (both sides) of the seller of the rural house, or a printout of the identity card data in the case of a biometric identity card with a chip;
19. A statement that the applicant and the members of their family household consent to the Beneficiary Selection Commission, for the purposes of the procedure, inspecting, obtaining and processing personal data on facts recorded in official records that are necessary for the decision-making procedure. This statement does not need to be certified by a notary public; it is signed by the applicant and all adult members of the family household, while for minor members of the household it is signed by a parent or guardian.

The evidence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is submitted as photocopies (the photocopies do not need to be certified), but the Beneficiary Selection Commission may, if necessary, ask the applicant to present the original documents for inspection.

In addition to the evidence listed in paragraph 1 of this Article, the Beneficiary Selection Commission may ask the applicant for other necessary evidence in order to establish the facts and circumstances needed to reach a correct and lawful decision.

The claims in the statements referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, which applicants enclose as evidence, may be checked by the Beneficiary Selection Commission.

The Commission will not consider applications submitted after the application deadline set in the public call.

The Commission will not score or consider applications that do not meet the conditions for the selection of beneficiaries for the award of assistance.

III

Based on the number of points the applicant scores under the criteria for determining the order of priority in selecting beneficiaries for the purchase of a rural house with a garden plot, the Beneficiary Selection Commission draws up a draft list of beneficiaries for the award of assistance.

The Beneficiary Selection Commission publishes the draft list of beneficiaries for the award of assistance on the City notice board, on the notice boards of the local offices and on the websites of the City and the Commissariat www.kirs.gov.rs.

The applicant may lodge an objection to the draft list of beneficiaries for the award of assistance with the Beneficiary Selection Commission within 15 (fifteen) days of the date of publication of the draft list of beneficiaries for the award of assistance.

The Beneficiary Selection Commission must respond to the objections received within 5 (five) days of the expiry of the deadline for lodging objections.

After checking the claims made in the objections and establishing the facts, or after the deadline for responding to objections has expired, the Beneficiary Selection Commission draws up the final list of beneficiaries for the award of assistance.

The Beneficiary Selection Commission publishes the final list of beneficiaries for the award of assistance immediately after it is drawn up, on the City notice board, on the notice boards of the local offices and on the websites of the City and the Commissariat www.kirs.gov.rs.

Based on the final list of beneficiaries for the award of assistance, the Beneficiary Selection Commission adopts a Decision, which is delivered to the persons concerned.

The persons referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article have the right to appeal against the Decision to the City Council, through the Beneficiary Selection Commission, within 15 (fifteen) days of the date of delivery of the Decision.

IV

Completed applications with the supporting documents are submitted in a sealed envelope by post to: City Administration of the City of Smederevo, Beneficiary Selection Commission for the Allocation of Funds for the Implementation of Assistance Intended for Resolving the Housing Needs of Refugees through the Purchase of a Rural House with a Garden Plot, Smederevo, Omladinska 1, or in person at the filing office counter of the City Administration of the City of Smederevo, marked “DO NOT OPEN”.

Applications with the required documents are submitted to the Commission from 31 December 2025 to 13 February 2026.

Application forms are available from the Trustee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons of the City of Smederevo and on the official website of the City of Smederevo (www.smederevo.ls.gov.ls).

Further information about the call can be obtained at the City Administration of Smederevo, from the Trustee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons of the City of Smederevo.

Chair of the Commission

Biljana Đurović