Bosnia and Herzegovina work permit and work residence

Every foreigner who intends to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina for paid employment must obtain a work permit before entering the country, unless the Law on Aliens or an international agreement exempts that type of work. Exempt groups include holders of permanent residence, refugees and persons with subsidiary or temporary protection, spouses or common-law partners of BiH citizens, company founders who meet the employment conditions and the specific professions listed for short or special assignments.

Being visa-exempt does not change this. The law says that a foreigner who entered BiH without already having a work permit cannot be granted temporary residence on the basis of a work permit while staying in the country, and the Service's guidance is that the worker should enter only after the permit has been issued.

The employer, not the worker, applies. Depending on where the employer is based, the permit is issued by the authority for employment of foreigners of the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska or Brčko District. The request describes the job and working conditions and includes the worker's identity and passport data, the employer's court registry extract, a bank solvency certificate, proof of paid taxes and contributions for current staff and the reasons for hiring a foreigner.

Most permits fall under an annual quota set by the Council of Ministers by occupation and region, with extensions served before new hires. Permits outside the quota can be issued to people with higher education, those working under an international agreement, key personnel of a company, teachers and lecturers with specific knowledge, professional athletes under contract, people renouncing BiH citizenship and spouses or children of foreigners with permanent residence. The Labour and Employment Agency of BiH publishes the quotas and annual reports.

With the work permit issued, the worker applies for temporary residence: from abroad in person at a BiH embassy or consulate, which forwards the file to the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, or, for nationals of visa-free countries and Visa D holders, in person at a Service field office in BiH no later than 15 days before the visa-free period or visa ends. Biometric data are taken. Holders of a work permit are treated as meeting the conditions on means of subsistence and health insurance.

The Service decides within 60 days on applications filed in BiH and within 90 days on those filed through a mission. Residence on a work permit is granted by a formal decision together with the permit sticker and covers the permit's validity plus 30 days, but no more than one year. If the employer is a company in BiH founded by a foreigner, the file also needs its tax and indirect tax clearance not older than 90 days and its court registration.

You may not start working before temporary residence is granted, and you may work only in the post or type of work named in the permit on which the residence is based. Register your address within 48 hours of receiving the permit or arriving at the address, and every change of address within 48 hours. If you leave BiH for good, you must deregister your residence.

The work permit ends when its term expires, and in any case one year after issue, so it has to be renewed each year by the employer. The residence extension is filed 60 to 15 days before expiry with the new permit, or with proof that the permit application is pending. The residence lapses 30 days after the work permit expires.

Changing job within the same employer, or changing employer, does not end the residence if you submit the new work permit, or proof that its procedure has started, within those 30 days. Residence on a work permit counts towards the five years needed for permanent residence.

The Law on Aliens allows family reunification with a foreigner who holds permanent residence, a BiH Blue Card for highly qualified employment, or temporary residence of at least one year with reasonable prospects of permanent residence. Family members who join a temporary resident get priority within the work permit quota if they want to work themselves.