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GENERAL

Official name: Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)
Area:  51.209,2 km2 (51.197 km2 land; 12, 2 km2 sea)
Population: 3,5 million

Capital city: Sarajevo
Other major cities: Banja Luka, Bihac, Mostar, Tuzla, Zenica
Religions: Muslim (50,7%), Orthodox Christian (30,74%), Roman Catholic (15,18 %), Others (3,35%)
Ethnic groups: Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and others
Languages: Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian (all official)
Administrative organization: BiH comprises of two entities: the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska. Formally part of both entities is the Brcko District, a multi-ethnic self-governing administrative unit.
Government structure: BiH is a parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament (House of Representatives and House of Peoples), a three-member rotating presidency, a Council of Ministers, and Constitutional Court.

Age structure:

0-14 years: 15,3%
15-64 years: 70,3%
65 years and over: 14,2%

Population growth rate: -0,0023% (2015 est.)

GDP:  14,6 bil EUR (2015)
GDP per capita: 3.821 EUR  (2015)
Currency: Convertible Mark (BAM – official; KM – common use)
Exchange rate: 1 EUR = KM 1,95 (fixed exchange rate)
Tax jurisdictions: There are two main tax jurisdictions in BiH: the Federation of BiH (FBiH), with 10 cantons, and the Republika Srpska (RS)
Latitude/longitude: 44 N, 18 E
Time zone: CET (GMT + 1 hour)
Internet domain:  .ba
Internacional telephone code:  +387

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Main Economic Indicators 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Nominal GDP (EUR billion) 11.5 13.0 12.7 13,0 13,4 13,4 13,7 14,0 14,6
GDP per capita (EUR) 3,000 3,394 3,297 3,372 3,490 3,491 3,568 3,648 3,821
Real GDP growth rate (%) 5.7 5.5 -2.9 0.8 0.9 -0.9 2.4 1.1 3.03
Industrial production growth rate (%) 10.0 9.2 -3.3 1.6 5.6 -5.2 6.7 0.1 2.6
Net average wages (EUR) 322 385 404 408 417 422 423 424 424
Annual inflation rate (%) 1.5 7.4 -0.4 2.1 3.7 2.1 -0.1 -0.9 -1.0
Annual unemployment rate (%) 29.0 23.4 24.1 27.2 27.6 28.0 27.5 27.5 27.7
Official FX reserves (EUR million) 3,425 3,219 3,176 3,301 3,284 3,328 3,614 4,001 4,400
Trade Balance (EUR billion) -4.14 -4.82 -3.48 -3.33 -3.73 -3.78 -3.47 -3.84 -3.51
FDI flows (EUR million) 1,329 684 180 307 357 307 228 378 244
FDI as a % of GDP 11.6 5.3 1.4 2.4 2.7 2.3 1.7 2.7 1.7
Deposits of citizens in commercial banks (EUR million) 2,622 2,633 2,793 3,251 3,605 3,914 4,276 4,623 5,044
EUR / LCY (avg.) 1.96 1.96 1.96 1,96 1,96 1,96 1,96 1,96 1,96
USD / LCY (avg.) 1.43 1.33 1.40 1,47 1,41 1,52 1,47 1,47 1,76
Source: Central bank of B&H and Agency for Statistics of B&H

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Residence and movement of foreign nationals in BiH is regulated by the Law on Movement and Residence of Foreigners and Exile.

A temporary residence permit is issued by the authorized Ministry of Interior Affairs for a period of up to one year and can be extended. If the residence permit is issued on the basis of employment agreement, its validity is directly linked to the work permit. Since the first residence permit can be issued for one year only, foreign employee needs to extend both his work and residence permits, once that period expires.

If a foreign national intends to reside in BiH with his/her spouse and/or children, this must be mentioned in the application for the first residence permit.

A permanent residence permit can be issued to a foreign national on the basis of temporary residence of at least 5 years of continuous residence in BiH.

 

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Work permits for foreign investors are issued on the basis of residence permit.

Work permits are issued by the authorized Employment Offices for the maximum period of up to one year and can be extended.

The employer should apply for work permits for their foreign employees. Work permits are issued for the person for specified position and with specified employer for specified period of time. The employment of foreign national will be permitted if he is qualified for the position and if no unemployment citizen of BiH can be found to fill the vacancy. With the termination of employment, the corresponding work permit is invalidated.

The permit evaluation process needs to be completed 7 days upon the submission of required documents.

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Ministry of Security is in charge of the implementation of immigration and asylum in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is responsible for the regulation of procedures and methods of organizing services dealing with the issues of the movement and stay of aliens. The headquarters of the Ministry of Security is seated in the town of Sarajevo at the address Trg Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.

Asylum Sector performs administrative and other professional tasks related to the execution and implementation of policy and asylum procedure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Immigration Sector is responsible for delivering second instance decisions on appeals of aliens on the decisions issued the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs and the Border Police.

Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the administrative organizations within the Ministry of Security, with its operational autonomy, established to perform police tasks related to monitoring and control of Bosnia and Herzegovina border crossing points and other duties as prescribed by law.

Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, as one of the administrative organizations within the Ministry of Security, with its operational autonomy, is tasked with performing administrative tasks related to the movement and stay of aliens in Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the Rulebook of the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens and Asylum. Organizational units of the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs are the following field offices: Sarajevo, East Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, Zenica, Travnik, Bijeljina, Trebinje, Gorazde, Tuzla, Livno, Ljubuski, Orasje, Bihac, Brcko, and Doboj.

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Non-visa stay is the right of stay for foreigners coming from countries with visa-free travel of up to 90 days within any period of 180 days, which means, taking into account the period of 180 days prior to each day of stay, unless otherwise determined by an international treaty to which BiH is a party.

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