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Common-Law Partnership with a Bosnia and Herzegovina Citizen

Bosnia and HerzegovinaFamily

Explore the five recorded questions, answers and sources for this pathway.

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Explore pathways in Bosnia and Herzegovina Read the five questions ↓

Which family relationships qualify?

This route is for a foreign partner in a common-law marriage with a BiH citizen resident in Bosnia and Herzegovina; the amended family-reunification law includes this close-family relationship.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The route-specific SFA form is undated; current implementation and legal consolidation after the captured 2023 amendment have not been independently confirmed. Independent review remains pending.

Who may sponsor or bring the family member, and what immigration/citizenship status must that person hold?

The sponsor is a BiH citizen residing in BiH. The applicant seeks temporary residence on the family-reunification basis.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The route-specific SFA form is undated; current implementation and legal consolidation after the captured 2023 amendment have not been independently confirmed. Independent review remains pending.

What is important for proving marriage, partnership, parentage, custody, dependency or another qualifying relationship?

The SFA form requests single-status certificates for both partners and lists additional evidence such as a child’s birth certificate, a common-law-marriage registry document where that registry exists, witness statements, a common-household statement and other matching evidence of the partnership’s existence and duration. The amended law requires a common-law partnership to be valid in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The form supplies an evidence list but does not state that one listed item alone proves the relationship.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The SFA form is undated; current legal implementation and consolidation after the captured amendment remain unconfirmed. Independent review is pending.

What important financial, accommodation, insurance or maintenance responsibilities apply?

The sponsor must have accommodation for themselves and the family members covered by the application, and a stable income or sufficient resources to support them. Under the amended provision, a foreign resident or recognised-refugee sponsor must also have health insurance for themselves and the family members; the law does not impose that particular sponsor-insurance clause on a BiH-citizen sponsor in the same wording. The official source does not state a specific income amount.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The route-specific SFA form is undated; current implementation and legal consolidation after the captured 2023 amendment have not been independently confirmed. Independent review remains pending.

How does the application work at a high level, what rights does the family member receive, how long does the status last, and how can it become independent or longer-term where officially stated?

Applicants apply for temporary residence to the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs. A first application is normally made outside BiH through a diplomatic-consular mission; an in-country first application is limited to D-visa entrants or visa-exempt nationals and must be filed at least 15 days before the permitted stay expires. Extensions are filed 60 to 15 days before the current stay expires. A complete application is decided within 90 days through a mission or 60 days on direct filing. For a BiH-citizen sponsor, residence is granted for up to one year and may be extended under the same conditions. An adult family member may apply on another residence basis after three uninterrupted years on family residence, or two years when joining a Blue Card holder, if they qualify. The provisions expressly give work rights to family members of Blue Card holders but do not establish a general family-member work right.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The route-specific SFA form is undated; current implementation and legal consolidation after the captured 2023 amendment have not been independently confirmed. Independent review remains pending.

These are the answers currently recorded in the catalogue. A missing or partial answer is not an eligibility decision.

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