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Short-Stay Visa C

Bosnia and HerzegovinaShort stays and visits

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 ↓

For the relevant traveller scope, is a visa, electronic authorisation, visa on arrival or no advance visa normally required?

Visa C is the short-stay visa for a foreign traveller who needs a visa under Bosnia and Herzegovina’s current nationality and travel-document rules. The Law gives the Council of Ministers authority to designate visa-exempt nationals, but the official source does not provide the full current passport matrix.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The live nationality and travel-document matrix, including temporary exemptions, is not included in these captures; check the current MVP decision for the traveler’s exact passport.
  • Current official legal consolidation through 2026 and independent review remain pending.

What short-visit purposes does this route cover?

Visa C may cover transit, one or more entries or stays. Statutory short-stay purposes include business, education or training, tourism or other private travel, political, scientific, cultural, sports and religious events, and other purposes for which a short stay is sufficient.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • Visa C itself does not confer a right to work except where the Law separately provides one.
  • Current official legal consolidation through 2026 and independent review remain pending.

What maximum stay, rolling-period rule, validity and entry rules apply?

Stay is limited to 90 days in any 180-day period, and where a multiple-entry visa is valid for longer than 180 days the same 90-in-180 rule applies. Visa validity is normally up to one year; exceptionally, with the prior consent of the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, a short-stay visa may be issued with validity of up to five years for frequent or regular travellers who show integrity in the use of earlier visas (Law Article 29(2)-(3)). Rulebook 12/22 Article 44(2), as amended by Official Gazette 44/24, allows the same five-year validity on the same statutory conditions.

See recorded sources

What important funds, accommodation, invitation, insurance, onward-travel or passport evidence may be required?

Applicants must show the purpose and conditions of the intended trip and have valid travel medical insurance covering repatriation for health reasons, emergency medical assistance, emergency hospital treatment or death. The regulation lists evidence such as an authenticated invitation, court or official summons, paid travel/accommodation, sufficient funds and evidence of intent to leave. The passport must normally be valid at least three months after planned departure, issued within the previous ten years, and contain at least two blank visa pages.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The issuing officer may request additional evidence or interview; outcome depends on individual assessment.
  • Current official legal consolidation through 2026 and independent review remain pending.

Where/how is permission obtained when required, and under what important circumstances can a stay be extended or changed?

Apply through the competent BiH diplomatic-consular mission in the applicant’s country of origin or usual residence; applicants normally appear in person. A visa application may be filed no earlier than three months before travel and normally at least 15 calendar days before the planned visit. The mission decides within 15 days, extendable to 45 for justified reasons. A C visa may be extended only for force majeure, humanitarian, serious professional or personal reasons; apply to the SFA no later than five days before visa expiry, with a decision due within three days.

See recorded sources
Limits of the record
  • The five-year validity exception is now reconciled between Law Article 29(3) and Rulebook 12/22 Article 44(2) as amended by Official Gazette 44/24; independent legal review of the consolidated 2026 text 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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