Based on Article 160 Paragraph 1 Item b), c), d), e) and f) related to Article 29 Paragraph
5, Article 30 Paragraph 5, Article 44 Paragraph 1, 2 and 3, Article 54 and Article 76
of the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens and Asylum ("BiH Official Gazette", number 36/08 and 87/12), Article 4 and 14 Paragraph 1 Item 8 of the Law on Ministries and Other Administrative Bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("BiH Official Gazette", numbers: 5/03, 42/03, 26/04, 42/04, 45/06, 88/07, 5/09, 59/09, 103/09 i 87/12) and Article 16 of the Law on Administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("BiH Official Gazette", number 32/02 and 102/09), the Ministry of Security has adopted
BYLAW ON ENTRY AND STAY OF ALIENS
CHAPTER I –GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.
(Subject matter of the Bylaw)
This bylaw stipulates the validity period of airport transit visas, procedure regarding issuing visas at the border, form and content of the visa application form and the visa sticker, procedure for visa shortening, cancellation and extension, for the entry and exit of aliens and for refusal of entry, procedure for registration of work, for approval and extension of residence, registration and cancellation of temporary residence or permanent residence, for the issuance of identity cards for aliens, termination of residence, cancellation of residence, shortening and termination of bans on entry and stay, keeping books on aliens and other technical questions important for the entry, stay and movement of aliens in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Article 2.
(Documentation)
(1) The documentation enclosed with the application in accordance with provisions of the Law on the movement and stay of aliens and asylum (hereinafter: Law) and this Bylaw shall be submitted in the original or as a certified copy.
(2) The documentation from paragraph (1) of this Article written in a foreign language shall be submitted with a translation in one of the official languages used in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Article 3.
(Forms)
The forms which are a constituent part of this Bylaw shall be printed in the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet, written in the official languages used in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in English and/or French, if not otherwise prescribed by this Bylaw.
CHAPTERII -VISAS
Article 4.
(Airport transit visa)
(1) An Airport transit visa (Visa A) may be issued to an alien for one, two or several transits through the airport international area in the period of the transit.
(2) An Airport transit visa (Visa A) shall be issued with a validity period of three months.
Article5.
(Visa at the border)
(1) In exceptional cases, the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: Border Police) may issue a visa to an alien at the border. In that case, in accordance with Article 36. Paragraph (5) of the Law, the alien is issued ashort-term stay visa (Visa C) for a single entry for up to 15 days or an airport transit visa (Visa A) for a transit with one day validity.
(2) Reasons for issuing a visa at the border may be the following:
a)Issuing a visa for security reasons for Bosnia and Herzegovina – if there is a written request from the Service for Foreigners (hereinafter: Service) submitted to the Border Police,
b)Issuing a visa for humanitarian reasons – includes emergency medical interventions and medical evacuations, the participation of specialised teams in humanitarian find and rescue actions during natural and other disasters etc.,
c)Issuing visas for serious professional reasons – includes members and associates of foreign delegations attending official meetings by invitation of domestic institutions, foreign businessmen and representatives of companies attending official meetings by invitation of domestic institutions or companies, members of sport clubs, associations and representations participating in international sport competitions by invitation of sports federations etc.,
d)Issuing a visa for unforeseeable and urgent personal reasons – this includes death or a sudden serious illness of immediate family members, attending a funeral of immediate family members, care of a minor child etc.
(3) The application for the issuance of a visa at the border is submitted personally to the Border Police at the border crossing to the team leader or the police officer replacing him. Border crossings where visas at borders can be issued are prescribed by a decision of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(4) Besides the application for issuing visas at the border, the alien shall make a written statement on the reasons for an urgent entry into Bosnia and Herzegovina and reasons why a timely visa application was not possible, to the Diplomatic-Consular Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: DCO BIH).
(5) The team leader of the Border Police at the border crossing or the police officer replacing him shall estimate and determine if there are reasonable grounds for issuing a visa at the border, evidence of the impossibility to submit atimely visa application to the competent DCO BIH, reasons for an urgent stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as guarantees for the return to the country of origin or the usual place of residence.
(6) The team leader of the Border Police may demand that reasons from paragraph (2) of this Article be supportedbyrelevant documentation.
(7)An official record shall be made by the police officer issuing the visa for every case of issuing a visa at the border, and which is also listed in the report of the team leader and in the list of issued visas at border crossings.
Article 6.
(Visa application form)
(1) The visa application shall besubmitted on a prescribed form. The alien shall fill out the visa application form completely and legibly and sign it.
(2) When more than one person is stated in the passport, each person shall fill out and sign a separate visa application form.
(3) When aminoris submitting a visa application form, the form shall be signed by the person from Article 17. of Paragraph (3) of the Law.
(4) Exceptionally, in cases of special circumstances such as high urgency or when visas need to be issued to a large number of people within a limited time frame, the visa application form may be filled out and signed by the representative of the organizer of the arrival of the group.
(5) The visa application form is a constituent part of this Bylaw, Form number 1.
Article7.
(Visa stickers)
(1) The visa is entered into the passport in the form of a sticker. The visa sticker shall be filled out electronically before putting it into the passport. All data on the sticker are printed. No manual changes are allowed on the printed visa sticker.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Article, a visa sticker may be filled in by hand only in cases of technical problems. Modifying a visa sticker filled in by hand is prohibited. An official note shall be made for the visa stickers filled in by hand, which shall be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereinafter: MFA), to the Service and the headquarter of the Border Police. When technically possible, the data filled in by hand on the visa sticker are immediately entered into the Central Data Base on Aliens (ISM).
(3) If the technical problems can be solved in a short time and the visa applicant agrees, visa issuance may be postponed for the visa sticker to be filled in electronically instead of by hand.
(4) The printed or visa stickerfilled out by hand shall be put on the first page of the passport intended for visas. The visa sticker needs to be smoothed out and put as close to the edges of the passport, to enable the document to be machine read.
(5) When Bosnia and Herzegovina does not acknowledge the passport of the applicant, the visa sticker shall be put on a separate form in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(6) Separate visa stickers issued to persons stated in the same passport are put in the stated passport.
(7) The signature of the authorized person and the stamp of the DCO BIH, the Service or the Border Police shall be entered by hand on the right side of the sticker, to cover both a part of the sticker as well as a part of the page of the passport, insuring an unobstructed view of the data entered in the designated fields and avoiding the machine-readable zone.
(8) The a sticker form contains the following: in the upper left corner, the title “Bosnia and Herzegovina”, right in the centre is the title “VISA”, and in the bottom right corner the sticker
number. On the left side, below the title "Bosnia and Herzegovina", there is an opticalchangeable element, below which there space for a photo. Below the title “VISA” there isspace for the information “Visa issued by” to enter a Diplomatic-Consular Office of BiH, or the Service or the Border Police which issued the visa, then the data “visa valid from”, below the title “Visa issued by” is the field “Number of entries”, and after that the visa expiration date. Below the field “Number of entries” is the field “Type of visa”, where the type of visa is entered, followed by the field where the visa issuance fee amount is stated, below is the field where the surname and name of the alien is entered. Below the surname and name of the alien field, the passport number is entered, followed by the sex, date of birth and the visa issuing country. The area below these fields is the machine-readable zone, where electronically readable data are entered.
(9) The title and names of data on a visa sticker form shall be written in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, French and English. The text in Bosnian and Croatian shall be written in Latin, while the
Serbian shall be written in Cyrillic letters. Specific data entered on a visa sticker form shall be written in Latin letters.
(10) If a technical error is identified on a visa sticker not yet put into the passport, the visa sticker shall be cancelled by affixing the stamp “CANCELLED”, a line is drawn with a sharp object over the visa sticker and the title “Visa” is crossed out with permanent ink.
(11) If a technical error is identified on a visa sticker already put into the passport, the visa sticker is cancelled as described in paragraph (10) of this Article, and a new visa sticker is pasted into the passport on another page.
(12) Visa stickers shall be kept in appropriate premises and in special cabinets or safes. Only authorized persons shall have access to these premises.
(13) The authorized official with access to the visa stickers shall keep record of the number of unused visa stickers, issued visa stickers and visa stickers cancelled due to a technical error noticed before or after it was put into the passport.
(14) The visa sticker form is a constituent part of this Bylaw, Form number 2.
Article8.
(Refusal of visa issuanceat border)
(1) The team leader of the Border Police at the border crossing or the police officer replacing him/her shall reject the visa application of an alien not fulfilling the conditions for issuance of a visa atthe border or failing to submit sufficient evidence justifying the issuance of a visa at the border from Article 5, Paragraph (2) of this Bylaw.
(2) A visa at the border application shall be rejected when there is reasonable doubt in the authenticity of the documents provided as evidence enclosed by the applicant or reasonable doubt in the accuracy of their content, the reliability in the applicant’s statements or his/her intention to leave the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina prior to the expiration of the visa which s/he is applying for.
(3) In the case when the visa at the border application is rejected, the Border Police shall issue a decision on the rejection of the visa application, which shall be submitted to the applicant.
(4) The decision on the rejection of the visa application at the border may be appealed to the Ministry of security (hereinafter: Ministry) through the Diplomatic-Consular Office BIH, within 15 days after receipt of the decision.
(5) The form of the Decision on the rejection of the visa application at the border is a constituent part of this Bylaw, Form number 3.
Article9.
(Shortening the validity of the visa)
(1) If the Service or the BiH Border Police establish, that an alien is lacking sufficient means ofsubsistence, they may shorten the validity of a visa.
(2) The validity of a visa is shortened byaffixing the stamp “SHORTENED” over the visa sticker, and the new deadline and /or the new number of days the visa is valid, signature and stamp of the authorized person are entered on the visa sticker by hand, in such a way that the signature and the stamp cover a part of the visa sticker and a part of the passportpage.
(3) The decision on shortening the validity of a visa may be appealed to the Ministry within three days from the receipt of the decision. The appeal shall postpone the execution of the decision.
Article10.
(Annulment of the visa at the border)
(1)A visa may be annulled at a border crossing before entry into Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(2) The visa shall be annulled at the border crossing by the Border Police for reasons prescribed in Article 41, Paragraph (1) of the Law. The decision on the annulment of a visa at a border crossing shall be issued ex officio. The procedure shall be carried out by the competent local organisational unit of the Border Police.
(3) The decision on the annulment of a visa at a border crossing may be appealed to the Ministry within 15 days from the receipt of the decision. The appeal shall not postpone the execution of the decision.
(4) The form of the decision on the annulment of a visa at a border crossing is a constituent part of this Bylaw, Form number 4.
Article11.
(Annulment of the visa within the country)
(1) An alien’s visa who entered and is staying on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be annulled for reasons prescribed in Article 42, Paragraph (1) of the Law.
(2) The Service shall annul a visa on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Decision on the annulment of a visa on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be issued ex officio or at a reasoned proposal of another body. The procedure shall be carried out by the organisational unit of the Service on the territory in which the alien is registered or found.
(3) The decision from Paragraph (2) of this Article may be appealed to the Ministry within three days from the receipt of the decision. The appeal shall postpone the execution of the decision
Article12.
(Visa annulment method)
(1) A visa is annulled by affixing the stamp “ANNULLED” over the visa sticker; a line is drawn with a sharp object over the visa sticker, and the title “VISA” is crossed out with permanent ink.
(2) The date of annulment, the signature and stamp of the authorized person are entered below the visa sticker in such a way that the signature and the stamp cover a part of the visa sticker and a part of the passport page.
Article13.
(Visa extension)
(1) A short-term stay visa (Visa C) may be extended in exceptional cases of force majeure, for humanitarian, professional or justifiable personal reasons. The visa extension procedure shall be carried out following the regulations for visa issuance.
(2) Reasons for visa extension from Paragraph (1) of this Article include natural and other disasters, urgent medical help, unforeseen reasons concerning immediate family members (serious disease, death etc.), end of official or other business activities the visa was issued for, and other situations when this is required by humanitarian, professional and justifiable personal reasons or force majeure.
(3) The visa extension application shall be submitted personally or through a legal representative for a business disabled alien. The application shall be filed on the prescribed form to the organisational unit of the Service depending on the place of residence of the alien, before the expiry of the visa validity and the permission to stay, approved based on the issued visa.
(4) A certificate on the submitted visa extension application shall be issued to the applicant. The alien may reside in Bosnia and Herzegovina until a decision is made based on the application. The certificate on the submitted visa extension application shall contain: name of the body issuing the certificate, number and date of the issuance of the certificate, the legal basis for the issuance of the certificate, the title “CERTIFICATE”, a space for the name and surname of the applicant with all personal data and the reason for the visa extension application, a note that the certificate serves as evidence of the submitted application and that it may not be used for crossing the state border, a space for the signature of the authorized person and the stamp of the competent body.
(5) The following shall be submitted along with the visa extension application:
a)a copy of the passport
b)Photo 35x45mm
c)Evidence of the reasons for visa extension (relevant medical, official or other documentation),
d)Evidence of provided accommodation,
e)Evidence of provided means of subsistence and of return to the country of origin of the alien or to a third country,
f)Evidence of health insurance and