VisaVolunteers in Bosnia and Herzegovina need evidence of the host organisation’s responsibilities
The residence checklist goes beyond an invitation. It asks for a volunteering agreement, project details and evidence that the host will cover specified costs.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Agree the project and support arrangements before volunteering
The Service for Foreigners’ Affairs publishes a specific temporary-residence checklist for voluntary work. It requires a volunteering contract before the activity begins and a host certificate identifying the role, tasks, supervision, working hours and project timetable. This current-rule guide concerns an organised volunteering placement, rather than a newly announced programme or an automatic permission arising from an invitation.
The checklist also asks for the organisation’s registration and bank evidence of solvency, accident insurance and proof that the host accepts responsibility for specified living, medical, insurance and return costs. Humanitarian projects require the relevant licence. Prospective volunteers should ask the host to assemble that institutional evidence alongside the contract. A personal promise of free accommodation does not demonstrate all the responsibilities described in the official checklist.
An unpaid internship uses a different checklist
The separate unpaid-internship checklist requires a professional-training contract without remuneration concluded with the legal entity providing the placement. It also asks for evidence that the applicant knows one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s official languages, and that the host will assume responsibility for subsistence, health insurance and return. An unpaid placement should therefore be classified by its actual purpose rather than automatically called volunteering.
That internship file also includes a passport valid at least three months beyond the requested residence period, a recent 35-by-45-millimetre photograph, accommodation and insurance evidence. Its medical certificate must be no more than three months old; the foreign criminal-record attestation is generally limited to six months, with specified renewal and minor exceptions. Foreign documents need translation into an official language. For example, a trainee with a signed placement offer still needs to check whether the offer establishes the host’s required financial responsibilities and whether the separate language evidence is ready.
Plan residence filing around the existing entry permission
The Security Ministry’s information for foreigners distinguishes entry permission from temporary residence. Its residence guidance describes first applications normally made abroad through the diplomatic or consular representation, with in-country first applications available to specified entrants, including holders of a D visa and visa-exempt nationals. The organisation should help establish the correct filing route before the volunteer relies on an ordinary visit as a route to a longer placement.
A first application is due at least 15 days before the D visa or visa-free stay expires. For renewal, the ministry gives a filing window beginning 60 days and ending 15 days before the current residence permission expires. These dates concern the residence application, rather than simply the start or end of the volunteering contract. Keep the passport, entry authorisation, current residence decision and proposed project dates together when planning the file. No universal processing guarantee or assurance of permission to begin every activity while a first application is pending is established by the guidance reviewed here.
Pay the residence fee under the correct revenue category
The current Service fee table lists BAM 150 for approval or extension of temporary residence, matching the amount displayed on the placement checklists. It is an application-processing charge, rather than evidence that residence has been approved. The table separates residence services from other actions such as invitation verification; a host should identify which action a payment covers.
The accompanying payment instructions require the payer or applicant’s identifying details, purpose of payment, the relevant revenue type and municipality code. They provide deposit accounts and instructions for people without a local JMB identifier. Use those official instructions when arranging payment and retain evidence linking it to the applicant and service. Do not copy an unrelated applicant’s municipality or revenue code merely because the payment amount matches. The resources reviewed do not establish a separate standard host-organisation fee or a guaranteed refund if a placement does not proceed.
Find the field office responsible for the actual address
The Service’s field-office directory lists territorial jurisdiction, contact details and addresses. Sarajevo and East Sarajevo have different offices and municipal coverage; the destination’s broad city name is therefore not enough to identify the responsible centre. For instance, the Sarajevo entry lists Ilidža, while East Sarajevo’s entry lists Istočna Ilidža.
Use the directory with the intended accommodation address to establish where an in-country matter belongs and where to raise questions about a checklist or document exception. The published directory is more useful for this purpose than sending personal papers to an unverified intermediary. No office appointment, individual application or direct clarification was obtained for this reporting. Confirm the correct category and receiving office while there is time to obtain the host and personal evidence before the applicable filing deadline.
