Foreigners that are not required to have visa can cross BiH border providing they meet the following requirements:

- they have valid travel document
- they have sufficient amount of financial means to support themselves during their stay in BiH and to return to the country they came from, including health protection financial means
- they have documents, a proof, or information which provide reasonable justification for the purpose and conditions of their stay
- if from the area affected by the infectious disease epidemic, they have a certificate on vaccination

Entry into BiH by the foreigners that are required to have visa (visa regime)

Foreigners subject to visa regime are allowed to cross BiH borders if, in addition to the conditions referred to the foreigners subject to visa-free regime, also comply with the condition of having valid BiH entry, stay or transit visa.

Entry into BiH by juveniles

A juvenile under the age of 18 can cross BiH borders if he/she is in possession of a valid personal travel document and is accompanied by one or both parents, a legal representative or guardian, or by an individual that has been given a certified procuration signed by parents, legal representative or guardian to accompany him/her.

A juvenile can cross BiH borders if in possession of a certified procuration signed by parents, legal representative or guardian.

An entry may be allowed to a foreigner even if he/she does not fulfill the general entry conditions, if so being stipulated by an international treaty to which BiH is a Contracting Party or by a decision of the BiH Council of Ministers.

Stay of the foreigners
Foreigners may be granted the following types of stay in BiH:

- Visa stay (in the timeframe referred to in visa)
- Visa-free stay
- Temporary residence (up to one year)
- Permanent residence (indefinite period of time)

Registration of temporary and permanent residence, change of address and termination of permanent residence

A foreigner who does not use accommodation services offered by a legal and natural person providing accommodation services,as well as anatural person receiving visits from foreigners,isobliged to report the foreigners' stay within 12 hours of the moment of accommodation if he/she is to stay more than there days in BiH.
Legal and natural persons providing accommodation services to foreigners are obliged to report the foreigner's stay.
An application for the approval of the residence shall be filed from abroad through the BiHDiplomatic Consular Representationsand in person to the competent organizational unit of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs of the BiH Ministry of Security.

A foreigner that has been granted temporary residence is obliged to register his/her place of temporary residence and change of the address within 48 hours upon receiving a decision on permanent residence approval, or upon arrival in the place of temporary residence, or upon the address change.

A foreigner that has been granted permanent residence is obliged to register his/her place of permanent residence and change of the address within eight days upon receiving the decision on permanent residence approval, or upon arrival in the place of temporary residence, or upon the address change.
Permanent and temporary residence are registered and cancelled in the competent organizational unit of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs or in the entity Ministries of Internal Affairs or in Brcko Police.

A temporary residence permit may be issued fora period of up to one year, depending on the grounds for residence, for which the passportvalidity must be at least three months longer than the time for which than the temporary residence wasgranted.

Renewal of the temporary residence may beapproved at the alien's request, but only on thesame grounds on which the alien was granted the temporary residence whose renewal he/she hasrequested.

General conditions for granting temporary residence

Temporary residence can be granted to a foreigner on condition that:

- the foreigner is in possession of evidencesubstantiating the existence of grounds requiredfor granting such temporary residence,
- the foreigner is in possession of the sufficientfunds to support himself/herself,
- the foreigner in possession of a medical certificateissued not later than three months prior to thedate of filing the application, showing that he/shedoes not suffer from a disease that represents athreat to public health in BiH, excludingcircumstances where a disease occurred afterthe first, approved, temporary residence in BiH ,
- the foreigner has confirmed adequateaccommodation in BiH,
- the foreigner has confirmed health insurance inBiH,
- the foreigner is in possession of a passport with anexpiry date of a minimum three months longerthan the period for which the temporaryresidence approval is requested, and - there is no criminal procedure beingconducted against the alien, as well as to thathe/she has not been convicted of any crime.

Temporary residence on humanitarian grounds may be granted to a foreigner who fails to meet the general requirements for granting temporary residence in the following cases:

- where a foreigner has been a victim oforganized crime and/or trafficking of humanbeings,
- to a minor child of a foreigner if he/she hasbeen abandoned or is a victim of organizedcrime or if the minor is without parentalprotection or custody, or unaccompanied forany other reason whatsoever;
- to a stateless person;
- to a foreigner where it is established that his/her life or freedom would be threatened on the account of their race, religion, nationality,membership of a particular social group or politicalopinion, or would be subjected to torture orother inhuman or degrading treatment punishment if returned to their country,
- for other justified humanitarian reasons.

Temporary residencefor the purpose of family reunification may be granted to a foreigner providing that:

- A BiH citizen, or a foreigner who has been granted temporary residence in BiH, has confirmed adequate accommodation for himself/herself and family members for whom the temporary residenceapproval is being requested on the grounds of family reunification, and has a stable income orsufficient funds to substantiate the persons for whom the approval is being requested,
- A BiH citizen, or a foreigner who has been granted temporary residence in BiH, hashealth insurance for himself/herself and family membersfor whom the temporary residence approval is being requested on the grounds of family reunification,
- There are no reasons which would exclude the approval of temporary residence which refer to a non-possession of a medical certificate, ora passport with anexpiry date of a minimum three months longerthan the period for which the temporaryresidence approval is requested, or to the fact that a criminal procedure isbeingconducted against the foreigner or that he/she hasbeen convicted of a crime, or that the presence of the foreigners represent a threat to public order and security of BiH or the public health , except when the disease happened after the approved temporary residence in BiH.

Permanent Residence

A permanent residence permit shall be issued to a foreigner on the following conditions:

- that he/she has resided in the territory ofBiH on the basis of a temporary residencepermit for at least five years uninterruptedlyprior to submitting the application forissuance of a permanent residence permit,
- that he/she has sufficient and regularfunds in order to support himself/herself,
- that he/she has confirmed adequateaccommodation,
- that he/she has confirmed healthinsurance.

ID card for foreigners

ID cards for foreigners shall be issued based on the application for issuance and replacing ID card for foreigners. The application for issuing and replacing ID for aliens is submitted on LK-OI-S1 form to the competent body in the foreigner's place of permanent residence (RS MoI, Cantonal MoIs, Brcko District Police).
Along with the application for issuing and replacing ID for foreigners, one is to enclose a certificate on permanent residence permit, proof of identity showing that he/or she is or above 18 years old (passport) and a receipt on paid tax for issuing the ID for foreigners.

Along with the application for issuing of ID foreigners instead of lost ID for foreigners, a foreigner is obliged to enclose a certificate on report of lost ID, issued by the competent body and a certificate prooving that ID for aliens has been declared invalid in "The Official Gazette of BiH".