Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state located on the Balkan Peninsula. The capital is Sarajevo. The country borders Croatia , Serbia and Montenegro, and also boasts a small stretch of coastline on the Adriatic Sea. The country’s population is just over 3.4 million people.
The local population mainly speaks Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian, all of which have Slavic roots, so Russian people will not have a strong language barrier.
The country is not yet a popular tourist destination, but it is attractive for winter recreation lovers; there are excellent ski resorts here.
Bosnia will also be of interest to lovers of ecotourism; in the south of the country there is a national park, and throughout the territory there are many forests, mountain rivers and rich wildlife. Another category of tourists are gourmets; local cuisine boasts its diversity, the presence of healthy ingredients, as well as extraordinary taste.
The lack of mass tourism is explained by the fact that there are more popular neighbors nearby: Montenegro and Croatia.
Another reason is the unstable political situation in the country; over the past decade there has been a significant economic growth, but over the past year, due to internal conflicts, this trend has declined.
Residence permit and permanent residence in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The first step towards obtaining citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the acquisition of a residence permit.
It can be obtained in several ways:
- make investments in the country’s economy;
- official employment;
- opening your own business;
- enroll in one of the local universities;
- marriage with a citizen or citizen of the country.
Option one is investment. You can purchase a property or rent it for a long time. To do this, you will need a foreign passport, a completed application form and documents that can confirm the fact of ownership or long-term lease (at least six months).
These documents must be submitted to the department for foreign citizens.
The first time you can get a three-year residence permit. After ten years of living in Bosnia, you have the opportunity to acquire permanent residence.
To obtain permanent residence, there is a condition that during the time that the applicant resides in the country, he must be a decent taxpayer and not be subject to criminal liability.
Option two is work. According to numerous data, the standard of living of Bosnians exceeds that of residents of Ukraine and Russia; accordingly, a large number of people are looking for work in Bosnia and on this basis immigrate to the country.
Option three – business. Bosnia and Herzegovina is also attractive for Russians who want to open their own businesses here. In this case, in order to obtain a residence permit, you will need to attach to the package of documents an application of the established form and a certificate of registration of a legal entity in the country, an office lease agreement, or documents confirming the fact of ownership of the property.
With this method of immigration, the state meets foreigners halfway; if the business has a positive impact on the economy, and the owner pays taxes, then after two years the foreign citizen can apply for permanent residence.
Option four is getting an education. Nowadays, many students travel to the country to obtain higher education.
Children of immigrants also receive education here. As in our country, education here is designed for children of different ages:
- kindergarten;
- two-level school;
- secondary or specialized school, or gymnasium;
- Universities.
For foreigners, there are four universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: the University of Sarajevo, the university in Mostar, Banja Luka and Tuzla.
Obtaining citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Foreign citizens are given the opportunity to acquire citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina by neutralization, fulfilling the conditions written in the “Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
What is needed to acquire citizenship:
- Coming of age. According to local laws, an adult is considered to be a person who has reached the age of 18.
- Residence in the country for at least 8 years, and you must have a residence permit and have lived in the Republika Srpska for 5 years.
- Knowledge of the state language.
- The deportation order should not have been applied to this person.
- During the last eight years before obtaining citizenship, there must be no criminal record on the territory of Republika Srpska with a sentence serving more than three years.
- Renunciation of citizenship of another state.
The easiest way to acquire citizenship is to marry a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
- The duration of the marriage must be more than five years, and it must also be valid at the time of filing the request for citizenship;
- A person applying for citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina must renounce the citizenship of another country at the time of acquisition;
- The person applying for citizenship must have a residence permit and must have resided in Bosnia for more than three years from the date of filing the citizenship request.
Purchasing real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina is considered a promising real estate market; over time, the political and economic situation will stabilize, prices will rise, and you can make very good money from it.
Purchasing real estate in the country is very profitable and this is facilitated by many advantages:
- Foreign citizens have equal rights with local residents in the rights to purchase real estate;
- Relatively low cost of objects (in comparison with large Russian cities);
- Low prices for real estate registration;
- Proximity to the Adriatic Sea;
- No permits are required to register real estate;
- Beautiful nature, varied architecture, rich cultural heritage.
If you plan to register housing not for yourself, but for a legal entity, then you need to open a company. Next, you need to pay 3 thousand euros, this amount includes the costs of preparing and processing documents.
The fixed capital of this organization will be one thousand euros; you can dispose of this capital after purchasing real estate. Registration of a legal entity takes twenty days.
Acquisition Process
- Search for an object you are interested in.
- Signing of the preliminary agreement. At this point, the buyer makes a deposit in the amount of 3-5% of the value of the property.
- Registration of real estate in the cadastre and in court.
- Payment of the balance for real estate. During this period, the buyer pays a fee of 6%.
As in all European countries, for registration you will need to hire a lawyer who will deal with all these nuances.
Property value
Bosnia and Herzegovina differs from the Balkan states in terms of housing affordability. The cost of apartments starts from forty thousand euros, and if you are thinking about purchasing a house, then it will cost no less than sixty thousand euros.
The most popular cities for buying a home among foreigners are: Zenica, Banja Luka, Mostar, Tuzla and Sarajevo.
Depending on the choice of city, the cost per square meter of a particular object will also depend. In Sarajevo, prices start at 650 and end at an average of 1,550 euros per meter, in Mostar the average cost is about 750 euros, in Tuzla you will need to pay about 950 euros per meter of real estate.
Prices in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The price level in Bosnia and Herzegovina is at a very comfortable level for living. According to tourist research, an ordinary family spends about 120 euros a week on groceries. The average price for a liter of milk and a loaf is half a euro, a kilogram of rice costs 1 euro, cheese 4.5 euros, travel on public transport costs 0.8 euros.
Despite the relatively low price level for Europe, it is also necessary to take into account the level of income, which is very different from the European one.
Standard of living
Its GDP per person is also the lowest among the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
The unemployment rate is 4 times higher than that of European countries, 14% of local residents live below the poverty line.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the list of EU enlargement countries, however, it is still very far from joining the EU.
One of the reasons will be that, according to local legislation, only three ethnic groups can run for government positions, although, according to the EU, the country needs to change legislation, especially this point of peculiar nationalism.
Due to all these facts, emigration in the country is very high, however, the state is still attractive to those whose living conditions are much worse.