Visa-Free Regime for Bosnia and Herzegovina

BAACBH applauds the European Council of Ministers for unanimously voting to lift the visa requirement for citizens of BiH. The decision to grant BiH a visa-free regime was made when the Council met in Brussels earlier this month. Starting mid-December 2010, citizens of BiH who hold biometric passports will be able to travel visa-free to EU's Schengen zone, which is comprised of twenty five European countries.

The EU's decision to open its borders to BiH citizens came upon the successful completion of such requirements as increasing passport security, improving border control and improving the ability to fight organized crime. With this new reward comes great responsibility and the EU cautioned against abuse of the program which would result in visa-free travel being suspended. BiH is running a public awareness campaign informing the citizens of BiH about the short-term visa-free travel program.

BAACBH strongly encourages the citizens of BiH to comply with the rules set forth by the EU as visa-free travel aids business development, expands educational opportunities, and represents a crucial step in BiH's road map toward EU integration.