Bosnia Company Founder and Entrepreneur Residence in 2026

Bosnia and Herzegovina does not publish a separate “startup visa”. Instead, the Law on Aliens and SFA application system contain a specific company-founder / enterprise-founder category under employment without a standard work permit.

This is a genuine immigration route, but it is not a company-registration shortcut.

The founder conditions

A foreign founder can work without the ordinary work permit when the Bosnia and Herzegovina company or enterprise:

  • employs at least five BiH citizens for each foreign founder;
  • pays each employee a gross salary at least equal to the average gross salary in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and
  • properly fulfils its taxation obligations.

The SFA founder checklist mirrors those requirements.

Founder documents

The published checklist includes the residence application, passport, accommodation, medical evidence, criminal-record evidence, health insurance, evidence of the business activity, court registration, bank solvency, tax-compliance evidence, proof of the five local employees and proof of salary compliance.

Foreign documents must be translated in line with SFA rules.

Company registration is not residence

The Law on Aliens says acts necessary to establish and register a legal/business entity are not themselves considered work for the standard work-permit obligation.

That narrow formation rule does not mean owning shares or registering a company automatically grants residence or operating rights. Once the foreigner actually manages or works in the business, the proper immigration basis must be in place.

Work registration

Qualifying founders fall within a work-without-standard-work-permit framework using the SFA residence/work-registration mechanism rather than the ordinary employer-sponsored permit. SFA should confirm the exact certificate/residence sequence for the applicant's facts.

Is this a startup visa?

No. There is no separate national innovation/startup-visa programme in the current SFA list. The law does not waive the founder conditions because a company is young, technology-focused or serves foreign customers.

Administrative fee

The SFA founder checklist lists 150 BAM for approval or extension of temporary residence. Company, accounting, court, notary and tax costs are separate.

Does founder residence count toward permanent residence?

Yes, if the temporary residence was actually granted under the qualifying founder provision.

The Law on Aliens generally excludes several work-without-permit categories from the five-year permanent-residence calculation, but it expressly says qualifying company-founder residence is included in the time required for permanent residence.

See the permanent-residence guide.

Freelancer or solo founder?

A solo freelancer should not form a company solely on the assumption that company ownership solves immigration. If the business cannot meet the five-local-employee, salary and tax tests, the founder provision may not fit.

See the freelancer/self-employment guide.

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