Bosnia and Herzegovina Travel Guide
Visa summary
247 passport nationalities researched for entry into Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Guide
Bosnia and Herzegovina lets most travelers in without a visa, and then expects you to register with the police. Citizens of about 90 nationalities get 90 visa free days, and all foreign nationals must be registered with the police within 72 hours of arrival. Hotels and most hostels do it for you, but for private accommodation the host or landlord is obliged to register the address, and guides describe a 48 hour deadline for stays longer than three days.
The country has a short coastline, a tiny sliver at Neum that splits Croatia's southern coast, and that shapes its borders. There are 36 crossings with Croatia, 3 with Montenegro, and 3 with Serbia, and entry can also be made at Sarajevo International Airport and the port of Neum.
Border crossings
- Croatia, an external Schengen border
Bijača on the A1 and E73 motorway is the main crossing toward Croatia. Another guide reports summer waits of 15 to 45 minutes at Doljani, 5 to 15 minutes at Vinjani Donji, and 30 to 90 minutes at Bijača at peak, as described in the Croatia guide on this site. Because Croatia is in Schengen, you pass a full border check and EES registration on the Croatian side.
- Neum, the Bosnian coast
The port of Neum is a separate entry point, and the town also explains why Croatia built the Pelješac Bridge, which lets traffic between Dubrovnik and the rest of Croatia avoid crossing Bosnian territory.
- Serbia and Montenegro
Three crossings each. The Serbian border is not an EU frontier, so there is no Schengen registration when you cross it, but expect a passport check.
Transit routes
- Sarajevo by air, or through Croatia by road
The airport is the international gateway. By land, the entry points are the crossings from Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro.
- Driving across the Neum corridor
The Pelješac Bridge, opened in July 2022, means you no longer have to cross Bosnian territory to drive along the Croatian coast, and it avoids the two Neum checkpoints.
Entry point notes
- Register within 72 hours
Hotels handle it, but a traveler in a private apartment needs their host to do it, and unregistered stays can cause trouble on departure.
- Days in Bosnia are not Schengen days
Bosnia and Herzegovina is outside the EU, so days spent there are not Schengen days.