The long awaited Law on Foreigners defining entry, movement and stay of foreigners in BiH was published 17 November 2015 in the “Official Gazette of BiH no. 88/15” with the Law entering into force 25 November 2015. This completes 18 months of intensive work with the law representing a huge step forward in the migration policy of BiH.

A major benefit of the Law is that it is closely harmonised with the EU Acquis and the best EU practices. Special emphasis was given to areas of detention of foreigners, employment status of foreigners, ‘non-refoulement’ principle and conditions for crossing the state border/entry into BiH. It is important to note that negative commentary on migration issues emphasised in the European Commission Country Report for many years have been eliminated. A significant change in the law is the clause on ‘maximum detention time – 18 months’ bringing it in line with EU best practice.