CREDI, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina (IOM BiH) and the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH, successfully organized a two-day consultative meeting dedicated to developing the Roadmap for the Employment of Foreign Workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The meeting took place on April 23-24, 2025, at the Monti Hotel in Igman, with the participation of over 20 representatives from relevant institutions and licensed private employment agencies.
The goal of the meeting was to analyze the existing legal and administrative framework for the employment of foreign workers, identify challenges in practice, and jointly define recommendations for improving the system of issuing work and residence permits. Participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the preliminary findings of the research conducted by CREDI, including desk analysis and interviews with key stakeholders, and to discuss the identified challenges and potential solutions. The discussions covered topics such as the overlap of documentation in the processes of issuing D visas and residence permits, the abuse of work permits, the need to strengthen inter-institutional cooperation, and the importance of establishing mechanisms for selecting quality workforce and training employers.
A special contribution to the meeting was made by representatives of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, the Ministry of Security of BiH, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, the Service for Foreign’s Affairs, entity employment agencies, the Government of Brčko District, as well as several licensed private agencies that shared challenges from the field.
CREDI will continue to support this process in the next phase of developing the Roadmap, focusing on the analytical processing of recommendations and the creation of the final document, with the aim of contributing to the development of a more efficient, safer, and more responsible system for the employment of foreign workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
