Visas Needed for 173 Countries � What�s the Cost?

Mladi.info

24 January 2006

B&H citiznes need visas to enter 173 countries in the world, so that the figure released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the citizens spent over 50 million KM on visa fees in 2005 should come as no surprise.

BiH

On the other hand, visa is not needed for travel in just 18 countries. In addition to the neighbours, Croatia and SCG, and Macedonia and Turkey, the list includes the Dominica, Ecuador, Cuba, the Maldives, Malesia, Russia, Samoa, St. Lucia, the Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon�s Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadine, Tunisia and Western Samoa. Nonetheless, some of these countries have a set of special requirement, such as Russia which demands a letter of guarantee or business invitation, while the Seychelles require a return ticket to be presented.

Getting to a number of countries proves to be a tough job, having in mind that the visas can be acquired in foreign countries that themselves require visas. For instance, to travel to Argentina, Australia, Chile of Brasil, the visas are acquired in Vienna. Travel to Israel, India or Indonesia requires a trip to Budapest first, the nearest consular offices of the said countries.

The entry into Bosnia and Herzegovina for foreigners is quite easier. Citizens of 40 countries are fully exempt from the visa regime, including diplomatic passports carriers from 18 countries and official passport holders from additional 16 countries.

The B&H consular offices have issued 11,461 visas last year; the National Border Service, upon recommendation by the MFA, issued 2,023 visas, while the offices of the Ministry extended the validity of 79 visas. The visitors were citizens of the Ukraine, China, Iran, India, Moldova, Pakistan. The money collected from the visa fees go to the State Budget.