Subsequent registration in the civil registers of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author: Azur Prnjavorac, attorney  |  Last reviewed: 4 September 2026

When subsequent registration is needed

The law distinguishes between basic and subsequent registration. Basic registration is carried out by the registrar without a separate decision, once the necessary evidence has been obtained. Subsequent registration, under Articles 39a and 42 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH, is carried out only on the basis of a decision of the competent authority, and it covers all persons, facts and data that for any reason could not be registered within the prescribed period, as well as facts that arose after the basic registration was closed.

In practice the procedure is most often started in these situations:

• a child was born abroad and has never been reported to the civil registry service in BiH;
• a person is entered in the register of citizens under earlier regulations but is not entered in the register of births in BiH;
• confirmation of citizenship of BiH and of the entity citizenship by origin is sought;
• a marriage was concluded abroad and has not been entered in the register of marriages in BiH;
• the data in the registers are inaccurate, incomplete or do not correspond to one another;
• a person has died without ever having been entered in the register of births, so the registration must be carried out in order to register the fact of death.

Age is no obstacle. Article 42 provides expressly that subsequent registration in the register of births must be carried out for all persons who were not registered within the period prescribed by law, regardless of their age.

The four civil registers and what is entered in each

Under Article 2 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH, four registers are kept on the personal status of citizens: the register of births, the register of citizens, the register of marriages and the register of deaths.

The register of births is the basic register. The other records, and the data for identity documents, are derived from it, so the data in the other registers and in the documents must be identical to the data it contains. That is why, in these cases, the registration of the birth is settled first and everything else afterwards. Registered data may be changed, corrected or supplemented only on the basis of a decision of the competent authority, never informally.

Jurisdiction and the time limit for appeal in the FBiH, RS and Brcko District

The civil registers are not governed by a single regulation, so the first step is to establish which law applies and which authority decides.

Everything the law on civil registers does not regulate is governed by the Law on Administrative Procedure, and against a final decision an action may be brought in an administrative dispute.

The procedure step by step

1. Territorial jurisdiction is established. For facts that arose abroad, Article 54 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH lays down an order: the birth of a child is registered according to the last common residence of the parents in the Federation; if there was none, according to the last residence of one parent; and if that cannot be established either, according to the place of birth of the parent born in the Federation. If a person cannot be registered under any of those rules, the registration is carried out in the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo. A special case is a person who was entered in the separate records of citizens kept under earlier regulations but was neither born in BiH nor entered in the register of births: under Article 20 of the same law, that person is registered in the municipality where he or she is entered in the register of citizens.

2. The documents are collected: the foreign document on the birth or the marriage, bearing an Apostille and accompanied by a translation, evidence of the citizenship of the parents, and the identity documents of the applicant.

3. The application is filed with the competent service, where necessary through a representative, together with proof that the fee has been paid.

4. The authority conducts the examination procedure: the facts are established by public documents and by other evidence provided for in the regulations and in the Law on Administrative Procedure, and missing evidence is also obtained ex officio.

5. A decision on subsequent registration is issued, setting out every item of data to be entered.

6. The registrar carries out the registration. Under Article 40 of the Law he is required to do so within eight days of receiving the report and the act on the basis of which the entry is made.

If the decision is negative or inaccurate, an appeal is lodged within 15 days, and after the final decision an administrative dispute remains available.

Which documents are required

The exact list depends on the municipality and on whether confirmation of citizenship is sought together with the registration of the birth, but in practice the following are almost always required:

• an extract from the register of births of the foreign state, on the international form or with an Apostille and a translation by a certified court interpreter;
• evidence of the citizenship of BiH of the parent at the time of the child's birth (a certificate of citizenship, an extract from the register of citizens);
• an extract from the parents' register of marriages, if a marriage was concluded;
• the identity documents of the applicant, and for a minor child the documents of the parents as well;
• a power of attorney for the lawyer, certified at a diplomatic or consular mission of BiH or before a foreign notary with an Apostille;
• proof that the administrative fee has been paid.

Where documents are missing, the procedure does not stop. Documents may be obtained by way of a request through diplomatic channels, and the facts may also be established by other means of evidence, including the procedure for establishing identity before the competent authority.

Children born abroad and citizenship by origin

Most of these cases come from the diaspora, and here two things have to be separated at the outset: the registration of the fact of birth and the acquisition of citizenship. For the registration of a birth in the register of births there is no time limit. For citizenship by origin there is, and it is the most frequent reason why a case runs into difficulty.

Under Article 6 of the Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 22/16), a child born after the entry into force of the Constitution acquires citizenship of BiH by origin:

• if both parents were citizens of BiH at the time of the child's birth, regardless of the place of birth;
• if one parent was a citizen of BiH and the child was born on the territory of BiH;
• if one parent was a citizen of BiH and the child was born abroad, where the child would otherwise be stateless;
• if the child was born abroad and one parent was a citizen of BiH at the time of the birth, provided that an application for the registration of citizenship of BiH is filed with the competent authority before the age of 23.

The last point is decisive in practice. A child of a mixed marriage born abroad, who already holds the citizenship of another state and is therefore not stateless, acquires citizenship of BiH by origin only if the application was filed before the 23rd birthday. After that period naturalisation or another basis remains, while the registration of the fact of birth may still be sought independently.

A different rule applies to persons born before the entry into force of the Constitution. Under Article 41 of the same law, citizens of BiH are all persons who were citizens of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina immediately before its entry into force, including persons who were such until 6 April 1992. In older cases, such as the example set out below on this page, the status is therefore proved under the regulations in force at the time of the birth.

Alongside the state-level layer, the Law on Citizenship of the Federation of BiH, or the Law on Citizenship of Republika Srpska for the entity citizenship, applies, together with the Rulebook on the procedure, the means of evidence and the manner of entering citizenship of the FBiH in the register. Where the basis is clear, citizenship is entered in the register of births under Article 39 paragraph (2) of the Law on Citizenship of BiH without a separate decision, as soon as it is established that the person meets the conditions of Articles 6, 7 and 8.

The practical difficulty of these cases rarely lies in the legal characterisation but in the proof: what has to be documented is the citizenship the parent held at the time of the child's birth, not today. The acquisition of the status itself is dealt with more fully on the pages obtaining the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and renunciation and acquisition of citizenship of BiH.

Marriage concluded abroad and change of surname

A marriage concluded before the competent authority of a foreign state is entered in the register of marriages on the basis of the foreign document, which must be legalised or bear an Apostille and be translated. Under Article 54 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH the registration is carried out in the municipality where the spouses had their last common residence in the Federation, and if there was none, according to the residence of one of them.

Article 55 provides that the registration is carried out on the written application of the party, with the extract of the foreign authority attached; where that extract contains no data on the parents, the spouse or the marital status, those data are established by public documents and other evidence, after which the civil registry service issues a decision.

The registration of the marriage also settles the question of the surname, because a change of surname carried out abroad does not take effect automatically in the registers in BiH but is carried out as a separate entry; more on that on the page change of surname or first name in BiH.

Where the marriage concluded abroad has been dissolved, recognition of the foreign decision is as a rule required before the divorce is registered in BiH. That procedure is described on the page recognition of a foreign decision on divorce and registration of marriage in BiH.

Correction of data and the spelling of a name from a foreign document

The first question that arises with documents from abroad is the spelling of the name. Article 56 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH is clear: where the first name and surname in the extract of the foreign authority are not written in letters that exist in the official languages of the Federation (c with an acute, c with a caron, dz, s with a caron, z with a caron and others), the entry is made exactly as it is written in the foreign document. A person who wishes the name to be entered according to the rules of the local language does not apply to the registrar but to the competent cantonal ministry, under the Law on the Personal Name. This is a frequent source of discrepancies between documents from two states and is worth settling at once, before a passport or an identity card is issued.

Errors noticed by the registrar before the entry is closed are corrected by the registrar with a note. A correction of data after the basic entry has been closed is carried out in administrative proceedings, on the application of the party or ex officio, and always on the basis of a decision and of evidence confirming the correct data. The same applies to the supplementing of data omitted at the first entry.

Article 47 of the same law allows a correction in three cases: where the same item of data for the same person is entered differently in the registers or in documents; where the data were incorrectly transcribed from an act of the competent authority; and where they were incorrectly transcribed from another civil or church register. One limit matters: a personal name entered in the register of births is not changed by way of correction, but by a decision of the cantonal ministry establishing the personal name, except where the case is precisely one of incorrect transcription.

Discrepancies between the register of births and the other registers are not rare in the case of persons registered under earlier regulations. In one and the same case, therefore, both the registration and the correction are often dealt with together.

Status-related work carried out by the office

The office works on the procedures of registration in the register of births in Bosnia and Herzegovina, registration in the register of citizens of BiH and obtaining certificates from the registers throughout BiH, the registration of a marriage concluded abroad, the change of surname after a wedding abroad, the reporting of children born abroad, and obtaining certificates of no criminal record and of no pending criminal proceedings. In addition we carry out the other status-related acts in the field of civil status:

• subsequent registration in the register of births, with or without confirmation of the fact of citizenship of BiH and of the FBiH or RS;
• subsequent registration in the register of citizens of BiH;
• registration of a child born abroad in the register of births and the register of citizens of BiH;
• establishing the identity of a person under the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH;
• correction of inaccurate data and supplementing of authentic data in the registers in BiH;
• registration of a marriage in the register of marriages under the Law on Civil Registers and the Family Law of the FBiH or RS, and establishing the existence or non-existence of a marriage in civil proceedings;
• declaring a missing person dead and proving death in court proceedings;
• registration in the register of deaths in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• administrative proceedings in the field of civil status: subsequent registration of citizenship in the register of births, change of the personal name, of the first name or of the surname, subsequent entries and corrections of data in the registers;
• recognition of a foreign court decision on divorce in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• recognition of a foreign decision on inheritance in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• registration in the register of citizens of the Republic of Croatia, in accordance with the Law on Croatian Citizenship.

A case from practice: registration of a person born in Germany

The case concerns a person born abroad, today a citizen of two foreign states, whose mother was a citizen of BiH at the moment of the birth and whose father was a foreign national. The application was filed when the person was 47 years old, which illustrates the rule that age is no obstacle to subsequent registration.

The decision is reproduced in shortened and anonymised form: personal data, the personal identification number, the file number and the names of the officials have been left out for data protection, while the legal content has been kept.

Municipality of Travnik, Service for General Administration and Veterans' and Disabled Persons' Protection, 15 December 2020.

On the basis of Article 200 paragraph 1 of the Law on Administrative Procedure (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/98 and 48/99), Article 42 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 37/12 and 80/14), the Instruction on the subsequent registration of the fact of birth and the fact of citizenship in the registers for persons who acquired citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the regulations of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 30/16), in conjunction with Article 4 paragraph 1 of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the RB&H no. 30/96) and Article 37 of the Law on Citizenship of BiH (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 4/97, 13/99, 41/02, 6/03, 14/03, 82/05 and 43/09), Article 30 of the Law on Citizenship of the Federation of BiH (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 34/16), Article 58 of the Instruction on keeping the civil registers (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 51/13, 55/13, 82/13 and 6/15) and Article 56 of the Rulebook on the procedure, the means of evidence and the manner of entering citizenship of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the register of births and the register of citizens (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 85/16), upon an application filed through the representatives, attorney Azur Prnjavorac and attorney Alma Prnjavorac of Tuzla, the Service for General Administration issues the following

DECISION

Subsequent registration of the fact of birth and confirmation of citizenship of BiH and of the Federation of BiH in the register of births on the basis of origin is approved, at the local office according to the place of registration, for T. S., born in 1975 in Augsburg, Federal Republic of Germany, a citizen of Germany and Slovenia, and the following data are to be entered: surname and first name T. S.; sex female; year of birth 1975; place and state of birth Augsburg, Federal Republic of Germany; citizenship of BiH and of the Federation of BiH; data on the mother K. M., born 1953.

The case shows two things that recur in this kind of matter: the status of a person born abroad decades ago is proved under the regulations in force at the time of the birth, and the whole procedure was conducted through attorneys, without the applicant coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Frequently asked questions

What is the time limit for reporting the birth of a child born abroad to the registers in BiH?

For the registration of the fact of birth itself the law lays down no preclusive time limit. Article 42 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH states expressly that subsequent registration in the register of births must be carried out for all persons not registered within the prescribed period, regardless of their age. A time limit does exist for citizenship: a child born abroad with only one parent who was a citizen of BiH acquires citizenship by origin on condition that the application for the registration of citizenship is filed before the age of 23, under Article 6 point d) of the Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is therefore no reason to wait with the application, all the more so because it is the registration that gives the child the basis for a passport, an identity card and health insurance in BiH.

Does subsequent registration in the register of births automatically mean registration in the register of citizens?

Not always. It is possible to seek the subsequent registration of the fact of birth with or without the simultaneous confirmation of citizenship of BiH and of the entity citizenship. In practice both entries are sought at the same time in most cases, because that avoids a second procedure, but it depends on the circumstances of the case and on the documents the applicant has.

Can I start the registration procedure from abroad without coming to BiH?

Yes. The procedure is conducted through a representative, an attorney in BiH holding a certified power of attorney. The power of attorney is certified at a diplomatic or consular mission of BiH, or before a notary in the state of residence with an Apostille under the Hague Convention. Our office regularly represents clients from the diaspora in this way.

What if part of the documentation for the subsequent registration is missing?

It is common in practice for an applicant not to have every document. Article 42 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH allows the facts to be established by public documents and other evidence provided for in the regulations and in the Law on Administrative Procedure, which includes documents from abroad, witness statements and the procedure for establishing identity. Documents may also be obtained by way of a request through diplomatic channels.

How long does the subsequent registration procedure in BiH take?

The duration depends on the competent authority and on the complexity of the case. Simpler cases are concluded within 30 to 60 days, while cases requiring documents to be obtained from abroad, or identity to be established, can take several months. Once all the evidence has been obtained, the registrar is required under Article 40 of the Law to carry out the entry within eight days of receiving the report and the act on the basis of which the entry is made.

Who issues the decision on subsequent registration and where is the appeal lodged?

In the Federation of BiH the decision is issued by the municipal or city civil registry service, and for questions within their competence by the cantonal ministry, the guardianship authority or the Federal Ministry. The appeal is lodged within 15 days of service of the decision and is decided by the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Article 71 of the Law on Civil Registers of the Federation of BiH). In Republika Srpska the period is likewise 15 days, but the appeal is decided by the Ministry of Administration and Local Self-Government (Article 6 of the Law on Civil Registers of Republika Srpska).

Which documents are required to register a child born abroad?

As a rule the following are required: an extract from the register of births of the foreign state, on the international form or with an Apostille and a translation by a certified court interpreter; evidence of the citizenship of BiH of the parents; an extract from the parents' register of marriages if a marriage was concluded; and the identity documents of the applicant together with a power of attorney if the procedure is conducted through a lawyer. The exact list depends on the municipality and on whether confirmation of citizenship is sought at the same time, so it is checked with the competent service before the application is filed.

What if only one parent is a citizen of BiH and the other is a foreign national?

That does not prevent the registration of the birth, but the conditions for citizenship are not the same as where both parents are citizens of BiH. Under Article 6 of the Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a child born abroad with one parent who was a citizen of BiH at the time of the birth acquires citizenship by origin if the child would otherwise remain stateless, or if an application for the registration of citizenship of BiH is filed before the age of 23. For persons born before the entry into force of the Constitution, Article 41 applies, under which citizens of BiH are all persons who were citizens of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina immediately before that date. In every case the burden of proof shifts to documenting the citizenship of the parent at the time of the child's birth, which is the most frequent reason why the assistance of a lawyer is sought.

How is a marriage concluded abroad registered in BiH?

A marriage concluded before the competent authority of a foreign state is entered in the register of marriages on the basis of the foreign document, which must be legalised or bear an Apostille and be translated. The registration of the marriage also settles the question of the surname, because a change of surname carried out abroad does not take effect automatically in the registers in BiH but is carried out as a separate entry.

Can an inaccurate item of data already entered in a register be corrected?

Yes. Errors noticed by the registrar before the entry is closed are corrected by the registrar with a note, while a correction of data after the basic entry has been closed is carried out in administrative proceedings, on the application of the party or ex officio, on the basis of a decision and of evidence confirming the correct data. The same applies to the supplementing of data omitted at the first entry.