Bosnian citizenship by descent: who qualifies, the law, and what it takes

Q: Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a parent?

Possible. A child born abroad to a BiH citizen acquires citizenship by descent if registered before turning 23. BiH recognises dual citizenship only with countries it has a bilateral agreement with; as of 2026 that means Serbia, Croatia and Sweden, so most applicants must choose.

Q: Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a grandparent?

Unlikely. No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

Q: Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Unlikely. No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

Through a parentPOSSIBLECitizen by descent (Art. 6)Through a grandparentUNLIKELYOne generation Through a great-grandparentUNLIKELYOne generation

Ways to apply: Citizen by descent, registered before 23 (Art. 6)
Dual citizenship: Not kept: the law expects you to give up your other citizenship

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Places that changed countries
10Law changes
11Other options
12Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a parent?

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

A child born abroad to a BiH citizen acquires citizenship by descent if registered before turning 23. BiH recognises dual citizenship only with countries it has a bilateral agreement with; as of 2026 that means Serbia, Croatia and Sweden, so most applicants must choose.

What would settle itYour age, and how you weigh BiH’s position on holding your home citizenship alongside.

A child born abroad to a parent who is a citizen acquires citizenship by descent if registered with the competent authority before the age of 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6
Citizens of BiH may hold the citizenship of another state only where a bilateral agreement provides for it. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 4

UNLIKELY

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a grandparent?

One generation

No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

What would settle itWhether your parent is a registered BiH citizen.

Descent reaches children of citizens who register before 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6

UNLIKELY

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

One generation

No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

What would settle itWhether your parent is a registered BiH citizen.

Descent reaches children of citizens who register before 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6

The dates that matter

No date named in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

Dual citizenship is not guaranteed.

On every open route, the rule expects a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa to give up their other citizenship, or to get permission to keep it.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation)

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

Open to you through a parent

POSSIBLE
Through a parent

The law

A child born abroad to a parent who is a citizen acquires citizenship by descent if registered with the competent authority before the age of 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6
Citizens of BiH may hold the citizenship of another state only where a bilateral agreement provides for it. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 4

What would settle an unsure case

Your age, and how you weigh BiH’s position on holding your home citizenship alongside.

One generation

Closed: no one qualifies this way today

UNLIKELY
Through a grandparent
No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

The law

Descent reaches children of citizens who register before 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent is a registered BiH citizen.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

Through a parent

Your parent’s BiH citizenship certificate
Your birth certificate
Registration before age 23

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

Time: 3–9 months, but only if the application reaches the authorities before you turn 23.
Cost: About $200–500: certified copies, apostilles and translations into Bosnian.
The hard part: The age-23 deadline, and that Bosnia recognizes dual citizenship only with countries it has a treaty with — the United States is not one, so keeping both is not guaranteed.
Who decides: The competent authority (MUP) of the entity where your parent is registered, through the BiH embassy.
The first record: Your parent’s BiH citizenship certificate (uvjerenje o državljanstvu), from The municipal (opština) administration where your parent is registered. Have your parent request the certificate from their registering municipality, or from the BiH embassy if they’re abroad; usually a few weeks. mcp.gov.ba

How it’s filed

Where: By mail with a money order to the post for your state: Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2109 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037, or Consulate General of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 E Wacker Drive, Suite 1820, Chicago, IL 60601. Forwarded through the Foreign Ministry to the municipality office list
How: By post; no appearance needed
Form: Birth report for a child born abroad (prijava rođenja) and entry in the birth and citizenship registers (upis u MKR i KD), through the embassy
Fee: About $12
Decision: 3–9 months

What goes in the file (7)

Registration form/questionnaire for entry in the BiH birth register and register of citizens
The applicant’s U.S. birth certificate, apostilled, with certified translation (or an international extract)
The BiH parent’s citizenship certificate, not older than six months
The BiH parent’s birth-register extract (holographic original)
Proof of the parents’ residence
Copy of the parent’s valid ID card or passport
Money order to the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the $12 fee plus postage

What goes wrong (8)

Hard deadline: registration must be completed no later than the 23rd birthday. File well before; embassy routing alone takes 3–6 months.
Children born abroad before 1 January 1998 need a decision from the municipal administration service rather than a direct entry (per Sarajevo-Centar municipality).
Registration by descent asks for no renunciation of U.S. citizenship, and BiH citizenship is not lost by acquiring another (Ministry of Civil Affairs). Dual-citizenship agreements exist only with Croatia, Serbia and Sweden; they bear on naturalisation and reacquisition, not on this route.
An adult applicant should also request a personal identification number (JMB), $12 at the embassy, which the passport needs.
Separate route not coded here: naturalisation for the diaspora (Art. 12) is a $238 application, ordinary naturalisation with waived conditions.
The Chicago consulate moved from 500 N. Michigan Ave. to 1 E Wacker Drive on 1 April 2026; older forms still print the old address.
No appointment is needed to mail the file. Walk-in hours: Washington weekdays 10:00–14:00, phone advice 13:00–15:00 on +1 202 337 1500 ext. 228, consularaffairs@bhembassy.org; Chicago weekdays 09:00–14:00, phone advice 10:00–14:00 on +1 312 951 1245, bih.konzulat.chicago@gmail.com.
The parents’ statement for entry in the registers (nationality and religion declaration) is notarised; a child over 12 also signs it. From 18 the filing is a late entry (naknadni upis) rather than a birth report.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

citizenship
The municipality (općina/opština) where the BiH parent is entered in the register of citizens (knjiga državljana), which issues the citizenship certificate (uvjerenje o državljanstvu)
The parent’s municipality of registration in the Federation, Republika Srpska or Brčko District; the entity citizenship (FBiH or RS) follows the parent’s.
Ask
Through an agent, in Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian
Fee
55 USD
Takes
3–13 weeks
Good to know (2)
- The embassy can obtain certificates and register extracts for $30 plus $25 delivery ($55).
- The certificate must be recent (not older than six months) for the registration file.
source ↗
birth
The municipal registry office (matični ured) keeping the parent’s birth register (matična knjiga rođenih)
Parent’s municipality of birth or registration; extracts with holographic protection are required.
Ask
Through an agent, in Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian
Fee
55 USD
Takes
3–13 weeks
source ↗

Translations

Into: Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian
Who may translate: Any certified translator; the translation itself is legalized
About: $25–$60 a page

The long-form U.S. birth certificate is apostilled by the Secretary of State of the issuing state, then translated into Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian by an authorised translator, and the translation is apostilled too. Embassy certification of copies costs $10 for the first page and $5 for each further page.

source ↗

The passport

Where: Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Washington (or the Consulate General in Chicago for its states), after the birth and citizenship registration and JMB; adults $115 plus $25 delivery
Fee: About $140
Time: 4–13 weeks

source ↗

Places on old papers that lead to Bosnia and Herzegovina

If your family’s records name one of these, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s law may be the one that applies. The town decides.

Austria-Hungary · also Austro-Hungarian Empire, Habsburg
Austria-Hungary became a dozen countries in 1918. Pick the one the town is in today.
Today: Austria, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Serbia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia split in the 1990s. Pick the country the town is in today.
Today: Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

One residence program leads to Bosnia and Herzegovina without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

BusinessTemporary residence for business establishment or property ownership
Bosnia has no digital-nomad visa; the two realistic options are founding a local business or buying any property, either of which supports a renewable one-year temporary residence permit.

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Through a parentPOSSIBLECitizen by descent (Art. 6)Through a grandparentUNLIKELYOne generation Through a great-grandparentUNLIKELYOne generation

Ways to apply: Citizen by descent, registered before 23 (Art. 6)
Dual citizenship: Not kept: the law expects you to give up your other citizenship

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Places that changed countries
10Law changes
11Other options
12Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a parent?

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

What would settle itYour age, and how you weigh BiH’s position on holding your home citizenship alongside.

A child born abroad to a parent who is a citizen acquires citizenship by descent if registered with the competent authority before the age of 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6
Citizens of BiH may hold the citizenship of another state only where a bilateral agreement provides for it. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 4

UNLIKELY

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a grandparent?

One generation

No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

What would settle itWhether your parent is a registered BiH citizen.

Descent reaches children of citizens who register before 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6

UNLIKELY

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

One generation

No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

What would settle itWhether your parent is a registered BiH citizen.

Descent reaches children of citizens who register before 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6

The dates that matter

No date named in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

Dual citizenship is not guaranteed.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation)

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

Open to you through a parent

POSSIBLE
Through a parent

The law

A child born abroad to a parent who is a citizen acquires citizenship by descent if registered with the competent authority before the age of 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6
Citizens of BiH may hold the citizenship of another state only where a bilateral agreement provides for it. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 4

What would settle an unsure case

Your age, and how you weigh BiH’s position on holding your home citizenship alongside.

One generation

Closed: no one qualifies this way today

UNLIKELY
Through a grandparent
No option through a grandparent; the diaspora naturalisation under Art. 12 is ordinary naturalisation with eased conditions.

The law

Descent reaches children of citizens who register before 23. Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Art. 6 (descent; registration before age 23 for children born abroad), Art. 4 (dual citizenship by bilateral agreement), Art. 12 (facilitated naturalisation), Art. 6

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent is a registered BiH citizen.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

Through a parent

Your parent’s BiH citizenship certificate
Your birth certificate
Registration before age 23

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

Time: 3–9 months, but only if the application reaches the authorities before you turn 23.
Cost: About $200–500: certified copies, apostilles and translations into Bosnian.
The hard part: The age-23 deadline, and that Bosnia recognizes dual citizenship only with countries it has a treaty with — the United States is not one, so keeping both is not guaranteed.
Who decides: The competent authority (MUP) of the entity where your parent is registered, through the BiH embassy.
The first record: Your parent’s BiH citizenship certificate (uvjerenje o državljanstvu), from The municipal (opština) administration where your parent is registered. Have your parent request the certificate from their registering municipality, or from the BiH embassy if they’re abroad; usually a few weeks. mcp.gov.ba

How it’s filed

Where: By mail with a money order to the post for your state: Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2109 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037, or Consulate General of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 E Wacker Drive, Suite 1820, Chicago, IL 60601. Forwarded through the Foreign Ministry to the municipality office list
How: By post; no appearance needed
Form: Birth report for a child born abroad (prijava rođenja) and entry in the birth and citizenship registers (upis u MKR i KD), through the embassy
Fee: About $12
Decision: 3–9 months

What goes in the file (7)

Registration form/questionnaire for entry in the BiH birth register and register of citizens
The applicant’s U.S. birth certificate, apostilled, with certified translation (or an international extract)
The BiH parent’s citizenship certificate, not older than six months
The BiH parent’s birth-register extract (holographic original)
Proof of the parents’ residence
Copy of the parent’s valid ID card or passport
Money order to the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the $12 fee plus postage

What goes wrong (8)

Hard deadline: registration must be completed no later than the 23rd birthday. File well before; embassy routing alone takes 3–6 months.
Children born abroad before 1 January 1998 need a decision from the municipal administration service rather than a direct entry (per Sarajevo-Centar municipality).
Registration by descent asks for no renunciation of U.S. citizenship, and BiH citizenship is not lost by acquiring another (Ministry of Civil Affairs). Dual-citizenship agreements exist only with Croatia, Serbia and Sweden; they bear on naturalisation and reacquisition, not on this route.
An adult applicant should also request a personal identification number (JMB), $12 at the embassy, which the passport needs.
Separate route not coded here: naturalisation for the diaspora (Art. 12) is a $238 application, ordinary naturalisation with waived conditions.
The Chicago consulate moved from 500 N. Michigan Ave. to 1 E Wacker Drive on 1 April 2026; older forms still print the old address.
No appointment is needed to mail the file. Walk-in hours: Washington weekdays 10:00–14:00, phone advice 13:00–15:00 on +1 202 337 1500 ext. 228, consularaffairs@bhembassy.org; Chicago weekdays 09:00–14:00, phone advice 10:00–14:00 on +1 312 951 1245, bih.konzulat.chicago@gmail.com.
The parents’ statement for entry in the registers (nationality and religion declaration) is notarised; a child over 12 also signs it. From 18 the filing is a late entry (naknadni upis) rather than a birth report.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

citizenship
The municipality (općina/opština) where the BiH parent is entered in the register of citizens (knjiga državljana), which issues the citizenship certificate (uvjerenje o državljanstvu)
The parent’s municipality of registration in the Federation, Republika Srpska or Brčko District; the entity citizenship (FBiH or RS) follows the parent’s.
Ask
Through an agent, in Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian
Fee
55 USD
Takes
3–13 weeks
Good to know (2)
- The embassy can obtain certificates and register extracts for $30 plus $25 delivery ($55).
- The certificate must be recent (not older than six months) for the registration file.
source ↗
birth
The municipal registry office (matični ured) keeping the parent’s birth register (matična knjiga rođenih)
Parent’s municipality of birth or registration; extracts with holographic protection are required.
Ask
Through an agent, in Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian
Fee
55 USD
Takes
3–13 weeks
source ↗

Translations

Into: Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian
Who may translate: Any certified translator; the translation itself is legalized
About: $25–$60 a page

source ↗

The passport

Where: Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Washington (or the Consulate General in Chicago for its states), after the birth and citizenship registration and JMB; adults $115 plus $25 delivery
Fee: About $140
Time: 4–13 weeks

source ↗

Places on old papers that lead to Bosnia and Herzegovina

If your family’s records name one of these, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s law may be the one that applies. The town decides.

Austria-Hungary · also Austro-Hungarian Empire, Habsburg
Austria-Hungary became a dozen countries in 1918. Pick the one the town is in today.
Today: Austria, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Serbia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia split in the 1990s. Pick the country the town is in today.
Today: Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

One residence program leads to Bosnia and Herzegovina without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

BusinessTemporary residence for business establishment or property ownership
Bosnia has no digital-nomad visa; the two realistic options are founding a local business or buying any property, either of which supports a renewable one-year temporary residence permit.

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a parent?

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a grandparent?

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Places on old papers that lead to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a parent?

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a grandparent?

Can you claim Bosnian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Art. 6)

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Places on old papers that lead to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Bosnia and Herzegovina.