Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased the quots of work permits for the employment of foreigners

Following the initiative of the members, the Employers’ Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Union of Employers’ Associations of the Republika Srpska repeatedly insisted on increasing the quotas for issuing work permits for the employment of foreigners in BiH in 2022.

The Council of Ministers of BiH, on the proposal of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, adopted the Decision on determining the annual quota of work permits for the employment of foreigners in BiH for the year 2022, which significantly increases the number of work permits that can be issued to foreigners in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the published Decision on establishing the annual quota of work permits for the employment of foreigners in BiH for the year 2022, the number of permits in the processing industry for the FBiH has been increased from the previously proposed 70 to 300 at the insistence of the UPFBiH. In the activity of production and supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning, the proponent initially proposed issuing five permits for the FBiH, and after the UPFBiH responded, the number of permits was increased to 110. In the construction industry, compared to the proposed 30 for the FBiH, the number of permits was increased to 320. When it comes to the activity of transportation, storage and the number of permits has been increased from the proposed 10 to 20 in FBiH.

In the activities of providing accommodation and preparing and serving food, in the hotel and catering sectors, from the previously proposed 30, with the involvement of UPFBiH, the number of permits in the FBiH has increased to 150. As for the information and communication activities, the number of permits has increased from the proposed 10 in the FBiH to 110.

In recent years, the PFBiH has been continuously warning about the lack of manpower, especially in the production and service sectors, and has repeatedly insisted on increasing the quotas for issuing work permits to foreigners in BiH. According to data UPFBiH currently lacks about 30,000 workers on the labor market in BiH, especially in production activities such as construction, wood and chemical industry, etc., reports Businessinfo.ba.