In the period from 1996 to the end of 2025, a total of 102.318 people renounced the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, a downward trend in renunciations of BiH citizenship has been recorded from 2022 through the end of 2025.
The largest increase in renunciations of citizenship of our country was recorded in 2003, when the number reached almost 10.000 in just one year.
From 2008 to 2015, a period of stagnation was recorded, during which an average of 3.500 people per year renounced citizenship. The period from 2016 to 2019 then brought a slight increase, when more than 4.000 people renounced BiH citizenship.
A year-by-year overview can be seen below: Year 1996 – 6; Year 1997 – 6; Year 1998 – 13; Year 1999 – 19; Year 2000 – 63; Year 2001 – 2.608; Year 2002 – 8.346; Year 2003 – 9.128; Year 2004 – 7.057; Year 2005 – 5.698; Year 2006 – 4.739; Year 2007 – 4.684; Year 2008 – 3.509; Year 2009 – 3.316; Year 2010 – 3.606; Year 2011 – 3.394; Year 2012 – 3.514; Year 2013 – 3.538; Year 2014 – 3.519; Year 2015 – 3.591; Year 2016 – 4.441; Year 2017 – 4.503; Year 2018 – 4.493; Year 2019 – 4.159; Year 2020 – 3.168; Year 2021 – 3.110; Year 2022 – 2.622; Year 2023 – 2.219; Year 2024 – 1.669; Year 2025 – 1.580.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH said that these cases most often involve renunciation for the purpose of acquiring citizenship of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Austria.
“In the procedure of renouncing BiH citizenship, applicants are not required to state reasons other than the fact that they already possess, or are guaranteed to acquire, the citizenship of another country. In informal conversations, they most often cite resolving employment and legal status, the right to own real estate, easier travel, and easier studying abroad as reasons,” the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.
BiH has signed agreements on dual citizenship with Serbia, Croatia, and Sweden, and citizens who acquire citizenship of those countries may retain BiH citizenship.
It is important to note that Germany changed its law in 2024, which, until then, required renunciation of citizenship of the country of origin (non-EU) as a condition for acquiring German citizenship. The new law allows the acquisition of German citizenship without the obligation to renounce one’s original citizenship.
However, there is still a problem affecting citizens who acquired German citizenship before June 2024 and who therefore renounced their citizenship, because our law does not allow them to regain BiH citizenship unless they renounce German citizenship.
The Ambassador of BiH to Germany, Damir Arnaut, stated that immediately upon assuming office, and even before the adoption of amendments to the German law, he instructed that everyone who requests renunciation be advised to wait for the amendments.
The embassy and consulates almost no longer receive requests for renunciation of BiH citizenship.
“There remains, however, the problem of over 100.000 of our people who in earlier years renounced BiH citizenship in order to acquire German citizenship. Our law allows them to return BiH citizenship only on the condition that they renounce German citizenship, which, realistically, no one will do. It is in the economic and every other interest of BiH to remove this illogical provision from its law. Our diaspora in Germany has a unique position on this issue, regardless of national, regional, or any affiliation,” Arnaut says.
When it comes to persons who have acquired the right to BiH citizenship, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH explained to us that it keeps records of persons who acquire this right based on Article 13 of the Law on BiH Citizenship.
Article 13
(1) The following persons have the right to acquire BiH citizenship on the basis of an application, without fulfilling the conditions from Article 9, paragraph (1), points b) and f):
a) emigrants who returned to BiH,
b) first- and second-generation descendants of the persons referred to in paragraph (1) who returned to BiH.
(2) The spouse of the person referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article has the right to acquire BiH citizenship on the basis of an application, without fulfilling the requirements from Article 9, paragraph (1), point b), if he or she fulfills the conditions from Article 10, points a) and b).
From January 1st, 2025, to December 31st, 2025, pursuant to Article 13, 15 persons acquired BiH citizenship.
In 2025, three people from Russia, three from Turkey, two from Montenegro, two from Croatia, and one person each from the United States (U.S.), Egypt, Austria, Armenia, and Luxembourg were granted the citizenship of BiH, Klix.ba writes.
