GuidesBosnia and Herzegovina
eStranac, CISU and tourist tax in Bosnia and Herzegovina: a host's guide (2026)
Which of the three registration layers applies to you, how fast foreign guests must be reported, and what the tourist tax (boravišna taksa) costs in Republika Srpska and Sarajevo Canton — from the laws and the official portals.
Updated September 22, 2026
In short
- Every foreign guest, children included, is reported to eStranac, the national system of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, no later than 12 hours after you provide the accommodation.
- On top of that, each entity has its own layer: in Republika Srpska every accommodation business enters its guests, domestic and foreign, in CISU (Central Information System in Hospitality); in the Federation it goes canton by canton, with Prijava.ba in Sarajevo Canton.
- The tourist tax (boravišna taksa) also differs by entity: in Republika Srpska 1.5 to 3 KM (convertible marks) per person per night, 3 to 4 KM in tourist places, set by each municipality; in the Federation each canton sets its own.
Guest registration: eStranac, CISU and Prijava.ba
Who must register
eStranac: every company or private person who provides accommodation to foreign nationals reports every foreign guest; the law text gives no exemption for children. CISU: every accommodation business in Republika Srpska, apartments and holiday homes included, must register there, and it records domestic and foreign guests alike. Which guests Prijava.ba covers in Sarajevo Canton is not stated in the official sources we read — ask the Sarajevo Canton Tourist Board.
Deadline
eStranac: no later than 12 hours after providing the accommodation (Article 103(1), Law on Foreigners). Each eStranac record also has a check-out action (odjava), but we found no official check-out deadline. The deadlines for CISU and Prijava.ba are not given in the sources we could read: confirm them with the RS Ministry of Trade and Tourism or the Sarajevo Canton Tourist Board.
Where
eStranac (estranac.ba): an officer at the field office of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs (Služba za poslove sa strancima, SPS) that covers your property activates your account, and you can then add staff. CISU: register free at eturizam.vladars.rs, open since 1 January 2026. Prijava.ba: the Sarajevo Canton Tourist Board gives each host a username and password.
What you enter
eStranac asks for the foreign guest's basic personal data and the details of the travel document used to enter the country; the form Dodaj stranog državljanina ('Add a foreign national') can be filled from the passport with an MRZ reader or the eStranac Android app. The fields for CISU and Prijava.ba are not published in the sources we read — the form in each system has the current list.
Software
eStranac imports guests from XML and CSV files made by other guest-registration systems (Unos stranih državljana iz datoteke, 'entering foreign nationals from a file'); no public API is described. Prijava.ba mentions an API module for hotel reception systems, on request at info@prijava.ba, with no public specification, and for CISU we found no official API documentation. The paid app at app.prijava.ba is sold by a private company and is not an official channel.
Fines
Not reporting a foreign guest, or reporting late (Law on Foreigners, Article 134): 200–800 KM for an individual accommodation provider, 500–2,500 KM for a company plus 200–800 KM for its responsible person, and 100–500 KM for the guest. In Republika Srpska, not entering data in CISU costs a company 1,500 KM, its responsible person 700 KM and a sole trader (preduzetnik) 1,000 KM, and inspectors announced stepped-up checks from April 2026. Fines in the Federation cantons are not confirmed.
Tourist tax (boravišna taksa)
- What it is
- The tax on guests' overnight stays, with no single national version: Republika Srpska has its own Law on Tourist Tax (Zakon o boravišnoj taksi), while in the Federation of BiH each canton sets it. A draft federal Law on Tourist Tax was put out for comment in April 2025; its adoption is not confirmed.
- Who sets the amount
- In Republika Srpska each municipality or city sets its rate within the ranges of the entity law, after getting the opinion of the RS Chamber of Commerce. In Sarajevo Canton the cantonal government sets it each year by decision. For the other cantons, confirm the rules with your canton.
- Amounts
- Republika Srpska, per person per night since 1 January 2025: 1.5 to 3 KM, and 3 to 4 KM in places declared tourist places; your municipality sets the exact rate, and we could not confirm any 2026 town rates. Sarajevo Canton's decision for 2024 set the tax at 2.00 KM (the text does not say 'per night' outright) and a flat 50.00 KM a year for each bed and accommodation unit for private persons renting in a household or rural household. The 2025 and 2026 Sarajevo amounts, and those of the other cantons, are not confirmed — ask your canton.
- Who pays less
- In Republika Srpska children up to 12 pay nothing, and 12- to 18-year-olds and guests staying more than 30 days in a row pay half. People with a disability of 70% or more and one companion, organised school groups, students staying where they study and patients sent for spa treatment or rehabilitation by a medical commission are exempt; the guest must show proof, such as a passport or school certificate. Exemptions in Sarajevo Canton and the other cantons are not confirmed.
- How it is paid
- In Republika Srpska you collect the tax with the price of the stay and show it separately on the invoice; if you don't collect it, you pay it yourself. Registered providers report to the RS Tax Administration by the 15th for the previous month and pay within 5 days after the month ends; a private person renting through a contract with a tourist organisation or agency reports nights and tax to it by the 15th, or risks a fine of 200–1,000 KM. In Sarajevo Canton the tax goes to the canton's deposit account for its tourist board; the payment deadline is not confirmed.
For every guest
- Before arrival, collect each guest's personal details and travel document — an online check-in does this for you.
- Within 12 hours, report every foreign guest in eStranac.
- In Republika Srpska, also enter every guest in CISU; in Sarajevo Canton, register guests in Prijava.ba.
- In Republika Srpska, by the 15th of each month, report last month's nights and tourist tax.
Every guest's details in one place, before arrival
Staywick's online check-in collects every guest's details — with a passport scan — before they arrive, keeps the register per unit and exports it; filing straight from the app is on the way. The tourist tax is worked out for each stay from every guest's age.
Questions
Do I have to register guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina too?
Not in eStranac, which is for foreign guests only. In Republika Srpska, yes: CISU records domestic and foreign guests alike. For Prijava.ba in Sarajevo Canton, confirm with the Sarajevo Canton Tourist Board.
I rent as a private person — do I get 48 hours to report a foreign guest?
No. The 48-hour rule in Article 103(3) of the Law on Foreigners is for people hosting a foreigner privately, not commercially, for more than three days. If you provide accommodation to guests, the 12-hour deadline of Article 103(1) applies.
Do I still need a paper guest book?
Not since 1 August 2026, as long as you keep your records electronically in eStranac (Articles 93 and 94 of the Rulebook on Entry and Stay of Foreigners).
Can I still pay a flat amount per bed instead of per night?
Not in Republika Srpska: the yearly flat amount per bed for holiday homes, apartments and rooms was abolished from 1 January 2025, and you now pay per night sold. Sarajevo Canton's 2024 decision had a flat 50.00 KM a year per bed for household renters; confirm with the canton whether it still applies in 2026.
Official sources
- estranac.ba/Home/Law
- estranac.ba/Content/e-stranac-korisnicko-uputstvo-za-koristenje-sistema-v1.0.pdf
- inspektorat.vladars.rs/index.php/sr/2026/04/24/pojacane-kontrole-ugostitelja
- poreskaupravars.org/zakon-o-izmjenama-i-dopunama-zakona-o-boravisnoj-taksi
- mp.ks.gov.ba/propis/odluka-o-visini-boravisne-takse-na-podrucju-kantona-sarajevo-za-2024-godinu
- prijava.ba
Checked against the Law on Foreigners (Službeni glasnik BiH 88/15) as quoted on estranac.ba, the eStranac user manual, the RS Inspectorate's notice of 24 April 2026, the RS Law on Tourist Tax as amended in 2024 and Sarajevo Canton's tourist tax decision for 2024 on 22 September 2026. Rates are set by each RS municipality and each canton and can change every year, a draft new RS Law on Hospitality went to public hearing in May 2026, and a federal tourist tax law drafted in 2025 is not confirmed as adopted — confirm with your municipality, canton or SPS field office. This guide is not legal advice.
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