Departure from BiH: More work permits for Slovenia, fewer for Germany

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – From the beginning of the year until the end of April, 5,265 work permits were issued to BiH citizens for Slovenia, confirmed Boris Pupić from the Employment and Labour Agency of BiH for the Patria agency.

Pupić points out that the number of issued work permits for Slovenia has increased compared to last year. In 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina lost nearly 14,000 workers of various profiles to employment in Slovenia. The majority going to Slovenia are welders, drivers, bricklayers, locksmiths, and other workers in the construction sector. BiH and Slovenia have an intergovernmental agreement on employment for all professions. Large queues are forming in front of the Slovenian Embassy on days when applications are submitted, and the number of women in these queues is also increasing.

The number of work permits issued for Germany has decreased compared to 2018 due to slower procedures at the German Embassy. Since the beginning of the year, 271 work permits have been issued for healthcare workers. In 2018, 1,000 healthcare workers went to Germany through the Agency.

At the end of March 2019, the Employment and Labour Agency of BiH informed candidates applying for healthcare worker positions in the Federal Republic of Germany that there have been changes in the procedures and requirements that candidates must meet in the employment process from the German side. Since February, the Federal Republic of Germany no longer accepts diplomas for general and pediatric nursing obtained through retraining, whether from state or private schools, nor is it possible to establish employment as a healthcare worker with diplomas obtained through retraining.

Candidates are advised to submit, along with their application and appropriate diploma, certificates for all completed years of secondary school, translated into German.
Also, all candidates submitting their applications to the Employment and Labour Agency of BiH must have a certificate of German language proficiency in accordance with the requirements of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in BiH.

At the end of April, there were 413,826 people registered with employment bureaus and services in BiH, while the number of employed persons at the end of March was 822,275.