The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton has introduced the eDocuments – CIPS service, through which citizens of Sarajevo Canton can now obtain so-called CIPS certificates (electronically signed PBA3 form/Residence Notice) electronically. The basic requirement for using this service is to have a valid electronic signature deposited with the IDDEEA Agency, as well as residence in Sarajevo Canton.
Minister of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Admir Katica, stated that he hopes this day will be remembered as the beginning of the end of issuing CIPS certificates at MUP counters, the end of queues, and the start of a new modern era of digital public administration in Sarajevo Canton.
“From today, every BiH citizen residing in Sarajevo Canton can submit an electronic request via mobile phone or computer and receive the electronically signed PBA3 form, so-called CIPS, by email,” said the minister. “MUP Sarajevo Canton has provided all technical conditions for citizens to access this service electronically. There are no legal obstacles for companies, institutions, or authorities to accept electronically signed forms. I publicly call on them to adapt their operations and accept electronic certificates, which are valid only in electronic form because once printed they lose validity,” the minister explained.
In the past three years, MUP Sarajevo Canton has introduced digital services such as E-grunt, E-pisarnica, and now E-CIPS. In these processes, the involvement of other public administration bodies is crucial. To facilitate the deposit of electronic signatures, local communities have also been involved. Ilidža Municipality was the first to open a Registration Office, and today Novo Sarajevo Municipality has followed.
Director of the Agency for Identification Documents, Records, and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Almir Badnjević, emphasized that the development of the web service enabling electronic issuance of CIPS certificates has been offered to all ministries of internal affairs in BiH, with MUP Sarajevo Canton being the first to complete the process.
“This is one of the most comprehensive digital services in BiH, as a citizen with a qualified electronic signature can access the MUP Sarajevo Canton website, digitally identify themselves, submit a request automatically populated with data from the Agency’s registers, and the request is then processed by an MUP officer and sent to the citizen’s email,” said Badnjević.
“I appeal to banks, telecoms, and other institutions not to require citizens to submit physical documents but to accept them electronically. Let this serve as an example for other ministries of internal affairs in BiH,” added Badnjević.
The presentation of the eDocuments – CIPS service was conducted by the Head of the IT Sector at MUP Sarajevo Canton, Kerim Šetić, who worked on the development of this service. The entire process takes just a few minutes, starting from the website www.mup.ks.gov.ba and the eDocuments-CIPS link. User instructions are available аt https://edokumenti-mup.ks.gov.ba/files/Korisnickouputstvo.pdf .
It was emphasized that this is still a testing phase, and MUP Sarajevo Canton and IDDEEA will address any potential issues. By launching the eDocuments – CIPS service, Sarajevo Canton makes another step toward modernizing public services, improving administration efficiency, and providing better services for citizens. Minister Katica announced plans to continue developing electronic issuance of ID cards, driver’s licenses, passports, and certificates of no criminal record in the coming year.