Information regarding the conditions of entry into the Republic of Croatia

LAST UPDATE: April 11, 2022

For a full and updated version of these guidelines, please check the official page of the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs, at the following link: https://mup.gov.hr/uzg-covid/english/286212 

Za verziju teksta na hrvatskom jeziku, molimo posjetite službenu stranicu MUP-a na linku https://mup.gov.hr/uzg-covid/hrvatski/286211

Passengers travelling to the Republic of Croatia from an EU/EEA member state

Passengers coming directly from the countries and/or regions of the European Union, i.e. countries and/or regions of the Schengen area and Schengen associated countries, regardless of their citizenship, will be allowed entry into the Republic of Croatia without the need to present an EU Digital COVID Certificate or any other epidemiological certificate (test finding, vaccination certificate, etc.) and without determining self-isolation.

These passengers do not need to submit a travel announcement via the Enter Croatia website.

Citizens of EU/EEA member states as well as members of their families traveling to the Republic of Croatia from third countries, i.e. those that are not members of the EU/EEA

Citizens of EU Member States (including Croatian citizens), i.e. Schengen Member States and Schengen associated countries, as well as members of their families and third-country nationals who are long-term residents under Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents and persons entitled to reside under other EU directives or national law or who have national long-term visas and are coming from third countries, must present a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate when entering the Republic of Croatia.

Exceptionally, the abovementioned category of passengers who do not yet possess an EU Digital COVID Certificate will be allowed entry into the Republic of Croatia if they have the following:

• negative PCR test result or rapid antigen test result – RAT for SARS-CoV-2, where the RAT test must be listed in the Common list of rapid antigen tests recognized by the Member States of the European Union, published by the European Commission. If the RAT test results were made abroad, the manufacturer and/or the commercial name of the test must be visible. Otherwise, it will not be accepted as credible for entering the Republic of Croatia.  The PCR test result must not be older than 72 hours and the RAT test result must not be older than 24 hours, counting from the time the test was taken until the arrival at the border crossing point;
• certificate that they have received two doses of vaccine used in the EU Member States (Pfizer, Moderna, AstaZeneca, Gamaleya, Sinopharm, Novavax) or vaccines approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use (Serum Institute of India – Covishield, Bharat Biotech – Covaxin, Sinovac – CoronaVac) not older than 270 days, provided that 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose of the vaccine, or a certificate that they have received one dose of the vaccine if the vaccine is administered in a single dose (Janssen/Johnson&Johnson) not older than 270 days, provided that 14 days have passed since they received the single dose, or a certificate that they have received the booster dose of the vaccine;
• certificate showing that they have recovered from COVID-19 and have received one dose of vaccine used in EU Member States (Pfizer, Moderna, AstaZeneca, Gamaleya, Sinopharm, Novavax, Janssen/Johnson&Johnson) or a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use (Serum Institute of India – Covishield, Bharat Biotech – Covaxin, Sinovac – CoronaVac), provided that 14 days have passed since they received the single dose within eight months from contracting the disease, provided that the vaccine was administered less than 270 days from their arrival at the border crossing point;
• positive PCR test result or rapid antigen test result, confirming that the holder recovered from the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, which was performed in the previous 180 days and which is older than 11 days from the date of arrival at the border crossing point, or  a medical certificate of recovery;
• or if they perform PCR testing or rapid antigen testing – RAT for SARS-CoV-2 immediately upon their arrival in the Republic of Croatia (at their own expense), with the obligation to stay in self-isolation until they obtain a negative test result. In case they cannot get tested, they have to self-isolate for seven (7) days.

The following categories are exempt from possessing a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate or from the abovementioned obligations:

• healthcare workers, health researchers and caregivers for the elderly;
• frontier workers;
• workers in the transport sector;
• diplomats, staff of international organizations and persons invited by international organizations and whose physical presence is necessary for the functioning of those organizations, military personnel and police officers, as well as humanitarian and civil protection personnel in the performance of their duties;
• passengers in transit, with the obligation to leave the Republic of Croatia within 12 hours from entering;
• persons travelling for study purposes;
• passengers travelling for personal/family or business reasons or some other economic reason and do not stay in or out of Croatia longer than 12 hours.

Persons who represent one of the previously mentioned exceptions are obliged to present credible documentation upon entering the Republic of Croatia in order to prove the reasons for exemption from having one of the above-mentioned tests/having to self-isolate.

Third-country nationals

Third-country nationals who are not family members of citizens of Schengen Member States and Schengen Associated States nor are long-term residents under Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents and persons entitled to reside under other EU directives or national law or who have national long-term visas, apart from persons referred to in point 2 of this Decision coming from third countries, upon entering the Republic of Croatia, must present a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Exceptionally, the abovementioned category of passengers who do not yet possess an EU Digital COVID Certificate will be allowed entry into the Republic of Croatia if they have the following:

• negative PCR test result or rapid antigen test result – RAT for SARS-CoV-2, where the RAT test must be listed in the Common list of rapid antigen tests recognized by the Member States of the European Union, published by the European Commission. If the RAT test results were made abroad, the manufacturer and/or the commercial name of the test must be visible. Otherwise, it will not be accepted as credible for entering the Republic of Croatia.  The PCR test result must not be older than 72 hours and the RAT test result must not be older than 24 hours, counting from the time the test was taken until the arrival at the border crossing point;
• certificate that they have received two doses of vaccine used in the EU Member States (Pfizer, Moderna, AstaZeneca, Gamaleya, Sinopharm, Novavax) or vaccines approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use (Serum Institute of India – Covishield, Bharat Biotech – Covaxin, Sinovac – CoronaVac) not older than 270 days, provided that 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose of the vaccine, or a certificate that they have received one dose of the vaccine if the vaccine is administered in a single dose (Janssen/Johnson&Johnson) not older than 270 days, provided that 14 days have passed since they received the single dose, or a certificate that they have received the booster dose of the vaccine;
• certificate showing that they have recovered from COVID-19 and have received one dose of vaccine used in EU Member States (Pfizer, Moderna, AstaZeneca, Gamaleya, Sinopharm, Novavax, Janssen/Johnson&Johnson) or a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use (Serum Institute of India – Covishield, Bharat Biotech – Covaxin, Sinovac – CoronaVac), provided that 14 days have passed since they received the single dose within eight months from contracting the disease, provided that the vaccine was administered less than 270 days from their arrival at the border crossing point;
• positive PCR test result or rapid antigen test result, confirming that the holder recovered from the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, which was performed in the previous 180 days and which is older than 11 days from the date of arrival at the border crossing point, or  a medical certificate of recovery;
• or if they perform PCR testing or rapid antigen testing – RAT for SARS-CoV-2 immediately upon their arrival in the Republic of Croatia (at their own expense), with the obligation to stay in self-isolation until they obtain a negative test result. In case they cannot get tested, they have to self-isolate for seven (7) days.

Exceptions to the above-mentioned necessary travel are the following categories:

1.  healthcare workers, health researchers and caregivers for the elderly;

2. frontier workers;

3. workers in the transport sector;

4. diplomats, staff of international organizations and persons invited by international organizations and whose physical presence is necessary for the functioning of those organizations, military personnel and police officers, as well as humanitarian and civil protection personnel in the performance of their duties;

5. passengers in transit, with the obligation to leave the Republic of Croatia within 12 hours from entering;

6. persons travelling for study purposes;

Passengers who represent one of the previously mentioned exceptions are obliged to present credible documentation upon entering the Republic of Croatia in order to prove the reasons for the exemption of having one of the stated test results/having to self-isolate.

Persons travelling to the Republic of Croatia for humanitarian reasons related to providing assistance to the areas affected by the earthquake

Persons travelling to the Republic of Croatia for humanitarian reasons related to providing assistance to the areas affected by the earthquake (Sisak-Moslavina County, Karlovac County and Zagreb County) are allowed to enter the Republic of Croatia based on the prior approval of the Civil Protection Headquarters of the Republic of Croatia and they do not have to meet the epidemiological requirements.

Persons traveling to the Republic of Croatia for humanitarian reasons related to the war in Ukraine

Persons coming to the Republic of Croatia for humanitarian reasons related to the war in Ukraine (displacement/leaving Ukraine) are allowed to enter the Republic of Croatia without the need to present an EU Digital COVID Certificate or any other epidemiological certificate (test result, vaccination certificate, etc.) and without determining self-isolation.

General note

When entering the Republic of Croatia, a traveler who does not come directly from the countries and/or regions of the European Union or the countries and/or regions of the Schengen area, must present the EU digital COVID certificate or other epidemiological certificate (test report, vaccination certificate, illness, etc., as explained above).

EU Digital COVID Certificates are certificates issued in line with Regulation (EU) 2021/953 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2021 on a framework for the issuance, verification and acceptance of interoperable COVID-19 vaccination, test and recovery certificates (EU Digital COVID Certificate) to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If the passenger’s validity of the PCR test of 72 hours from sampling expired during border checks when entering the Republic of Croatia or they do not have the PCR test result at all, or if the validity of their rapid antigen test result – RAT for SARS-CoV-2 of 24 hours from sampling expired or they do not have it at all and they meet other conditions of entry, they will be allowed to enter the Republic of Croatia, provided that they immediately get a PCR or RAT test in the Republic of Croatia at their own expense, with the obligation to stay in self-isolation until they receive a negative test result. If the person is unable to get one of the above-mentioned tests, the total duration of self-isolation is 7 days.

Lifting the measure of self-isolation (assigned at a border crossing point), upon receiving a negative PCR or rapid antigen test result – RAT:

In such cases, passengers will be handed a leaflet at the border crossing point with instructions on how to proceed when they receive a negative result of a molecular PCR or a rapid antigen test – RAT (serological tests will NOT be recognized).

The leaflet will contain the e-mail address of the border crossing point where the passenger was assigned a measure of self-isolation, and to which they will send a negative result of one of the previously mentioned tests, obtained by the health institution where the test was performed, in order to remove (delete) the assigned measure.

These persons are required to be tested in the place of residence, i.e. domicile, where they are provided with conditions for self-isolation and wait for a negative PCR or rapid antigen test – BAT result there.

Persons who have recovered from COVID-19 in the last 180 days are exempt from the obligatory testing and self-isolation.

To prove that they have recovered from COVID-19, passengers should have a positive PCR or rapid antigen test – RAT result that is older than 11 days but not older than 180 days from the time of sampling or confirmation that they have recovered from COVID-19 issued by a physician.

If a person has recovered from COVID-19 and has an EU Digital COVID Certificate or other certificate of recovery (doctor’s certificate of recovery or a positive PCR test result or rapid antigen test result – RAT test result) and has received at least one dose of vaccine within eight months from the recovery, the exemption from the obligation to show a negative PCR or rapid antigen test result or to self-isolate is extended until the expiry of 270 day period from the vaccination.

Children under twelve years of age travelling accompanied by a parent/guardian are exempt from the obligation to present a negative test result and to self-isolate if the parents/guardians have a valid EU Digital COVID Certificate or a negative PCR or rapid antigen test result – RAT test result or if they have a certificate of vaccination against COVID-19 or proof of having recovered from COVID-19.

Persons who have a negative PCR test or rapid antigen test – RAT made in the Republic of Croatia due to a short trip to our neighbouring or another country and who return to the Republic of Croatia within less than 24 or 72 hours from the date of testing will not be required to present a new PCR (validity of 72 hours) or a rapid antigen test result – RAT (validity of 24 hours) from the country where they stayed for a short time and will be allowed to enter upon presentation of a test made in the Republic of Croatia.

When staying in the Republic of Croatia, all passengers, regardless of their category and country of origin, are obliged to follow the general and special instructions and recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

In order to shorten the procedure at the border crossing point, we advise all foreign passengers travelling from one of the third countries, regardless of their citizenship, to fill the announcement in advance at Enter Croatia.