Croatia relaxes measures at the border for EU citizens to enter 

(Photo credit: Woluhar/CC license)

ZAGREB, 2 June 2021 – The Civil Protection Headquarters of Croatia has made a decision on Wednesday easing entry measures at the border for citizens of European Union countries and Schengen member states. 

With the new decision, EU citizens and citizens from Schengen member states will be able to enter Croatia with one vaccine shot if the dose was received more than 22 days ago, the Croatian Tourist Board confirmed. Prior to today’s decision, a vaccination certificate showing final dose taken more than 14 days ago was required. 

Tourists are asked to fulfil and evidence one of the following criteria to be allowed access to Croatia.

Rules for coming to Croatia – EU / EEA member states / regions

1. A negative PCR or antigen test taken 48 hours before arrival at the border.

2. A vaccination certificate showing at least one vaccine shot was received 22 days prior to entry.

3. Proof of recovery from COVID-19 more than 11 days and less than 180 days ago.

4. Certificate declaring: 10 days self- isolation in Croatia with option to test to release.

Visiting from outside the EU

As well as the above, visitors from outside the EU will also need to show evidence that you own property in Croatia or have paid for accommodation, be that in a hotel, camp site, private rental, boat or other tourism provider.

Exceptions

Third-country nationals not covered by the above-mentioned points may enter the Republic of Croatia from third countries if they are:

Healthcare workers, health researchers and caregivers for the elderly;

Frontier workers (as well as e.g. athletes as stated in the exceptions for passengers within the EU / EEA);

Workers in the transport sector;

Diplomats, staff of international organizations and persons invited by international organizations whose physical presence is necessary for the good 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;

Persons travelling for schooling purposes

Seafarers

Persons who travel for tourist reasons and have confirmation of paid accommodation in a hotel, camp, private renter or rented vessel and other form of tourist accommodation or are owners of houses or vessels in the Republic of Croatia;

Persons travelling for urgent personal / family reasons, business reasons or other economic interest

Persons who have applied for residence and work, including digital nomads, provided that the competent authority has received a positive decision on the basis of their application.

Important notes

All tests taken and used as supporting evidence of a positive or negative result must be recognised by European Union.

All children under the age of 7 are exempt from providing test results should their parent or guardian fulfil the requirements.

Tourists are arriving 

According to data from Croatia’s eVisitor system, tourist traffic from the European Union and Schengen member states accounted for about 80 percent of foreign arrivals in pre-pandemic times, while last year it reached as much as 90 percent.

During the last ten days, tourist traffic has been continuously growing, and, for the first time, over 100,000 tourists in one day was exceeded, with the most numerous guests in Croatia currently being from Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovenia.

More than 1 million arrivals and 3.9 million overnight stays were recorded in Croatia between 1 January – 31 May. This is growth of 42 percent in arrivals and 38 percent in overnight stays compared to the same period last year.

Looking at May alone, there were 451,000 arrivals and 1.9 million overnight stays in that month, which is an increase of 412 percent in arrivals and 256 percent in overnight stays compared to May last year. At the same time, foreign guests made more than 312,000 arrivals and more than 1.5 million overnight stays.

COVID situation

432 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Croatia in the last 24 hours. As of Wednesday, there are 1,991 active cases of COVID-19 in the country.

709 people are still hospitalised, with 81 patients on a ventilator.

More details on entering Croatia can be found on the tourist board website – https://www.safestayincroatia.hr/datastore/filestore/11/COVID-info-eng.pdf