April 7, 2023 - Huge crowds have been forming in front of the Zagreb Police Department in Remetinac for days. There are long lines of foreign workers who need to register their residence or obtain documents, without which they cannot start working in Croatia.

In March, the Service for Citizenship and Status Issues of Foreigners was moved to the Novi Zagreb police station. Hundreds of foreign citizens arrive early every morning and wait in line to sort out the paperwork, writes Index.

Now the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) has made an announcement regarding the issue, stating that it will introduce a special regime due to the crowds.

We are publishing the press release in its entirety.

The MUP is introducing appointment booking and the eRedomat service

"The building of the Zagreb Police Department at Petrinjska 30, after the earthquake in Zagreb on March 22, 2020, suffered significant structural damage. Therefore, based on legislative regulations, a decision was made on the complete renovation of the said building, located in the historic urban center of the City of Zagreb. Considering that this particular case is a complete renovation of the building, this implies that before the work starts, the building in question be freed from all persons and things and that the performance of work, not only work related to foreigners but also the work of registering and issuing documents to Croatian citizens, is moved to other business premises.

In this sense, activities related to the movement, stay, and work of foreigners and issuing biometric ID cards were moved to the address Remetinečki gaj 13 in mid-March of this year. Considering the aggravating circumstances that accompany every relocation, and especially the entire business process, believing in the understanding of our citizens, the problem that appears is a consequence of objective circumstances that we cannot always influence. The Zagreb police department is making efforts in terms of an internal reorganization of work and taking various measures to be more efficient, given that it is impossible to predict the number of parties who contact each day to solve their requests, which unfortunately is not always feasible.

Also, in the affairs of foreigners, officers work with the parties from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and in addition to the stated objective circumstances, according to the available data, all citizens who apply regarding the receipt and delivery of a request for a biometric residence permit card, which requires the foreigner's personal presence and a certain duration of the business process itself (e.g., verification of personal data, taking fingerprints, etc.), will be processed on the same day. We emphasize that the listed tasks are only one part of the tasks that are processed daily, since certain business processes and certain requests are also handled electronically. Considering the complexity of the business processes and administrative actions that are carried out, the competent Service processes a large number of requests daily; for example, on April 5, 2023, 154 requests for foreigner's identity cards were received, 117 created identity cards were delivered, and 110 residence permits were issued.

At the same time, the fact remains that the influx of parties at a certain moment plays a significant role in our work. Most of the parties come in the early morning hours, at the beginning of working hours; however, as the cases are resolved, the waiting time becomes acceptable considering all the actions that must be carried out for each party individually, as shown by the photos, which show that it has already been a couple of hours since the beginning of the work of administrative affairs, the waiting time is significantly less.

We are aware that despite the large number of requests that are continuously processed, there are sometimes larger crowds since it is not possible to influence the number of citizens who have decided at a certain moment (even in relation to the scheduled or changed working hours) or to come to file on a certain day a request to resolve status issues. In this sense, in the coming period, i.e., after relocation, the Zagreb Police Department will listen to the needs of citizens to be, despite objective reasons (primarily the number of employees and the number of citizens who contact us), maximally accessible and efficient.

In addition to the objective difficulties of adapting to the new circumstances, in the following days, the service of booking appointments for receiving and collecting foreigner's identity cards and the eRedomat service will be made available, and the working hours will certainly be adjusted depending on the need," stated the MUP press release.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

ZAGREB, 13 March 2022 - The Ministry of the Interior has upgraded the Enter Croatia application to include the Ukrainian language and alphabet, improving the organisation of the reception of Ukrainian refugees and facilitate their arrival in Croatia.

"This is yet another measure with which the Ministry of the Interior, acting in cooperation with other state authorities, is expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine and assisting in providing refuge to Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion", Minister Davor Božinović told Hina on Sunday.

"The application has proved very useful during the tourist season and the arrival of many foreign tourists, given that the collection of personal details during border checks took quite a lot of time," he added.

The aim of the latest upgrade of the Enter Croatia application is to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees who have passports and intend to stay in Croatia to provide in advance their personal details, address and contact number to facilitate their entry into Croatia. Persons without a passport will have to provide this information at the border crossing.

The Ministry of the Interior is in close contact with the Croatian Ambassador to Ukraine, Anica Djamić, and is doing all in its power to help displaced Ukrainians on their arrival in Croatia, Božinović said.

The Enter Croatia application is aimed at reducing the waiting time at border crossing points. It was developed by the Ministry of the Interior as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus and has been in use since 28 May 2020. Over 12.5 million arrivals have been announced via this app since its introduction.

According to information from Sunday morning, 5,609 Ukrainian refugees are currently staying in Croatia and 88 per cent of them are women and children.

For more on Croatia's response to the Russia-Ukraine war, visit TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 25 Oct 2021 - The national coronavirus response team on Monday discussed the COVID-19 situation in Croatia and the possibility of stepping up checks of the anti-epidemic measures in force, such as wearing face masks inside public spaces, the team's head, Davor Božinović, told a press conference.

Božinović recalled that they had anticipated a rise in the number of new cases in the autumn and addressed the problem by combining recommendations on compliance with the basic anti-epidemic measures with calls for vaccination. "Apart from these measures, there are no special activities that can be used in this situation," he added.

Since nearly a quarter of new cases come from schools, Božinović said that they would look into the possibility of face-to-face classes being suspended for two days in the week around All Saints' Day, 1 November. He said they also discussed the promotion of a booster dose for people whose level of antibodies is decreasing.

"As for the existing measures, notably wearing face masks, checks should indeed be stepped up because this obligation is taken too lightly," Božinović said, adding that the possibility of bringing COVID certificates into wider use is not being considered for now.

He stressed that there are enough vaccines against COVID-19 and that vaccination can prevent more serious forms of the disease. "A combination of the anti-epidemic measures and vaccination can get us out of the crisis," Božinović said.

For more on politics, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 11 Oct 2021 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović on Monday said that he did not have any new information related to videos of police violence against migrants and that it is necessary to wait for the results of the investigation.

"We'll wait and see what the results of the investigation show. Everything that will happen as part of the relevant procedures will be in line with what the police chief said on Friday," Božinović told reporters.

Protecting the borders in line with the law

Asked about responsibility in the chain of command, Božinović underscored that the orders are to protect the state borders in line with the law.

"There cannot be any order that is not in line with the law. As soon as I receive the report from the police directorate, I will forward it to the prime minister, even though we have already discussed all this," said Božinović.

He said that police officers, particularly those assigned to border control, doing one of the most difficult jobs.

He added that there were cases when the police themselves identified cases of police officers overstepping their powers or unlawful conduct.

He said that disciplinary procedures had been underway from before against eight police officers and that 22 cases had been documented and submitted to the State Attorney's Office (DORH).

"When someone individually breaches or oversteps their authority anywhere, there are services in the police directorate and internal controls to conduct investigations and decide on the penalties," he said.

Commenting on an anonymous letter by a police officer who claimed two years ago that an order existed for violent pushbacks, Božinović reiterated that anything that was reported was always investigated. DORH rejected 13 of the 22 cases for lack of evidence, he said.

The anonymous police officer's letter refers to a specific case, with a specific location and date, which previously was not the case, said Božinović and added that a prompt reaction followed the anonymous letter and that the matter was still being investigated.

Božinović also commented on a recent drug incident in the Croatian Army, underscoring that police offices were exceptionally active regarding the fight against drug smuggling.

"The cocaine market is expanding into the general population, which is concerning. We will meet with the anti-drug commission in the next few days. In 2020, 60 kilograms of cocaine were confiscated whereas in the first eight months of this year more than 667 kilograms were seized," he said.

For more on politics, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 20 Sept 2021 - Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said on Monday the national COVID-19 response team was not considering either tightening or relaxing epidemiological restrictions, such as the reopening of nightclubs, and that the protest against those restrictions held on Saturday was unjustified.

"At the moment we are not planning any tightening of the restrictions or their further liberalization," Božinović, who heads the COVID-19 response team, told reporters in Šibenik when asked if the reopening of nightclubs was being considered, as demanded by bar owners on Sunday.

He noted that it was not necessary to explain in great detail why nightclubs would not be allowed to reopen even if complying with anti-epidemic rules, including COVID-19 certificates.

"After 18 months of the pandemic, everyone will tell you that indoor areas are the main problem if they are not aired sufficiently and if people do not keep at least a minimum physical distance from one another," he said, stressing that gatherings at nightclubs were more difficult to control than gatherings at football matches.

No reason for the protest

Commenting on a protest against epidemiological restrictions, held in Zagreb on Saturday, Božinović said the protesters had gathered without any real reason.

"After the protest, at least some of them probably went to a cafe or a restaurant and were probably mad because they protested without any real reason," he said, adding the organizers had rushed to "stage something" after seeing scenes of protests in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

The minister also said that he did not know if police had acted after Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković had reported a person to them, who called him by the nickname 'Njonjo' (Wuss) in a phone conversation.

"It is normal for a protected person who gets a call from an unknown number to tell their security that they received a call from an unknown person who had insulted them. The protocol about that is clear... there is staff who take care of that," said the minister.

"I do not know if the police did anything, but I'm sure that everyone in that chain did what they were supposed to do," he said.

Božinović also commented on the lifting of visa requirements for Croatian nationals traveling to the USA, saying that after a long-lasting process he was an optimist. He expressed hope that Croatians would be allowed to travel to the USA without visas by the end of the year.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 21 Aug, 2021 - There are 1,529 asylum seekers in Croatia, most of them from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria and the highest number of asylums were obtained by Syrians, Vecernji List daily wrote on Saturday.

According to data provided by the Croatian Interior Ministry, of the 1,208 asylum seekers in the first six months of 2021, more than a half were from Afghanistan (692), followed by those from Iraq (116), Iran (105), Turkey (66), Syria (60) and Pakistan (37).

Croatia granted asylums and subsidiary protection to approximately 1,000 people. The highest number of asylums was granted to Syrians, namely 457 and another 84 people from Syria were granted subsidiary protection. Among top five states to whose citizens asylums were granted are Iraq (109), Afghanistan (39), Iran (38) and Turkey (26), while subsidiary protection was granted the most to the citizens of Syria (84), Afghanistan (17) and Somalia (15).

The interior ministry said it was impossible to give the exact number of people granted international protection and currently living in Croatia as the number varies on a daily basis because people with passports have the right to freedom of movement, and they can leave Croatia any time they want.

There are twice as many men than women among people granted with asylum or subsidiary protection, most of them of the age between 18 and 34, followed by underage boys.

For more news updates, CLICK HERE.

March 25, 2020 - Are you a tourist in Croatia wondering if you’ll be sanctioned for overstaying your allowed 90 days? The Ministry of Interior’s (MUP) Office has an answer for all of you unsure of what to do during the coronavirus crisis. 

If you’re on a 90-day tourist visa in Croatia that is soon to run out, chances are, you’re a bit worried, especially considering you have nowhere to go with the coronavirus pandemic currently ruling the world. 

Fortunately, we have some answers, thanks to a TCN’s readers exchange with the Ministry of Interior’s office in Zagreb. 

You can find the conversation below:

TCN reader: 

“To Whom It May Concern, 

Considering the spread of COVID-19, I am interested in the current status of third-country nationals who are on a tourist visa in the Republic of Croatia and also those who are currently in the process of applying for a residence and work permit, using tourist days.

The day before yesterday, 03/23/2020, I called the Division for Administrative Affairs and Citizenship on the phone number: 00 385 1 3788 193 whose contact is listed on your site and a kind woman told me that the status of the persons concerned was frozen at the moment, i.e., that their tourist days are not currently added up until a different solution is reached.

However, today an article was posted on www.expatincroatia.com which reads:

"We spoke to the ministries that handled immigration and they confirmed that no one was allowed to stay past their tourist visas, despite COVID-19. Staying past your tourist visa could result in fines ranging from 500 kuna 7,000 kuna, depending on the circumstances. Another risk is that you may get kicked out with nowhere to go, as they are doing in other countries. "

(source: Original article)

I would like to kindly ask you to send me an official reply on the current status of the people concerned, as well as instructions on the procedure and anything they are obliged to submit to MUP, if any, to avoid further misinformation and possible panic.”

The MUP Office replied:

“Dear,

If a foreigner on a short stay (up to 90 days for a period of 180 days) cannot leave the Republic of Croatia promptly due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the short term residence time is exceeded, the foreigner will therefore not be sanctioned by the Foreigners Act.

We advise that the foreigner report to the police station according to the address of his / her accommodation, where the police officer will take down information about the accommodation address and contact information and instruct him / her to contact the police station before leaving the address of accommodation or leaving the Republic of Croatia so that he / she will not have any problems at the border crossing when leaving the Republic of Croatia.

Also, under Article 48, paragraph 4 of the Foreigners Act, third-country nationals who applied for a temporary residence permit or residence and work permit before the expiry of their short-term stay may remain in the Republic of Croatia until the decision on the application has been enforced.”

We hope this clears anything up for those of you currently stuck here during the corona era. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.