Entry to Croatia COVID Requirements
(See Slovenia info here: https://discovercroatia.com.au/entry-to-slovenia-requirements/)
Australian Govt current advisory for Croatia: https://smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/croatia
There is a new Ministry of Tourism website, ‘Enter Croatia‘, that you can pre-fill to help speed up your arrival once you land in Croatia: https://entercroatia.mup.hr/
European Union (EU) employers are not allowed to ask the vaccination status of their employees, nor can they require employees to be vaccinated.
Croatia has a ‘Stay Safe in Croatia’ Project, designed to ensure the highest of health standards for tourism operators; https://safestayincroatia.hr/en/about-project. Croatia is also included in the ‘Safe Travels’ Global Safety Stamp Protocols; https://wttc.org/COVID-19/Safe-Travels-Global-Protocols-Stamp.
COVID – Negative Test or Vaccine is required for entry by tourists
Here is the link to the official Croatian Government website with all the information about tourists entering Croatia and the requirements as it pertains to COVID-19. There is a form at the bottom of the page that you can fill in to request more information from the Croatian government about your specific case if necessary.
Our clients will mostly be using number 1 or 2 to gain entry to Croatia (negative test or vaccine certificate). Please fully check below which option will be the one you choose and be prepared with all your documentation.
https://mup.gov.hr/uzg-covid/english/286212
Here is the excerpt from the above page (as at 18th January 2022) as it pertains to tourists with arrangements and reservations already made (eg cruise, tour, hotel bookings etc where you have proof of the arrangement such as a Voucher or Booking email):
“Third-country nationals” (This means Australian, USA, NZ, UK etc passport holders)
‘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 1 of this Decision will be granted entry in the Republic of Croatia only in cases of necessary travel.
Exceptions to the above-mentioned necessary travel are the following categories (including tourists):
8. persons who travel for tourist reasons and have a certificate of reservation or 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 – entry into the Republic of Croatia will be allowed upon presentation of one of the following documents:
- negative PCR test result not older than 72 hours from the moment of testing, or rapid antigen test result – RAT for SARS-CoV-2 that is included in the Common list of rapid antigen tests recognized by the Member States of the European Union, published by the European Commission, provided that the test result is not older than 48 hours from the moment of testing to the moment of arrival at the border crossing point;
- certificate not older than 365 days of receipt of two doses of vaccine used in EU Member States (Pfizer, Moderna, AstaZeneca, Gamaleya, Sinopharm) or vaccines approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use (Serum Institute of India – Covishield, Bharat Biotech – Covaxin, Sinovac – CoronaVac) or presentation of a certificate not older than 365 days of receipt one dose of vaccine received in one dose (Janssen / Johnson & Johnson) if 14 days have passed since receiving that one dose;
- 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 within eight months from contracting the disease, provided that the vaccine was administered less than 356 days from their arrival at the border crossing point;
- a positive PCR or rapid antigen test result, referred to in paragraph III, item 1, subitem 1 of the said Decision, confirming that the holder recovered from the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, which was performed in the previous 365 days, and which is older than 11 days from the date of arrival at the border crossing point, or a certificate of recovery from COVID-19 issued by a physician;
- or they will be imposed self-isolation upon arriving in the Republic of Croatia with a possibility of getting a PCR test or rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 and if they cannot get tested, they have to self-isolate for a total of 10 days.’
Croatia DOES accept PAPER VACCINATION CERTIFICATES. It does not accept Australian QR codes, so you will need to print out your vaccination certificate and take it with you. We suggest you print out many copies as you might need to leave one with the authorities when you arrive.
However, IF you are travelling elsewhere before or after Croatia, it seems that Australian vaccine certificates are not actually accepted in a lot of other EU countries. As of January 2022, it looks like the best way to get an accepted certificate is via the Swiss portal mentioned in this article. We provided this info as most of our clients travel to other countries as well as Croatia. You need to check which each country on your travel list requires for your entry.
The likely reason that the EU doesn’t accept the Australian government QR code is that a foreign country’s QR code has nothing to do with Europe. That’s probably why our certificate won’t work, because they have nothing to scan an Australian QR code with. So you need to get the kind of certificate they can validate.
Swiss portal: https://covidcertificate-form.admin.ch/foreign
Here is how one traveller managed to use the Swiss portal: I have seen info on people applying online via the Swiss portal for EU certificate recognition – they want to see a hotel name etc, but you can put one in that you may be “thinking of” and a set of dates (or book a refundable hotel and use those details) and then it takes at least 5 business days to process. This can be done from here before clients depart, so that it’s in place before they get over there.
Please contact us if you have any questions about your specific arrangements.
Phone or WhatsApp: +612-9212-1507
Email: [email protected]
