Located at the crossroad of Southern and Central Europa, Croatia has been gaining popularity in recent years. This relatively small country has a lot to offer. The history of Croatia had been a huge struggle as the location of the country was in the middle of conflicts between world powers. However, surprisingly they managed to preserve their identity and culture. Today’s Croatia has been independent since 1991. Since then, Croatia continues to grow as a perfect tourist destination. It is the main factor that helped the country to reach a high-income economy and a very high human development index. This is a country where you will enjoy the climate, beautiful cities, culture, picturesque places, etc. It stands to the reason that around 20 million tourists visit Croatia every year. When people think of sunny holidays, they often imagine tropical islands or places around the equator. However, there is a country where you can experience things similar to those islands. Croatia has these amazing white beaches which will make you feel so relaxed. The coastline stretching along the Adriatic sea is stunningly beautiful. It guarantees the perfect road trip as the beautiful cities are not that far away from these coasts. Apart from this amazing coastline, it has more than 1200 small islands, which are perfect for nature lovers where they can marvel at the beauty of nature. And I have not mentioned Plitvice National Park yet. It is one of the best of its kind in Europe. You will find a picturesque landscape to adorn your social media profiles. However, to visit Croatia, one should undergo bureaucratic procedures of Croatia tourist visa. As it is seen from the title, today we will talk about Croatia tourist visa, Croatia tourist visa requirements, Croatia tourist visa fees, Croatia tourist visa application, documents required for Croatia tourist visa, and give you answer to how to get a tourist visa for Croatia. To start, we will first look at the visa policy of Croatia.
Visa policy of Croatia
Croatia’s visa policy can change from country to country based on its relationship with those countries. Croatia is an EU member country but not a member of the Schengen area. Therefore its visa policy is regulated by Croatia. In general, Countries can be defined into two groups with regard to their visa statuses. They are visa-free and visa-required countries:
Visa-free countries are European union member countries, Nationals of Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Hungary, Israel, Korea (Rep. of), Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City, and Venezuela. The rest of the world's countries are visa-required countries.
As for visa types, typically, there are three types of visas. They are short-stay visas (C), long-term visas (D), transit visas (A). Short-stay visas are designed for travels not exceeding 90 days, while long-term visas are for travels that continue for more than 90 days. Short-term visas are tourist visa for Croatia, business visas, family or friends visit visas, cultural/sports events/study visas, official visit visas, medical treatment visas. Long-term visas are family visas, work or employment visas, study visas, scientific research visas, visas granted for humanitarian reasons. Every visa type has its own requirement and conditions. However, there is no huge difference between short-term visa types in terms of requirements. What we are interested in for this article is a short-term visa. You might be asking yourself, “how to get a tourist visa for Croatia ?”. To apply for a Croatia tourist visa, one should be aware of Croatia tourist visa requirements, Croatia tourist visa application, and documents required for Croatia tourist visa. Without further ado, let’s learn the essentials of a tourist visa and how to get a tourist visa for Croatia.
Croatia tourist visa
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A tourist visa for Croatia is given to people who intend to visit the country for tourist purposes. If you do not know how to apply for Croatia visa, we will give you instructions. To apply for Croatia tourist visa, one first should identify whether he or she needs a visa. We will look at the visa-required scenario for the article. The next step for that should be to locate the local embassy or consulate of Croatia. If there is none in your country, find the nearest embassy to your country. Once you identified the embassy, make an appointment. Attend the embassy at the scheduled time and present the required documents and pay the fees. To apply for Croatia tourist visa, one should present the following documents:
- Croatia tourist visa application form duly completed, filled out, and signed by the applicant. If the applicant is a minor, the form should be completed by a parent or guardian.
- A passport that should remain valid at least for three months after you depart from Croatia. The passport should not be older than 10 years. The passport should bear a minimum of 2 blank pages.
- Passport’s copy and the copies of all processed pages. If you have, copies of previous passports, Schengen visas, and visas for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, Australia, the United States, and Canada acquired before.
- Photo. A photo that is taken recently. The photo should be colored and has the size of 35x45 mm. It is advised to be biometric and background which is white. In the photo, no facial expression is needed, and the applicant’s mouth should be closed, and eyes should be open.
- In case the applicant’s citizenship and where he or she lives are different, then a residence permit copy with the validity of 3 months after departing from Croatia.
- Health insurance for the travel. It should cover the expenses related to health reasons, medical assistance, or urgent hospitalization. It should cover a minimum of 30000 euros. It should be valid during the entire travel to Croatia.
- Reservations for accommodations. Verified hotel reservation with the validity covering the entire stay. In case he or she lives in an apartment during the travel, rent contract.
- Flight reservation. Booking of return flight alongside travel itinerary and other additional documents.
- Proof of financial meanings. Proof that the applicant is capable of financing his or her travel. Evidence of his or her intention to finance the travel. Meanings can be many. Bank statement indicating financial activities for last three months or letter provided by bank verifying the balance of the account, car or property ownership, etc. The applicant should be able to spend 70 euros per day on travel. If it is prepaid travel, then the number is down to 30 euros. If the applicant has a minor accompany, he or she should be able to cover the expenses of the accompanier as well.
- Proof of professional status of the applicant. The letter from the employer should bear the seal of the workplace and have the address, contact details of the workplace or company. In case the applicant is employed by or owner of a private company, then a signature circular, company registration number, etc., is needed. In case the applicant is a farmer, a certificate or document proving the applicant is a farmer by authorities must be shown. In case the applicant is retired, then evidence of pension is enough. If he or she is a student, a student certificate must be presented.
- In case the applicant is not 18 yet, then the birth certificate is needed.
Additional documents can be asked based on the country of the application. You might be asking yourself, “How much is the Croatia tourist visa fees?” To complete the application, one should pay a fee worth 60 euros. However, there are some conditions that exempt people from paying the fee. These are:
- If you are a family member of a Croatian citizen
- If you are a family member of citizens of EEA Member States
- If you are aged below 12
- If you are holding diplomatic and service passports and going for official visits
- If you are a researcher researching in Croatia
- If you are attending seminars, conferences, sport, cultural or educational events organized by non-profit organizations and you are representative of non-profit organizations
- If you are a pupil, student, postgraduate student, or teacher accompanying them when they come to attend school, study, and professional training
It takes around 3-20 days to have an application processed. However, it can change based on your country of application. If you do not know how to apply for Croatia visa, contact the local embassy or consulate of the Republic of Croatia. If there is none in your country, find the nearest embassy to your country. Once you identified the embassy, make an appointment. Attend the embassy at the scheduled time and present the required documents and pay the fees. Sometimes people confuse the Schengen visa and Croatia short-visa. One of the most asked questions in this regard is that “Do a person need a Croatian tourist visa if he or she has already been granted a Schengen visa?” The answer is no. You do not need a Croatian tourist visa if you have a Schengen visa. You can learn more about the visa types of Croatia by checking out our website.
