Have you personally struggled to find information online when it comes to renewing your documents in Croatia? I’ve spent days researching, contacting people, and trying to find out the process of how to get the supposed 12-hour rush/rapid/quick passport from Zagreb. It in fact took me over 24 hours to get a “one-day” passport, so here is what I wish I would have known before embarking on this journey on one of the hottest summer days in Zagreb.
1. Location
The MUP website includes all sorts of details such as payment details and parts of the process of renewing your passport but it is lacking a variety of details. In Croatia for all your documents, you need to go to the local police department. In Zagreb this is located on Petrinjska ul. 30. It is located close to the main square and fairly easy to find.
2. Payment
The MUP website provides a list of places where you can submit your payment from FINA, your local bank, or even online banking but what they don’t tell you is that there is a post office within the same building which makes everyone’s life a lot easier. As you enter the police department, the post office is located in the far left corner. On both sides of the office, they have a stand with pay slips for individual documents, for a rapid passport, you need to fill out two of the slips with your full name, address, and OIB number on the right side of the 410 kuna payslip.
3. Get there early
Be there bright and early just as the police department opens. I made the mistake of getting there at 9 am which I thought was fairly early and I spent good 3 hours waiting in the heat. Before you submit the payment slips at the post office within the building, pick up a number from the machine at the entrance otherwise you can wait for what feels like forever. At least by the time you pay for your new documents, hopefully, other people would have already left.
4. Patience will be your best friend
Being stuck indoors waiting for 2+ hours on a hot summer day will test your patience. Come prepared, bring water, a snack, a book, or listen to a podcast. Keep yourself occupied and time will pass by a lot quicker. There are around 4-5 counters usually working for urgent passports and the procedure is very long, so make sure you double-check you got everything you need before you start lining up. Also, the counters wait for about a minute to two before moving on to the next number so make sure to be quick and keep an eye out.
5. Working time
When I spoke to people who have been through this procedure before, I was reassured that I was going to get my passport the same day, in just a few hours. So I planned out my trip in advance, booked my bus seat for the same evening, and was ready to pick up my passport and get on the bus. However, nowhere online do they state that because of their summer working time from 7 am to 2/3 pm I believe (it isn’t mentioned online), it in fact takes a full 24+ hours to get your passport. We were told to return the next day after 11 am to pick up our “rapid” passports.
After 24 hours of frustration, exhaustion, and stress I managed to get my new passport so I am hoping this will help someone else who is going to have a close encounter with the Croatian bureaucracy, best of luck!
For more on lifestyle, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
