Paperwork and Persistence: How Americans are Flying to Croatia After July 1

Update (July 11, 2020): While all of these were true when this article was written, a major change took place on July 10, when the new rules for entering Croatia were introduced. Please follow the article about those changes to get the latest information, as it becomes available.

July 4, 2020 – Croatia is open for tourists from North America, and as these real-life experiences from the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community show, paperwork and persistence will see you board the plane.

How confused are you at the moment regarding the travel rules to Croatia? Green zones, yellow zones, infection ratios, air bridges, proof of paid accommodation, IATA rules. It used to be a lot easier…

Now imagine you work at an airline check-in desk in the United States and are processing passengers to Europe, with the USA not on the list of safe countries to enter the EU. Add to that all the wrong information in the international media (the latest from the BBC about current rules for Croatia). You work in an industry where if you let someone onto the plane who should not be allowed on, the consequences could be significant.

So you naturally err on the side of caution.

I have heard SO many stories of Americans trying to fly to Croatia over the last 5 weeks since we started our Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community. The situation before the July 1 border update was very unclear, and many were denied boarding, as they were told that they were not allowed to travel to Croatia.

But last month, we started getting more successful reports from community members on their travel experiences from North American to Croatia. And most of the tales had two things in common.

Persistence and paperwork to argue their case.

A couple of days ago I wrote an article called Can Americans Visit Croatia after July 1, 2020 EU Border Update? Mostly due to feedback from the very active Viber community, as well as answers to some official questions, I figured out the following, which was officially endorsed by the Croatian border police:

First, the soundbite sentence to put things in a nutshell. I have asked the Croatian border police to confirm everything stated in this article, which they have done, making the advice stated here official:

Croatia is open for tourism with paid accommodation outside the EU. Croatia is not in the Schengen zone, and so you can transit through a Schengen airport and come to Croatia, no problem, as long as you have the right documentation.

The main advice is the more documentation, the better. This should include at least:

1. Proof of paid accommodation.

2. The confirmation email after you fill in the entercroatia.mup.hr form.

3. Some of the testimonies you will see below to help you argue your case.

4. The latest IATA guidelines for travel to Croatia.

Now imagine you try to check in at LAX or JFK and you have a check-in person who is careful not to let the wrong people board. With so much uncertainty, it is easier to deny boarding than to let someone fly. But with paperwork and persistence, you can guide them to check the rules and confirm that you can, in fact, board the flight.

Here are three real testimonies in the last few days from the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber page which illustrate the point that paperwork and persistence pay off:

Experience 1

Just got past security at LAX- make sure you bring everything with you! Tourist accommodation and rules printed off IATA. Took a while and initially they tried to turn me away. They didn’t take the attestiment for France because they said that they could print that out here and it means nothing, but I did have to remind her I’m allowed to transit through CDG to a 3rd country. All in all??? experience so bring as much paperwork as you can and don’t give up!

This was KLM operated by Air France.

Experience 2

Greeting fellow Croatian Travelers! I am US Citizen in transit to Croatia….BOS-ATL-AMS-ZAG via Delta/KLM.

I had no issues in Boston at ticket counter or gate. ATL Gate agent tried to turn me away under “the travel ban”…I replied, “not to Croatia”. She went to computer and I presented the IATA Map and regulation, my MUP form and my paid accommodation receipt. As others have referenced today, bring the paperwork with you. It definitely helps. Took gate agent 10 minutes to figure it all out. Thank you all for the assistance and guidance through this!

Experience 3

Hello! Made it Dubrovnik from chicago. I travel to Croatia every summer. This experience wasn’t much different other than wearing masks & the flights being half empty. I have a US passport only. Although I have family in Croatia, I didn’t have to mention that to authorities. I traveled ORD-CPH-SPU and then had a driver pick us up at airport and drive us to Dubrovnik. I was asked what my purpose was in Croatia by SAS airlines and I said I’m coming as a tourist & that Croatia is allowing us with paid accommodation & that I have a letter from Cro government saying I’m allowed to enter (EnterCroatia announcement). I gave her the EnterCroatia form, the IATA map w highlighted part about Croatia, my paid receipt and the email by [email protected] saying I’m allowed to enter.

She brought it over to her supervisor and he barely thumbed through it. She said great, be sure you keep this with you so you’re allowed in by Croatian authorities.

The plane was 25% full. Everyone had a row to themselves & wore masks the entire time. It was amazing. We had a two hour layover in empty airport, and a half full flight to Split, again with SAS. At the airport in Split, customs asked me zero questions. I tried showing her my EnterCroatia form which she didn’t look at.

My driver drove us through the BIH boarder at Neum with no problems. No one asked to see my EnterCroatia form or anything. Only my US passport.

It was really a great experience. The only anxiety I had was prior to my trip with all the questioning about being able to travel.

Experience 4

Just an FYI. My parents (US citizens) were able to board a plane to Croatia from the U.S. a couple of hours ago (LIT-ATL-AMS-ZAG) to be here for the birth of our child. They printed the following:

1) the English version of the MUP page (http://bit.ly/CroatiaTravel)
2) their entry acceptance from https://entercroatia.mup.hr/
3) a copy of the email from the MUP ([email protected]) giving them permission to enter with proof of accommodations
4) their receipt for the accommodations.

My dad said that it was a good they had all the documentation. They were questioned when checking in, showed everything, and received their boarding passes for the entire trip. They are now crossing the Atlantic. I assume they’ll have no issues in Amsterdam. If they do, I’ll update again. Update: they made it.

Have you had a recent flight experience to Croatia originating from outside the EU/UK/EEA? We would love to hear and publish it. Please contact us at [email protected] Subject Flights.

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The Netherlands – as of July 21, Croatia is placed on the “Orange” list by the Dutch government, which means that both the Croatian nationals and the Dutch nationals returning to the Netherlands from Croatia are strongly advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.