This post has been verified with the ministry and tourist boards.

UPDATED: 9.5.2023.

People physically in Croatia must be registered with the police depending on their status. The police handle all immigration matters in Croatia and operate within the ministry called Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova or MUP for short.

If you plan to live in Croatia long-term and have not yet registered with the police, hop over to this post.

If you are a tourist that will be here for less than 90 days OR you own accommodation in Croatia, this post is for you.

In this post, we cover:

• Who must be registered
• Whose responsibility it is to register
• How a tourist’s presence is reported
  • Registration via Visitor
  • Registration at MUP
• Information the police needs

The facts are these…

How tourists are registered with the Croatian police (MUP)

Who must be registered with the Croatian police

All tourist visits must be registered at the police, regardless of whether you are staying in tourist accommodation, with a friend or family member, or camping. Even tourist visits of Croatian tourists within the country must be registered with the police. The police will record the data on when you arrive in Croatia, where you are staying, and when you depart. To clarify, we are talking about the addresses of tourist accommodations here – everyone must be registered at their addresses.

Third-country (non-EU/EEA) nationals are obliged to register for their short-term stay at MUP.

EU/EEA nationals do not have to register themselves for stays of up to 90 days. They must have a valid travel document and not be a burden to the Croatian welfare system. If you are an EU/EEA national who wishes to live in Croatia long-term, you will need to apply for residence.

[Read: How EU citizens can get temporary residence in Croatia]

Non-EU/EEA family members of EU/EEA citizens also don’t have to register their stay of up to 90 days if they are accompanying their EU/EEA family member. They must have a valid travel document and not be a burden to the Croatian welfare system. If they are not accompanying their EU/EEA family member, they must register their stay as third-country nationals at MUP.

Whose responsibility is it to register with the police

Owners of tourist accommodation facilities are required to register their guests with an overnight stay with the government.

[Read: How to legally rent out accommodation to tourists]

If you’re staying with family or a friend, the owner of the property needs to register you. Owners must check in their guests within 24 hours of arrival at the accommodation, and check-out must be done within a period of 24 hours after guests leave.

If an accommodation owner does not ask you to provide your ID within the first 24 hours, alarm bells should go off. This means they don’t plan to register you, likely because it is not a legal accommodation. You need to insist that they register you. If your eventual plan is to apply for long-term residence, then not being registered as a tourist could complicate that plan.

However, if the owner is unable to register you as a tourist due to a specific reason, you must register yourself as a tourist within 2 days after entering Croatia or changing accommodation.

The obligation to report tourist stays applies to:

• Owners of accommodation facilities that offer overnight stays
• Owners of nautical tourism vessels that offer overnight stays
• Owners of accommodation in households
• Owners of family farms
• Owners of houses and apartments for vacation
• Citizens of tourist cities and municipalities
• Owners or users of vessels who pay a tourist fee per overnight stay

How tourists in Croatia are registered

A tourist’s stay in Croatia can be reported in 2 ways:

• Online using Visitor – This option is available only to renters of tourist accommodation
• In-person at an administrative MUP station – This option is available to everyone

[Read: How to find administrative police stations in Croatia]

Registration via eVisitor

eVisitor is an online system for checking in and checking out tourists. Only renters of tourist accommodation can use eVisitor to report their guests. Everyone else must be reported in person at MUP.

eVisitor is available here in 7 languages including:

• Croatian
• Czech
• English
• German
• Italian
• Russian
• Slovenian.

Tourists’ personal data is entered on the basis of their ID cards, passports, or other state-issued identity documents. The data required is noted in the next section.

Login to eVisitor is possible via:

• e-Građani user account
• Login data that can be obtained from local tourist boards – View contact information of Croatian tourist boards here

[Read: e-Građani (e-Citizens) – Online portal for Croatian government services]

Registration at MUP

Registration of tourists is also possible to do in person at MUP administrative police stations.

In this case, owners of the accommodation must go to MUP and bring their own personal ID cards as well as the tourists’ ID cards or passports with them. Passports are mandatory for third-country citizens from non-EU/EEA nations.

Registration is done at the foreigner desk called Šalter za strance. Sometimes it is just labeled Stranci.

[Read: How to find administrative police stations in Croatia]

What information do the police need on you

Below is the list of all mandatory and optional data that may be provided for each tourist.

1. Smještaj (Accomodation)
   1. Objekt (Name of accommodation) – mandatory
   2. Smještajna jedinica (Type of accommodation) – optional
2. Boravak (stay)
   1. Datum boravka od (datum dolaska (arrival date)) – mandatory
   2. Vrijeme boravka od (vrijeme dolaska (time of arrival)) – mandatory
   3. Datum boravka do (predviđeni datum odlaska (estimated departure date)) – mandatory
   4. Vrijeme boravka do (predviđeno vrijeme odlaska (estimated departure time)) – mandatory
3. Isprava o identitetu (identity document)
   1. Vrsta isprave (document type) – mandatory
   2. Broj isprave (document number) – mandatory
4. Turist (tourist)
   1. Prezime (surname) – mandatory
   2. Ime (name) – mandatory
   3. Srednje ime (middle name) – optional
   4. Spol (gender) – mandatory
5. Prebivalište (residence)
   1. Država (country) – mandatory
   2. Grad (city) – mandatory
   3. Adresa (address) – optional
6. Rođenje (birth)
   1. Država (country) – mandatory
   2. Grad (city) – optional
   3. Datum rođenja (date of birth) – mandatory
7. Državljanstvo (citizenship)
   1. Država (country) – mandatory
8. Kategorija obveznika boravišne pristojbe (category of residence tax payer)
   1. Kategorija obveznika boravišne pristojbe (category of residence tax payer) – mandatory
9. Kontakt (contact)
   1. E-mail (e-mail) – optional
   2. Telefon (phone in a valid form such as +3850000000) – optional
10. Organizacija dolaska (arrival organization)
    1. Organizacija dolaska (Individual or tourist agency arrival) – mandatory
11. Vrsta usluge (type of service)
    1. Vrsta usluge (type of service such as “overnight stay”) – mandatory

Below is what the eVisitor form looks like.

What’s next?

If you’re a tourist that intends to apply for long-term residence in Croatia, here are your next steps:

• Figure out which permit you will apply for
• Learn about registering a long-term address
• Understand Croatia’s state health insurance

View our other tourism posts

• All types of available visas for entry into Croatia
• Available visas and residence permits for Croatia
• Difference between getting a visa and a residence permit in Croatia
• Guide on tipping in Croatia
• How to be a licensed tour guide in Croatia and open a tourist agency business
• How to legally rent out accommodation to tourists
• How to register or change your address with the Croatian police
• How to transfer money to Croatia from abroad

Sources:
Prijava i odjava turista
Prijava kratkotrajnog boravka (manje od tri mjeseca)
Registration of temporary residence for EEA nationals
Zakon o državljanima država članica Europskog gospodarskog prostora i članovima njihovih obitelji