Croatian passport

Croatian passport

The front cover of a contemporary Croatian biometric passport.

The data page of a contemporary Croatian biometric passport
Date first issued 1 July 2009 (Biometric passport)
Issued by  Croatia
Type of document Passport
Purpose Identification
Eligibility requirements Croatian citizenship
Expiration 10 or 6 years after acquisition
Cost 390 HRK

Croatian passport (Croatian: Hrvatska putovnica) is issued to citizens of the Republic of Croatia for the purpose of international travel. The passport has the purpose of serving as proof of Croatian citizenship and identity. Responsibility for their issuance lies with the Ministry of the Interior; and for citizens abroad, passports are issued by the local embassy or consulate. Croatian passports are valid for ten or five years, and are not renewable. Every Croatian citizen is also a citizen of the European Union. The passport, along with the national identity card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union and European Economic Area.

Croatia started issuing biometric passports on 1 July 2009.

Physical appearance

Croatian passports are dark blue, with the Croatian coat of arms emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. The words "EUROPSKA UNIJA" and "REPUBLIKA HRVATSKA" is inscribed above the coat of arms, with the word "PUTOVNICA" and the international biometric passport symbol () below. The passport contains 34 pages.

The 3rd generation Croatian passport has been changed in design due to the recent accession into the European Union. From 3 August 2015, it retains the blue cover and the words "Europska Unija" (European Union in Croatian) have been printed on it as per EU regulations. Additionally, the new cover is only in Croatian; the English and French have been removed.[1]

Languages

The data page/information page is printed in Croatian, English and French.

Data pages

From 2009, each biometric passport has a data page and a residence page. A data page has a visual zone and a machine-readable zone. The visual zone has a digitised photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport holder:

Page No.2:

  • Photograph
  • Type [of document, which is "P" for "passport"]
  • Code [of the issuing country, which is "HRV" for "Croatia"]
  • Passport No.
  • Surname
  • Given Name(s)
  • Nationality [which is "Hrvatsko" ("Croatian")]
  • Date of Birth
  • Sex
  • Place of Birth
  • Date of Issue
  • Date of Expiration
  • Issuing Authority
  • Signature

Page No.3:

History

Croatian Passports were first issued by the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia under Habsburg rule. They were written in Croatian and French and had the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia on the cover. (Reference: Antun Radić, "Hrvatski pašuši (putnice)" Dom, 15 January 1903, page 11)

Biometric Croatian passports

The first modern Croatian passports were issued from 26 June 1991, after Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia. The old Yugoslav passports were valid until 25 June 1992. Since then, three types of Croatian passports have been issued, all machine-readable and with blue covers.

The first series was issued from 1991, until the end of 1999. It was distinguished by a thick paper cover and by a photo which had been laminated inside the document. This passport was printed by a local police station in the town of residence, or by the local embassy or consulate if living abroad. This series was in circulation until 31 December 2009, when the last ten-year passport issued expired.

At the end of 1999, the Croatian Government introduced the new passport. New security features similar to those on banknotes have been added with increasing frequency since January 2000. Microprinting, holographic images, UV-visible imaging, watermarks and other details have been implemented, particularly on the photo page. As well, the photo is now digitally printed directly on the paper (in both standard and UV-reactive ink). The new passports were issued in the same way as the old ones, with a difference in printing process. All passports are printed in Zagreb, with the issuing wait time up to 30 days. They have been issued since 1 January 2000.

Biometric passport

From 30 June 2009, the government started issuing new biometric passports in Zagreb. Other local police stations started issuing biometric passports on 18 January 2010. The embassies or consulates will issue biometric passport from 30 June 2010. Non-biometric passports will remain valid until its stated date of expiry.

Croatia was the third country in Europe that started issuing second-generation biometric passports. The chip contains two fingerprints and a digital image of the passport holder.

Types of passports

Visa free travel

Visa requirements for Croatian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Croatia. In 2015, Croatian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 142 countries and territories, ranking the Croatian passport 22nd in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

International travel using ID card

The biometric version of Croatian ID card

The Croatian identity card is a valid travel document within all member states of the European Union (including the Azores, the Canary Islands and Madeira), as well as Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and (by unilateral decisions of the governments of) Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Vatican City.

Croatia finished negotiating their accession to the European Economic Area in November 2013, and is set to join once their enlargement agreement is ratified by all EEA countries, Croatian citizens will then be able to use their ID cards for travels to the EFTA countries Iceland, Switzerland and Norway.[3]

Validity in these countries (except Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) is based on the membership of the European Union and the implementation of the "European Agreement on Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe".[4]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passports of Croatia.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.