On 8 December 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted a
Decision on the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in the Republic of Croatia, and as of
1 January 2023 the Republic of Croatia became a Schengen Member State.
This has led to certain changes in crossing
the internal and external borders. More specifically, checks on persons have been lifted on internal land and sea borders, and the provisions of the Schengen acquis referred to in the Annex to Council Decision (EU) 2022/2451 are now applicable to Croatia in its relations with other Member States.
The obligation to carry out border checks depends primarily on whether a person is crossing
the external border, or is arriving from / leaving for a third country or a Schengen area Member State.
Borders checks on the internal air borders will be lifted as of
26 March 2023.
Border checks and border surveillance will no longer be carried out on the internal border (state border of the Republic of Croatia with the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia with Hungary).
All EU citizens and all persons who are legally staying in the Schengen area will be free to cross the border, unless they have been issued with a residence permit with limited territorial validity (in which case they can exercise this right only in the territory for which their permit was issued).
National
short-stay visas issued by Croatia before
1 January 2023 will remain valid until they expire and can be used to
transit across the territories of other Member States.
