Death abroad
If you want to transport a deceased person from another country to Croatia, you need to submit a request for a laissez-passer in a Croatian diplomatic mission or consular office
In addition to the laissez-passer form that the relatives of the deceased or the funeral home that is organizing the transport will obtain and fill in at the diplomatic mission or consular office, the following should also be enclosed with the request:- An international form of the extract from the register of deaths (which is in accordance with the Vienna Convention or has been otherwise duly certified for use in the Republic of Croatia)
- A medical certificate of death, stating the cause (confirming that there was no infectious disease)
- Proof of the deceased’s citizenship
- Passport of the deceased, which has to be cancelled at the diplomatic mission or consular office (if the deceased Croatian citizen had a passport)
- Approval (certificate) for the transport of the deceased issued by the country they are being transported from
- Information about the carrier (funeral home): the driver’s personal information, passport number, number plates; if there are relatives of the deceased in the vehicle, their personal information is also required; if the deceased is being transported by aircraft, the flight number, airline and airport at which the aircraft will land is required, as well as the manner in which the transport will continue, border crossings and information about the person taking over the body
- In case the deceased died from an infectious disease (e.g. COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2), then the carrier has to comply with the conditions ensuring prevention of the spread of infections in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance on the Conditions and Manner of the Installation of Equipment and Carrying out the Transfer, Transport, Cremation, Interment and Exhumation of Deceased Persons and on the Conditions for the Premises and Equipment of Legal and Natural Persons regarding the Installation of Equipment and Carrying out the Transfer, Transport, Cremation, Interment and Exhumation of Deceased Persons
In order for the Croatian diplomatic mission or consular office to be able to change the status of the deceased; that is, to be able to register the person as deceased in the records of temporary and permanent residence of citizens kept by the Ministry of the Interior, the foreign death certificate (duly certified) has to be provided in all cases when the diplomatic mission or consular office is issuing a laissez-passer for the transport of remains of a Croatian citizen.
If the deceased is a foreign national to be buried in Croatia, a certificate (written proof) of the cemetery (or the parish) where the deceased is to be buried/interred also has to be enclosed.
Transit of a deceased person through Croatia does not require a laissez-passer issued by the Republic of Croatia.
Important change in relation to the COVID-19 infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 and transport of remains
Pursuant to the provision of Article 4(1) of the Ordinance on the Amendments to the Ordinance on the Conditions and Manner of the Installation of Equipment and Carrying out the Transfer, Transport, Cremation, Interment and Exhumation of Deceased Persons and on the Conditions for the Premises and Equipment of Legal and Natural Persons regarding the Installation of Equipment and Carrying out the Transfer, Transport, Cremation, Interment and Exhumation of Deceased Persons (OG 116/18 and 50/20), a deceased person who was not buried and died of anthrax, diphtheria, cholera, plague, typhoid fever, viral haemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, Lassa and Marburg, dengue), yellow fever, vCJ, COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 or AIDS may be transported in a metal coffin hermetically sealed by soldering.The Amendment of the Ordinance from 2020 included the COVID-19 infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus on the list of diseases.