On 1 January 2008 a new Aliens Act (Official Gazette No. 79/2007) entered into force in the Republic of Croatia, which lays down in art. 8 that unaccompanied minors entering or exiting the Republic of Croatia must have a certified consent of their legal representative.

Croatia has not yet adopted rules that will determine the conditions for acquiring such consent in more detail. Therefore the Croatian Police Directorate has issued guidelines, which will apply until the adoption of the rules.

In accordance with these guidelines the Croatian border control authorities require, in accordance with Art. 8 of the Aliens Act, from unaccompanied minors a consent containing the following:

• personal data of the minor's legal representative,
• personal data on the adult the minor is travelling with,
• statement of consent - permission to travel,
• purpose of stay,
• duration of stay,
• period of validity of the consent, and
• signature of the legal representative.

The consent must be certified by a notary or another authority authorised for certification in the minor's country and translated into the Croatian language. If a minor is a citizen of the European Union, European Economic Area or Switzerland, the translation into Croatian is not necessary; however, the consent must contain all the required data above and must be certified by a notary or another authority, which is authorised for certification in the minor's country.

The consent may also be written in Croatian and certified at a diplomatic-consular mission of the Republic of Croatia in the minor's country of origin.

The adult person that accompanies the minor must show the original consent or a certified copy of the consent to Croatian border control authorities at entry or exit. As part of border check procedure the Croatian police officer will photocopy the consent produced and stamp the passport.

The only exception is the consent for a minor - daily migrant who goes to school in Croatia. In this case the duration of the consent is the school year and is limited to work days.

A minor accompanied by a parent does not need the consent of the other parent to enter or exit Croatia.

Given the specific nature of particular types of traffic and international standards as regards the travel of minors, certified consent is not needed:

• when a minor is travelling with an unaccompanied minor form issued by the air carrier in accordance with the IATA standards,
• when a minor is travelling as part of an organised group on a school excursion accompanied by a teacher who has a list of all participants signed by the person in charge and stamped by the school,
• when a minor is travelling as part of another organised group for which a legal entity organising the arrival of minors to Croatia has prepared a list with a guarantee by the person in charge of the legal entity that their stay on the territory of the Republic of Croatia will be in accordance with the purpose of entry.

The conditions that unaccompanied minors must fulfil to enter, exit or transit the Republic of Croatia, will be determined in detail in the rules on the implementation of the Aliens Act, which is expected to be adopted by the end of March. Until then Croatian border control authorities will follow the instructions by the Police directorate.