Laissez-passer for the Deceased

The Act on Protecting the Population from Infectious Diseases (Official Gazette 79/07) and the Act on the Amendments to the Act on Protecting the Population from Infectious Diseases (Official Gazette 43/09) stipulate the manner of transporting the deceased person from abroad to Croatia.

In case death occurs abroad, the person that wishes to transport the deceased (or their exhumed remains) to Croatia for burial must submit a request to the Croatian diplomatic mission/consular post abroad.

In addition to the laissez-passer form that the relatives of the deceased, or the funeral home that is organizing the transport, must complete at the diplomatic mission/consular post, the following should also be enclosed with the request:

• an international form of death certificate (in accordance with the Vienna Convention)
• medical certification of death, stating the cause (that there was no infectious disease)
• proof of the citizenship of the deceased
• passport of the deceased, which has to be cancelled at the diplomatic mission/consular post (if the deceased had a passport)
• approval (confirmation) for the transport of the deceased by the country they are being transported from
• information about the carrier (funeral home): driver’s personal information, passport number, registration; if there are relatives of the deceased in the vehicle, their personal information is also required; if the deceased is being transported by aircraft, 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 was an alien citizen, a confirmation (written proof) by the cemetery (or parish) is required, stating the place of burial.

The transport of urns containing the ashes of the deceased does not require a laissez-passer, only a confirmation by the crematorium (that has to be shown to police officials when entering Croatia).

Transit of the deceased through Croatia does not require a laissez-passer.

Consular fee for the laissez-passer is 33 EUR.

LAISSEZ-PASSER FORM

Note:

In order for the diplomatic missions/consular posts to enter the person as deceased into the domicile/residence records kept by the Ministry of the Interior, authenticated death certificate has to be submitted when requesting a laissez-passer.

Death certificate also has to be submitted when a deceased Croatian national is not being transported to Croatia, but is being buried abroad, regardless of their domicile and place of birth. In these cases, the legally relevant fact is that the death of a Croatian national has been established and it must be entered into the official Croatian records.