The Act on Protecting the Population from Infectious Diseases (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia No. 79/07) and the Act on the Amendments to the Act on Protecting the Population from Infectious Diseases (Official Gazette No. 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 or consular post abroad.
Besides the
laissez-passer application form that the relatives of the deceased, or the funeral home that is organizing the transport, must complete at the diplomatic mission or consular post, the following must be enclosed:
- death certificate (subject to Apostille confirmation or full legalization and official translation)
- medical certificate of death stating the cause of death – must state if an infectious disease caused death
- proof of the citizenship of the deceased (e.g. domovnica, passport)
- passport of the deceased (if the deceased had one) must be cancelled at the Embassy
- approval for the transport of the deceased by the country they are being transported from (e.g. South Africa)
- information about the transporter (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 are required, as well as the manner in which the transport will continue, border crossings and information about the person receiving or taking over the body.
NB: In case the deceased was an alien citizen, a confirmation (written proof) of the cemetery (or parish) in Croatia is required, stating the place of burial. Transit of the deceased through Croatia does not require a laissez-passer. Death certificate must be submitted to Croatian diplomatic missions or consular posts abroad even 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.
Transportation of urns containing ashes of the deceased does not require a laissez-passer nor Embassy’s approval - only a written confirmation by the crematorium where the cremation was performed it to be shown to police officials when entering Croatia.
