V. Urgent - Croatia Visa - please help!!!

Hi guys,

my friend and i are off on the long planned europe trip. Unfortunately, we have run into an issue with our visas.

We are scheduled to leave Croatia (from Zagreb) on the 31st of August and our visas have come only till the 29th.

is there anyway we can sort this in Split, Hvar or Dubrovnik? anyone has some experience on this? or anyone from the croatian embassy on this forum?

Or is it possible that when we arrive at Split - we may get a visa extension. We already have confirmed flight tickets and accomodation for the last 2 days.

thanks!!!

I seem to recall that Croatia has harmonised its visa regime with that of the Schengen area, meaning that a tourist visa is issued with a maximum validity of 90 days. Beyond that, it is non-extendable. I don't know what are the consequences of overstaying. Seen that you're Indian (i.e., third-worldly in the eyes of many officials), prepare for some trouble.

If you want to make certain, contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate of Consular Affairs, department of foreigners: stranci AT mvpei DOT hr. You can reach them by phone at 01/4598 014, which is the general phone number of the Directorate in Zagreb.

If this doesn't work, consider leaving Croatia on time. I suppose you're not flying back to India from Croatia, which would imply that you also hold a valid visa for the Schengen area. Correct?

[ Edit: Edited on 13-Aug-2009, at 07:21 by bentivogli ]

hi bentivogli -

thanks for that.
yes- they give a 90 day visa - not sure what went wrong with our application. we got it 2 days short of our trip duration. i dont plan to be an immigrant - but the 2 days short puts a spoke!

is it ok to ask ahead about overstaying ? i am actually from Indian not American.

in our current itinerary - yes i am flying back to india. but i will have a few days on my schngen - so we are thinking of reentering the schengen area. else, we have to prepone our tivckets.

I know; I already updated the OP while you were writing your reply.

Of course you're not planning on being an illegal immigrant; point is that officials in many countries are trained to be highly suspicious of non-westerners violating their visa. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

If you're flying back to India from Schengen territory, I'd leave Croatia in time if I were you.

Ah ok great! thanks for the help nyways