My plan was to arrive in Croatia in October 2015 after using up my 90 day Schengen Visa in other parts of Europe. I planned to stay a week and then fly back to the US from Croatia.
Now I see some discussion on this forum about Croatia adhering to Schengen Visa rules. Can anyone confirm this?
If so, does that mean I would not be allowed entrance even though they are still a non-Schengen country?
Thanks for the help!
pam,
I don't have a definite answer at the moment (it's late), but one thought that occurred to me is that you probably won't be flying direct from Croatia to the U.S. You may be transiting another airport in Europe which is in the Schengen area, which may cause your time limit to be exceeded.
I checked briefly and Croatia will apparently be submitting their formal application to join the Schengen zone on 1 July 2015, but it could take up to six months for this to be processed. Therefore it's possible that it won't yet be accepted by October. However it could be, so best to check just prior to your trip.
Ken, thanks for the reply. Just a question to be sure I understand what you're saying. If I were flying home from Croatia to Frankfurt to the US, and had already used my 90 days in the Schengen zone, I would not be allowed entry into Frankfurt even though I was only traveling through the airport? If so, then it sounds like I need to have at least 1 Schengen day remaining for travel home.
Croatia will accept Schengen Visas, rather than insist on its own for those that need them.
If you are a USA citizen you don't need one of these as a visitor so it is irrelevant.
Croatia is presently outside of the Schengen area so its maximum stay rules don't apply to visits there. This will change if/when it is admitted.
Marco, thanks for the reply.
It is my understanding with a US passport I can travel anywhere in the Schengen zone for 90 out of the last 180 days.
Now that Croatia has applied for acceptance into the Schengen zone (as of July 1, 2015), I am trying to find out if they have already started enforcing the Schengen 90/180 rule. If so, I might need to count my time in Croatia as part of the 90 days.
If Croatia does not start enforcing the 90/180 rule until they are accepted into Schengen (probably in 2016) then my stay in Croatia should not count as part of my 90 days. I am hoping this is the case, since I was planning to spend 90 days elsewhere in Europe!
.
pam,
Also keep in mind that your travel days are counted as part of your 90 day allowance.
Ken, thanks for the clarification!
From the visit-croatia website (http://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/index.php/information-on-croatia/visa-requirements-for-croatia/)
"This may be useful to those who are travelling Europe and need to be careful with the number of days they use up – if you come to Croatia you’ll still be in Europe, but won’t use up any “Schengen visa” days. And, of course, spending some time travelling in Croatia isn’t exactly a hardship!"
Nancy, thanks for the link to this helpful website.
