UK ETA for Croatian Citizens

Croatia at a Glance

Croatian nationals are EU citizens, and the EU rules on identity documents are one thing. UK entry is governed separately. The table lists the common situations; the sections that follow explain each one and say where the official position is uncertain.

Croatia in the 2 April 2025 Group

The ETA National List sorts nationalities by the date travel begins. Qatar came first, from 15 November 2023. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia followed from 22 February 2024. A long list of countries and territories then started on 8 January 2025. Croatia belongs to the latest group, for travel on or after 2 April 2025, which contains the other EU members that are on the list.

The date applies to the travel itself, not to the application. A Croatian who visited the UK before 2 April 2025 was not held to the ETA requirement for that visit. Recollections of earlier trips therefore say little about what is needed now. Compare the date of your planned arrival with the group before assuming an ETA is or is not required.

What the Passport Does on a UK Trip

An ETA is granted against one passport. The UK rules say the ETA gives permission to travel only when the holder travels on the passport named in the application. A second passport, an older document or a national identity card presented at the border is not covered by that permission, even if the holder is the same person.

The ETA itself lasts two years from the date of grant, or until the named passport expires if that comes first. A passport that has many pages left is not enough on its own; the approval ends with the document it is attached to. Check the expiry date of the passport against the planned return date.

Passport Validity by Age

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs states that a passport issued to a person under 21 is valid for five years, and a passport issued to a person over 21 is valid for ten years. The Ministry of the Interior, which handles passport applications inside Croatia, gives the same five-year figure for people under 21 and states that the law does not allow a passport’s validity to be extended.

The two official pages do not present the age brackets in identical words, so the table below records the figures that each states. A holder close to the 21 threshold should read the expiry date on the document rather than estimate it.

The statute itself was not opened for this guide. The validity figures come from current ministry guidance pages, and the consolidated text of the Croatian law on travel documents should be checked before you rely on any figure beyond what the holder’s own document shows.

Applying for a Croatian Passport

Inside Croatia, passports are issued by police administrations and police stations of the Ministry of the Interior. A Croatian citizen living abroad applies at a diplomatic mission or consular office in the place of residence, run by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

In the regular procedure the authority must decide within 30 days of receiving a complete application. The ministry also describes faster handling in urgent cases. The applicant can arrange for another person to collect the passport with a valid power of attorney, so collection does not always have to be in person.

The application includes a photograph that meets the standards for biometric passports. An applicant aged 12 or older signs the request personally and gives fingerprints, which are stored on the chip of the biometric passport.

A passport cannot be extended. A new application is the route at renewal, and it is also required if the holder’s appearance, personal data or the document itself has changed. The old passport is cancelled when the new one is issued, so keep it only as a record.

Children and Their Own Passports

A Croatian child needs a passport in their own name. The ministry states that the law gives no option to enter a child in a parent’s passport, so a family travelling together usually carries one document per person.

For a child, the legal representative makes the application. A child under 12 does not have to attend the appointment. A child who has reached 12 must attend, and their presence is also needed for the fingerprints that go onto a biometric passport. The five-year validity for under-21s therefore applies to each child’s passport, which can expire during an ETA’s two-year life.

Families should list each passport number, its issue date and its expiry date on one page of their plan. A child’s document that expires soon can make an otherwise valid ETA useless for the journey.

The Croatian Identity Card

The Ministry of the Interior describes the identity card as the basic identification document for Croatian citizens. It is a separate document from the passport, with its own issuing process and validity period. Its chip stores a facial image and two fingerprint impressions.

The ministry’s guidance on crossing borders says that Croatian citizens may travel to EU Member States with either a valid passport or a valid identity card. Inside the Schengen area a traveller must always carry one of the two, and the identity card can be used for other places the ministry names, including Bosnia and Herzegovina for cards issued after 1 January 2003, and Switzerland for tourist stays of up to 90 days. The same pages mention Kosovo, which asks EU citizens for a valid biometric identity card, but that is not a Croatia-specific rule.

Children may hold an identity card whatever their age, which has been possible since 10 June 2013. That is a Croatian rule and does not change the UK position for an ETA trip.

Where the Identity Card Helps for the UK

The UK guidance for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens recognises the national identity card in defined circumstances. It is accepted for those who have settled or pre-settled status under the Settlement Scheme, hold an EU Settlement Scheme family permit, have a frontier worker permit, or are S2 Healthcare Visitors. It is also accepted for those who have applied under the Settlement Scheme and received confirmation that the application is valid, with exclusions for certain joining family members. Identity cards that meet the ICAO biometric standard are accepted in those cases, and the guidance says that acceptance continues.

Those circumstances are not the same as a visitor needing an ETA. A Croatian who has no UK status and is travelling for a holiday should carry the passport that the ETA names. If you are not sure which group you fall into, read the status evidence before you pack, and check the document rules for your specific trip on the UK guidance rather than relying on EU travel rights.

Settlement Scheme Status

The UK guidance says that a visa or an ETA is not needed for an EU citizen who holds settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, holds an EU Settlement Scheme family permit, or is waiting for a decision on a Settlement Scheme application. Those people travel on their status evidence and their identity document.

• Settled or pre-settled status: no ETA is needed for travel. Keep the evidence of status with your passport.
• Family permit: no ETA is needed for the trip the permit covers. Check its terms before travel.
• Pending application: the guidance treats a person waiting for a decision as outside the ETA requirement. Check the evidence the guidance asks for before you travel.
• No status: an ETA is usually needed for a Visitor trip, and the passport named in the application is the document to present.

This guide does not assess an individual’s entitlement under the Settlement Scheme. Where the status or the pending application is uncertain, the relevant UK guidance and your own evidence decide the question.

eGates and the EU Lane

Croatian citizens are EU citizens, so the UK and EEA channel is the lane the border guidance points them to. The guidance for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens says those citizens can continue to use automatic ePassport gates. The eGate guidance is more specific. Automatic gates depend on a passport with a biometric symbol, age 8 or over, a valid digital immigration status or a record of a digital exemption, and a height of at least 120cm for the child.

The digital status condition is where the position for an ETA holder is unclear. The published wording does not explain how a visitor who holds only an ETA meets it, so a Croatian visitor should not count on the gates. Plan for a desk, keep the passport and the ETA reference ready, and treat any gate use as a bonus rather than a plan. The border control and eGates article sets out the arrival steps.

The automatic gates are open only to travellers aged 8 or over, and those aged 8 to 17 must be accompanied by an adult. The desk and the gate both check the same passport, so make sure it is the document named in the ETA.

Registered Traveller

The Registered Traveller service is a separate scheme from the ETA. Its eligibility list for European passports names Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City State. Croatian passports are not on that list, so Croatian citizens cannot use Registered Traveller as an alternative route through the eGates.

Membership also requires the applicant to be 18 or older, to hold an eligible UK visa or to have visited the UK at least four times in the last 24 months without needing a visa. Those conditions are about membership, not about the ETA, and an ETA holder cannot satisfy the list by holding the ETA alone.

Who Does Not Need an ETA

Several groups do not need an ETA for a trip to the UK. They include British and Irish citizens, people with a UK visa for the journey, those with permission to live, work or study in the UK, and people with settled or pre-settled status or an EU Settlement Scheme family permit. A Croatian citizen in one of those groups should carry the document that shows the exemption, not rely on memory of the rule.

People who live in Ireland have a narrower route. The exemption applies where the traveller is from a country that would otherwise need an ETA and is entering the UK from Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man. The Croatian traveller must still be able to show the Irish proof of residence described below.

Dual Nationals

Dual citizenship changes the outcome more than any other single fact. The UK rules do not give an ETA to a dual citizen who holds British citizenship. A Croatian and British dual citizen should present a British passport, a passport that carries a certificate of entitlement showing the right of abode, or another document that proves British citizenship. The dual-citizen guidance sets out the evidence in more detail.

A Croatian and Irish dual citizen is treated differently. Irish citizens do not need an ETA, so the Irish passport is the document to present. A valid Irish passport is the proof the UK guidance lists for an Irish citizen, and the immigration officer will check the document you show.

A Croatian who also holds the citizenship of another country on the ETA list faces the ordinary rule for each passport. The ETA is tied to the passport named in the application, so the passport you choose to travel on determines whether an ETA is needed. A Croatian who also holds the citizenship of a visa national country needs to check the visa position for that second passport separately. This guide does not give advice on nationality law, and the dual-citizens article is the place to start.

Families and Mixed Passports

Every traveller needs an ETA where one is required, including babies and young children. A parent or guardian can apply on behalf of a child, but each child’s application is a separate decision with its own passport. Parents cannot share a single ETA across family members.

Families with mixed passports, or with members whose UK status differs, need a separate check for each person. One partner may hold settled status and another may not, and a child may hold a Croatian passport while a parent travels on a different one. Each person’s ETA follows that person’s document.

Read the children and families article for the practical steps, and keep copies of each passport and each status document in one place before the trip.

What an ETA Permits

An ETA covers a Visitor trip of up to six months for purposes such as tourism, visiting family or friends, certain business activities, and qualifying short-term study. Each purpose has its own conditions, and the purpose pages set them out in detail.

• Holiday travel: see UK ETA for Tourism.
• Social visits to relatives and friends: see Visiting Family & Friends.
• Meetings, conferences and other business visits: see UK ETA for Business Visits.
• Short courses or other qualifying study: see UK ETA for Short-Term Study.
• Paid engagements that the Visitor rules allow: see Permitted Paid Engagements.

What an ETA Does Not Permit

An ETA does not allow ordinary employment in the UK, long-term study, or living in the UK by repeated short visits. A traveller who works for a UK employer, enrols on a long course or spends most of the year in the UK through a sequence of trips has moved outside the Visitor rules, even where each trip looks short on its own.

The purpose of each visit, not only its length, decides whether it falls inside the rules. Check the purpose pages before you book, and use the visa guide if the planned activity is outside them.

New Passport and Renewal

The ETA is linked to the passport named in the application, and it permits travel only on that document. When a holder gets a new passport, the question is whether the ETA still covers the document they will travel on. If the new passport is the one you will use, check whether a new application is needed before you travel.

Renewal in Croatia means applying for a new passport, because validity cannot be extended. Apply before the existing document expires, especially if a child’s passport is about to lapse during the ETA period. The validity and new-passport article explains the practical sequence.

Keep the old passport with the new one for the first trip after renewal. It is not automatically a reason to change the ETA, but it helps the officer understand the travel history.

Transit and Connections

A transit route through a UK airport depends on whether you pass through border control. A connection that stays airside, without passing through UK border control, does not need an ETA. The UK guidance says that the ETA applies if you pass through border control at a UK airport before continuing your onward journey.

The airline is the best source for the connection type, because it knows whether the booking requires you to collect and recheck luggage. If you need to leave the airport, stay longer than the connection allows, or pass through the border, plan for an ETA or a visa in advance. The transit article covers the practical order of checks.

Ireland and Northern Ireland

The Common Travel Area links the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The UK border guidance says travel from Ireland to Northern Ireland needs no documents to enter. Travel from Ireland to Great Britain is a different matter, and the ETA rules for your nationality apply to it.

A Croatian resident in Ireland does not need an ETA for a trip from Ireland, if the traveller is from a country that would otherwise need one. The traveller must be 16 or older and show one of the approved Irish proofs, which include an Irish driving licence, medical card, GP visit card, Irish Residence Permit, Permanent Residence Certificate or National Age Card. Those proofs must be original documents issued by the Irish government and valid when you travel.

The Ireland and Common Travel Area article covers this in more depth. Note that a Croatian passport holder resident in Ireland and travelling to Great Britain from Ireland still has to satisfy the immigration officer on arrival.

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man

The UK ETA covers travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man for up to six months. Those places operate their own arrival procedures, so an ETA does not guarantee entry to any of them. Check the entry requirements for each place before travel, including any separate settlement or permit schemes that apply to residents there.

Permission to live, work or study in Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man is a separate matter. Holding such permission can remove the need for an ETA for travel to those islands, and the permission document should be carried.

Arrival at the UK Border

The officer checks the passport against the ETA and against the traveller in front of them. The passport must be valid for the whole stay, and the ETA must match the document presented. Officers also ask about the purpose of the visit and the arrangements for the stay.

Keep your ETA reference, your return or onward ticket and the address where you will stay. Those details help the conversation run smoothly. Entry is still a decision for the officer, so an ETA is no promise of admission.

Decision Timing

If no decision has arrived after three working days, check the spam and junk folders in your email before you contact UK Visas and Immigration. Decisions for different people in one family can arrive at different times.

Apply well before your departure date, and allow time for any correction. If an application is rejected, or its details need changing, the guidance says to apply again.

Preparing the Application

Before you apply, have the passport you will travel on, an email address you can access, a payment method and a photograph of your face that meets the digital photo rules. The passport details must match the data page exactly, so check the name spelling, the passport number and the expiry date.

The requirements page lists the wider preparation steps. This site is not the UK government and does not issue ETAs. The Apply Now button takes you to apply.uketa.sg, which is where the application step begins.

Working Through the Form

Start with the nationality and passport, then answer the travel questions. The purpose of the visit, the planned dates and the address in the UK should reflect the trip you are actually making. Answers that describe a different purpose can lead to a refusal even where the ETA would otherwise be granted.

Applying for someone else is possible under the ETA rules. A person applying for a traveller who is not present must use the online route with a photograph of the traveller’s passport and face.

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Using the identity card as the ETA document. The ETA is tied to the passport named in the application.
2. Assuming EU travel rights apply to the UK. EU membership does not carry UK entry rights.
3. Entering a child in a parent’s passport. Each child needs their own passport and their own ETA.
4. Forgetting the expiry date of a child’s passport. A five-year passport for an under-21 can expire during the ETA’s life.
5. Relying on the eGates. Eligibility depends on conditions that the published guidance does not explain for ETA holders.
6. Presuming Registered Traveller is available. Croatia is not on the eligible list.
7. Treating British or Irish dual status as a point of detail. Dual British citizens cannot obtain an ETA, and Irish citizens use the Irish document.

Last Checks

• ✓The passport you will travel on is the one named in your application.
• ✓That passport remains valid for the whole stay.
• ✓Each child has a current passport with an expiry date after the return.
• ✓Your identity card is not the document you rely on for an ETA trip.
• ✓Any settled, pre-settled or pending status has its evidence in hand.
• ✓Dual British or Irish documents, where they apply, are packed.
• ✓The spelling on the application matches the passport data page.
• ✓Every connection has been checked for airside or landside status.
• ✓Each stop in Northern Ireland, Ireland or the islands is accounted for.
• ✓The eGate is treated as a bonus, not a plan.
• ✓The purpose of the trip fits inside the Visitor rules.

UK ETA FAQs for Croatian Citizens

Want more answers? Browse our UK ETA FAQs or contact us. You can also go back to the eligibility checker.