Croatia to Issue Visas for Serbian Truck Drivers Sept. 23

Croatia became the first European Union member state on Thursday to open a special visa regime for professional bus and truck drivers from third countries, with the Croatian embassy in Belgrade set to start accepting applications from Serbian carriers on September 23. The business association of Serbian carriers, Pumed, broke the news, noting that the embassy will initially handle a limited number of applications per day until its electronic system is fully adapted. For drivers who cross European borders daily, this is the first concrete change after months of warnings that the EU’s strict Schengen stay limit was seriously complicating their work.

Why This Is Happening Now

According to Croatian diplomatic sources, the measure does not apply to Serbia alone. It covers every country in the Western Balkans and every state whose citizens do not otherwise need a visa to enter Croatia. The reason is the rollout of a stricter digital border control system across the European Union, which caps drivers from third countries at no more than 90 days of stay within the Schengen area in any 180-day period. That rule has seriously disrupted supply chains and the operations of international transport companies, since drivers were burning through their allowed days of stay in the Union too quickly.

Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs announced that starting September 23, 2026, it will begin accepting applications precisely from drivers who normally do not need a visa to enter the country, but whose work keeps their vehicles there longer than the Schengen day count allows.

How to Apply

The process starts with an online application through the Crovisa system, followed by booking an appointment and submitting the application in person. In the first phase, the embassy and its consulates will accept no more than 15 applications per day per location, a cap the ministry says will be raised gradually. Applications can be filed no earlier than two months and no later than 30 days before the planned start of the transport job, and processing can take up to 45 days. Drivers from Bosnia and Herzegovina submit their applications at the Croatian embassy in Sarajevo or at one of the country’s general consulates.

The long-term type D visa is valid for up to a year, but it only allows entry into Croatian territory for the transport of goods and passengers, not into other Schengen countries. Drivers who continue from Croatia into other Schengen member states will be logged in the Entry/Exit System, known as EES, where the 90-day limit within a 180-day period still applies. Croatia’s ministry said a detailed list of the required documents will be published early next week on the ministry’s website and on the embassy’s website in Sarajevo.

Reactions From the Region

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Communications and Transport, Edin Forto, welcomed the start of the measure, calling it progress after months of talks with Croatian and European partners over the problems facing domestic carriers. In a ministry statement carried by BHRT, he said:

“This is the first concrete step that can make life easier for our drivers. We have said from the start that people who do their job on roads across Europe cannot be treated as migrants or tourists. We expect other European Union countries to follow Croatia’s example, because we need a solution that lets our drivers do their job without obstacles.”

Forto added that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot change Schengen rules on its own, and that a lasting fix is only possible at the European Union level:

“Croatia has shown that there is a way to make progress. We will keep pushing for a sustainable solution in other EU countries as well. Our carriers must be able to work, and drivers must not be punished for doing a job that takes them across European borders every day.”

What This Means for Serbia

For Serbia, Croatia’s move is the first practical sign that drivers from the region could work without interruptions caused by the Schengen day count, even though the visa still only covers entry into Croatia itself. Pumed notes that the long-term national visas Croatia issues are not a general work permit or an unlimited stay permit for other EU member states, but in Belgrade and Sarajevo the step is being read as a model other European Union countries could adopt in the coming months.

Whether that actually happens will depend on how well Croatia’s system holds up under the wave of applications expected after September 23, and on whether Brussels accepts a bilateral solution as a lasting answer to a problem affecting the whole region.