How to Beat Croatian Bureaucracy: Proven Method 

I only had to deal with the bureaucracy when I was leaving the country and I found that being very kind and humble makes a big difference. You answer aggressive comments with smile and kindness and after maybe two or three exchanges they suddenly transform and almost seem ashamed for being rude to you. Works in general with most rude people everywhere.

I've usually had a good experience with our bureaucracy. I can't think of particular event with a public official that could be characterized as a really bad one. The key is to be ready for anything, be polite, humble, take your time, be patient and persistent, go with the flow, not against the current.

Absolutely correct - don't change the culture and mind-set, but work and grow with it and understand what works by engaging and seeking out their experience and history of business

We will eventually get there, slowly but surely. There is a digital platform nowdays "e-Građani" that covers a lot of paperwork and it is expanding each day. Stamps are almost obsolite today - we are even joking: "where is your stamp" for any paperwork in any situation. BTW I like your channel, have a great time here in Croatia.

Wow! I will use that leverage and refer to you good sir as "my friend" 😉

Thanks for advice 👍💪

Probably more related to general human nature than Croatia specifically, I'd say.

That works in Australia too - once you mention you have a RU-vid channel and doing some research for your next vlog, you get their attention and their mind-set totally changes to a positive encounter and much better exchange of information.

i had to take some things at tax office(porezna uprava) and I also needed few stamps and workers were not in the office. so I went looking for them since it was not my first time there,i was like a customer almost every day....i have found them drinking coffee and smoking. when I showed them medical instrument i had to deliver to hospital and i lied it is urgent that man is having surgery one of them immediately get down and stamped me everything. i was working in delivery company back then so i learned my own way how to fight it. that trick also worked when police pulled me over...lol

That's so true!

Sad but true

So true

Ha ha...exactly as it is..thank you very much for your advice, I haven't managed to beat Croatian beaurocracy yet, I have very nervous stomach when I need to go to the offices, one needs to take lexaurin to keep calm

When a business man meets an "uhljeb"😅

Croatia is a fantastic country to visit, but only as a tourist. I'm like many Croatians left my homeland 27 years ago. Greetings from Manchester, England.

Ultratočno! 📲💪

A lot of stuff has really improved over time and it's still improving. I went to register the car and the process was super simple, I was surprised.

Actually he did not want to be left alone, he wanted to be given money. Sadly, this is how it works in the Balkans, in many public institutions. Corruption everywhere.

This is the experience in the entire Balkans. Some area's even worse. People just dont give a damn really.

They are afraid to finish in the newspapers also

He was playing Angry Birds ... LOL I live in northern Croatia, in Zagorje region, and I have to say that my experience with clerks in institutions here was positive. In the 99% they were professional and efficient. Maybe here in the north people are more serious about their jobs.

When my mother passed my sister and I hired a lawyer to transfer title of land from my mother's name to our name and to pronounce my mother dead, We thought it would take a year, and the next year my sister and I went back to the lawyer that we hired and paid and asked about the progress; the lawyer said that she was not able to do anything. . Then the following year we went to see her again and she refused to open the door and never returned out phone calls. Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do? We paid her and lost 3 years. Thank you

I'm a Croat from Zagreb and this is so true.

Best way to deal with croatian birocracy is to start opening doors with leg kick. It always worked for me and for people that i know

That woman you were talking about. I saw many of them. But the one i am going to remember until i die. I heard old stories about them, but i haven't seen them with my eyes. So i was waiting in Zagreb to get a confirmation that i have a drivings licence, so i can translate it and make a new on in Germany (my old one was stolen) so i saw a woman (like you described) exiting the room (Heinzelova policija) with a cigarette in her mouth. I was baffled, i was like...aren't those extinct?! Apparently not. :)

I have moved back after living 9 yrs abroad and it is still horrible. There are improvments like eGradjani system, START etc but at the end I was all the time asked to come in person (to the court, to HZZO office, to the bank -Erste). I guess uhljebi are bored.... 😢

When it's pauza time, it's pauza time, period :)

Hi Paul, I moved to otok krk 3 years ago to retire and started to watch your stuff on you tube . Your posts are quite informative and I had similar results with the system and wish I saw your posts last year. Looking forward to your next post. Anton strilcic

Gonna try this in Greece. 😋

Nevertheless, I prefer our absurdities, our mentality and our informal attitude much more than the "by the book" approach of some countries like Germany. Because here, if you make a mistake, there is also a possibility that some of the people from the services will look the other way (either out of compassion or out of their own interest, to avoide the inconvenience of the additional workload)...

lol this reminds me when I used to work in customer service here in Croatia and my coworkers would just SEETHE at the customers for making them do any work. In our culture the customer is always wring it seems.

I was thinking we had it bad, but if put in perspective I can realise it's pretty much our own fault.

As some1 who went trough british immigration birocracy, it's same nightmare. Cleriks in both countries r clueless. In croatia u can give them some bribe to push things forward. In Uk u have to be certain class and skin colour for things go smooth.

"Avoid Žuja" Finally someone said it! :D It is very popular, especially down on the cost but there are much, much better brands that that. I'm almost tempted to say "any" brand is better than Žuja! :D

I had the same problem in Austria. They don't give a damn shit about the customers. I cursed once (Drei Company-ISP and mobile provider) and the man from customer service said to me: "you to" 🙂

As a U.S. citizen, would I be granted residency due to having a child that is a Polish citizen?

The computer says no! Everyone from those shores recognises the experience.... Yes, not reacting in an anngry way always helps. It's just too hot and 'fjaka' kicks in . But when the shit hits the fan, Croats are (largely) good people and will help anyone in need.

For many Croats, dealing with politics is like shaking hands with a leprosy patient. This is a problem. Yes, Croatia is not like Austria or Sweden, but Croatia is also not like Russia or Turkey. You won’t be poisoned or assassinated only because you are a member of a different political party.

That’s a great tactic, shame the official to actually doing the job they are being paid for. Sadly, this won’t work with MUP and trying to get a ‘stalni boravak’. One person gave me false information (ie lied) way back when which meant I had to begin the application process from scratch, meaning leave the country to get a stamp in my passport and go back to the beginning. I’m sure she did it on purpose! (To se zove ‘rep komunizma’)

Angry birds je ozbiljna igra,ne prekida se to radi bilo cega...😅🤣🤣....well We are Croatian....kao Hrvat gledam video jedan po jedan,ucim o svojoj zemlji i ono najbitnije smijem se svakodnevnim stvarima koje mora se priznat i sam radim(angry birds doduse druga igrica al razumijemo se)....

It’s crazy to praise croatia!

bear in mind that you are foreigner, and english one...lets say that your kind of leverage is mostly out of reach for locals...good show, btw!

Oh... Croatian bureaucracy...

You have just entered the VEZ zone. Imam Vez = No Problem. Vez is a "pull" i.e. a reliable connection. The classic New Jersey "I know a Guy!" Vez is central to the culture as it greases the wheels sufficiently enough to keep things running for the most part. But is not ubiquitous in availability in order to maintain the satisfactory resolutions tempo. Prompt resolutions is not immediately expected by everybody. You have certainly heard someone say "If I only had a pull here." Your collection of pulls should only be shared with others who also properly curate their collection of pulls. This keeps it away from all the "Karens" of the community. Reciprocity is important. Never give a Vez to a serial complainer. You will burn that pull and word will get around that you are sloppy. The second experience was a Queens Gambit. You created the appearance of a threat that fast maneuvering by your opponent can overcome. I am not sure a local can always expect the same results.

That actually sounds stressful. What a turn-off.

Croatian bureaucracy is terrible, it still has its roots in communism thanks to the current government. We hope that a new generation will come and change things for the better

Most useful video I saw for forigners in Croatia