Voluntary return from Croatia

If you think about leaving Croatia to return to your home country, we may be able to help you. Voluntary return is a free assistance for people thinking about returning to their country of origin.

If you decide that this is the right choice for you, we will do our best to take care of your needs, including booking your flights and making sure you have all the documents you need to travel. IOM’s voluntary return assistance is available to all migrants, regardless of their legal status in Croatia.

1

Contact us

We understand that choosing to return home is a big decision. We’re here to tell you everything you need to know and answer any questions you have.

You can call us whenever you are ready on +385 1 6463 887 , send us an e-mail at iomcroatiaavrr@iom.int or visit our office at Račkoga 3, Zagreb.

Everything we discuss will be kept confidential.

2

Make Your Decision

We’re here to make sure you are fully informed about all the options you have and we will explain exactly how we can assist you. Once you have all the information you need, you can take some time to think about your next step. You can change your mind at any stage of the process.

3

Apply for AVRR

If you decide to return home, we can help. We will explain you how to obtain a travel document from the embassy or consulate of your country. If needed, IOM can also assist you during the application procedures and pay for new documents if you don’t have any. Please remember that you remain responsible for the application including proving your nationality and identity. For us at IOM, it is important that you travel safely, if you have any conditions we should know about, tell us to assist.

4

Before the Departure

Once your application is approved, we can plan together and assist you to decide when is the best moment to travel home. We’ll assist you at the airport, we’ll have your tickets ready and our team can even help you check-in for your flight.

5

Home

Our team can help you find out all the information you need to take the next step. If you are returning with IOM you may be eligible to benefit from an additional support to help you get started once you come home. We call this support ‘reintegration assistance’. When you’ve settled, IOM colleagues in your country can advise you and may cover costs if you choose vocational training, start your own business or to pay the rent for the first months.

Characteristics of the voluntary return programme

A large public

The voluntary return programme aims to support all non-EU nationals who wish to leave Croatia and choose to return home, namely migrants in an irregular situation, applicants or beneficiaries of international protection, who choose to return home. Often, it concerns migrants who have to, or who want to, leave Croatia, but do not have the resources required to do so.

A free decision

Returns are voluntary: it is the migrant who makes the decision to return. Furthermore, after applying, the migrant is always free to go back on his decision and decide not to leave.

A programme that responds to your needs

The programme is designed to cater for different types of needs: whatever the migrants’ situation, them are free to return at any moment and therefore his decision to return must be taken into account.

A reintegration support

The voluntary return programme may also include assistance to support the sustainable reintegration in the home country. Such personalized assistance empowers the migrants first and foremost, and creates an environment in which migrants take responsibility for the reintegration process and decide on use of reintegration support.