N1 reporter Natasa Vidakovic reports that crowds of people are standing outside the police station in the town of Novalja on the island of Pag as foreign workers wait for hours for a permit to work and stay in Croatia. Some of them arrived at the station as early as 11 pm, and the police do not start their work until 8 am the next morning.

Only about 25 workers can get their turn, said our reporter, who spoke to some of the workers who have been queuing for hours.

“I came here as a seasonal worker and we wait in the queue because there are a lot of people, but only a few get processed, maybe a dozen. To finish on time, you have to come much earlier,” said one of the workers who has been queuing for five hours. “The problem is that the authorities are demanding that the paperwork be done in five days, and they have not allowed the law they are demanding to be implemented.”

“I am here to get a certificate of employment in Croatia. We are supposed to be in the EU, but it’s like we are somewhere else. I arrived at 11pm, I have been waiting for five hours, three more and I think we will make it. I have been here four times, they close the door at 2pm and we have to come back the next day,” said a worker from Slovenia.

“I arrived last night at 3am. I think it’s the first time the queue is so long, so we have to be there so early before the police station opens. Last year we arrived around 5 or 6am so it was not that bad. To tell you the truth, it happens everywhere. In our country it’s the same: if you go to the embassy or any other institution, you have to come very early and get on the waiting list. It’s not great, but that’s the way it is,” said one Ukrainian woman.