The history of the twentieth century is interwoven with many conflicts and wars that have generated refugee crises. In response to the problems associated with these crises, the international community has responded with laws and protection systems that have obliged states to regulate the refugee issue. The system failed at the time of the Nazi rise, and refugees from Central Europe were mostly trapped in a limbo between the domicile country as they were forced to leave and the host countries pursuing anti-immigrant policies. The aim of this paper is to present the refugee policy pursued by the Sava banovina (later the Banovina of Croatia) authorities over refugees from the Third Reich in the period from 1933 to 1941. By analyzing official regulations and recommendations from Belgrade and Zagreb, data from refugee identity cards and memoirs, we identified two phases of refugee policy, which are described in the periods before and after the Anschluss. Even though government decisions were foundations on which the refugee policy was built, personal records and testimonies show us how the same policy in the territory of the Sava Banovina, later the Banovina of Croatia, in practice was adapted based on the situation on the field. A comparison of the fates of Jewish and non-Jewish foreign refugees revealed a difference in the government's attitude towards the two groups, which was reflected in the relatively freer regulations of transit and residence for non-Jewish foreigners.