Short-term residence is reported to the police administration or police station competent according to the place of temporary residence of the third-country national or the tourist board.

Short-term residence application form (Form 16a)

Temporary residence is the residence of a third-country national for up to one year and may be granted for the purposes of family reunification, life partnership, secondary education, study, research, humanitarian reasons, work of posted workers or for other purposes. Temporary residence/stay for the purpose of work is granted as a residence and work permit.

Application for a temporary residence permit (Form 1a)

Application for a temporary residence and work permit (Form 2a)

Residence and work permits

A third-country national who does not need a visa for entry into the Republic of Croatia may apply for a temporary stay/residence permit at the competent diplomatic mission/consular office of the Republic of Croatia at police administration / police station at the place of his or her intended stay, employer’s seat or place of work.

A third-country national who needs a visa to enter the Republic of Croatia, submits the application at the diplomatic mission / consular office of the Republic of Croatia.

Exceptionally, nationals of third countries who require visa for entering the Republic of Croatia, may apply for a temporary stay at the police administration / police station if:

1. they are a member of the immediate family of a Croatian citizen
2. they are a living or informal life partner of a Croatian citizen
3. the purpose of their stay is studying at higher education institutions or colleges as regular students on undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels
4. they are researchers who come under a visiting contract
5. they a member of the immediate family of a third country national referred to in points 3 and 4
6. they are applying for a temporary residence permit for humanitarian reasons
7. they are a family member of the EU Blue Card holder

Temporary residence shall be granted to third country nationals by fulfilling the following conditions :

1. if he or she proved the purpose of their temporary stay/residence,
2. if he or she has a valid travel document,
3. if he or she has the means to support themself and their family members,
4. if he or she has health insurance,
5. the application for the first temporary residence permit must be accompanied by proof that he or she has not been convicted of criminal offenses from his or her home country or the country in which he or she stayed for more than a year immediately before arriving in the Republic of Croatia, unless the person is a posted worker or a student researcher or a person transferred within a company benefiting from mobility from another EEA Member State
6. if he or she doens’t have a ban on entering the Republic of Croatia and staying in the Republic of Croatia or if a warning has been issued in the SIS (security intelligence system) for the purpose of banning entry
7. if he or she does not pose a threat to public order, national security or public health.

Long-term residence may be granted to third-country nationals who, until the date of submission of the application, have a continuous temporary stay, asylum or subsidiary protection in the Republic of Croatia for a period of five years 5 years  (repeated absences from the Republic of Croatia of up to 10 months in total or up to 6 months once during a continuous five-year stay are not considered interruption). At the time of deciding on the application for a permanent stay permit, third-country nationals must have a granted temporary residence, asylum or subsidiary protection in the Republic of Croatia.

Long-term residence shall be granted to third country nationals if they meet the following conditions, together with the conditions mentined in point 6. :

• If they have valid travel documents (passports),
• If they have sufficient means for supporting themselves and their family members,
• If they have health insurance,
• If they are familiar with the Croatian language and Latin script, Croatian culture and social organisation,
• If they do not pose a threat to public order, national security or public health.

Application for long-term residence permit (Form 1a) is submitted to the police administration/station competent according to the place of residence of the third-country national, and the Ministry of the Interior decides on the applications.

Form 1a

Permanent residence may be granted to a third-country national who is:

1. a family member or a life partner of a Croatian citizen who, until the day of submitting the application, has been granted temporary residence for a continuous period of four years for the purpose of family reunification or life partnership
2. of Croatian nationality with foreign citizenship or statelessness who proves his or her status by a certificate of the state administration body responsible for relations with Croats outside the Republic of Croatia and who is determined to have returned with the intention of living permanently in the Republic of Croatia and until the date of application has been granted temporary residence for a continuous period of three years
3. until the day of submitting the application, he or she had been granted temporary residence for three consecutive years, and he had been a refugee for at least ten years, as evidenced by a certificate from the state administration body responsible for housing
4. a minor child who has been granted temporary residence for the purpose of family reunification for a continuous period of three years until the day of submitting the application for permanent residence, and one of the parents has been granted permanent residence or long-term residence
5. resided in the Republic of Croatia on 8 October 1991 and is a beneficiary of a return or reconstruction or housing program, as evidenced by a certificate from the state administration body responsible for housing and found to have returned with the intention of living permanently in the Republic of Croatia, with the obligation to submit proof of impunity from the home country or the country in which he or she stayed for more than a year immediately before arriving in the Republic of Croatia
6. minor child living in the Republic of Croatia:
   – whose one of the parents, at the time of the child’s birth, has an approved permanent residence or long-term residence with the consent of the other parent

– whose one parent, at the time of the child’s birth, has an approved permanent residence or long-term residence in the Republic of Croatia, and the other parent is unknown, died, declared dead, deprived of parental care or completely or partially deprived of legal capacity in relation to parental care

7.  born in the Republic of Croatia and has lived in the territory of the Republic of Croatia since birth, but due to justified reasons which he or she could not influence, he or she did not have a regulated residence.

The application for a permanent residence permit  (Form 1a) is submitted to the police administration / station responsible for the place of residence of the third-country national, and the application is decided by the Ministry of the Interior.

The EU Blue Card is a residence and work permit for a third-country national who is a highly qualified worker and at the same time is a holder of a temporary residence and work permit in the territory of the Republic of Croatia. The EU Blue Card is issued in the form of a biometric residence permit. A third-country national who has been issued an EU Blue Card may work in the Republic of Croatia only on jobs for which he or she has been granted a residence and work permit and only with the employer with whom he or she has established the employment relationship.

EU Blue Card holders who change their employer in the first two years of their stay in the Republic of Croatia are obliged to submit an application for an EU Blue Card residence and work permit to the competent police administration or police station within eight days from the day of termination of employment.

After a period of two years, the EU Blue Card holders are obliged to inform the competent police administration or police station within eight days of the change of employment and submit a new employment contract with the new employer, and the EU Blue Card is valid until its expiration.

A highly qualified third-country national worker is required to apply for a residence and work permit at the diplomatic mission or consular office of the Republic of Croatia, or at the police administration / police station according to intended place of temporary residence on Form 4a.

The conditions for issuing the EU Blue Card are as follows:

• Conditions referred to in Section 5;
• A contract of employment for the performance of a job of highly qualified worker, concluded for a period of at least one year with an employer who is established in the Republic of Croatia (the contract of employment must indicate the gross annual salary in the amount which shall not be less than 1.5 average gross annual salary according to the officially published data of the competent statistical body),
• Proof of higher education, i.e., a diploma, certificate, or other proof of a formal qualification issued by a higher education institution recognized in the home country;
• Proof of meeting the conditions in accordance with the special regulations on professional qualifications for practicing the profession stated in the employment contract. 

Third country nationals with approved long-term stay or permanent residence have the right to:

• Employment and self-employment,
• Vocational training,
• Education and scholarships, except for the state scholarship;
• Social welfare, child allowance;
• Tax reliefs,
• Access to goods and services market,
• Freedom of association and membership in organisations representing workers or employers, or in organisations whose members practice a special profession, including any allowances that such organisations provide them with.

Third-country nationals exercise their rights in accordance with the regulations of the Republic of Croatia governing certain areas.