Croatia's Aliens Act and Its Place in the EU

Europe has no single work visa, as each state makes its own laws, and the rules for you rest on the kind of job you will hold. The official EU Immigration Portal, which the EU runs, sets out the main routes for each EU state, this one too, so it is a good place to start.

The country took up the euro and joined the Schengen area at the same time, but neither step changed who may work there. A Schengen visa does not let you work in Zagreb, Split or Rijeka, and nor does a right to live in Slovenia or Austria. If you are also thinking of a job to the east, read about work permits in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the rules are not the same.

The Aliens Act is the main law here, and it has been changed more than once of late, with new rules on time limits, job moves and the firms that may hire. To weigh it up with other states, see our guide to work visas in Europe.

Who Needs Croatian Permission to Work

Which paper you need depends on where your passport is from, on the job you take and on how long the firm plans to keep you, and the table sets out the main groups.

Family members, students and those who have lived here for a long time all have their own rules, and some of them may work with no permit at all. A student, for one, can take a job for no more than 20 hours a week, so read the terms of your own card first.

What the Employer and Worker Must Show

You get a work visa for Croatia only when the job, the firm and you all meet the terms in the Aliens Act, and the list below sets out the main ones.

• The job offer and the signed contract must come from a firm that is set up and trading in the country.
• The firm needs a good result from a labour market test, or a job on the list of roles that skip the test.
• Your skills, training or past work must fit the job, since the state looks at whether you can do it well.
• The firm must have paid all its tax and social dues, and it must keep a set share of local staff on its books.
• Your pay must be no less than what local staff in the same job get, and your contract may not treat you worse.
• If the firm gives you a place to live, the home must meet the set standard for decent housing.
• You need a valid passport, and you must not be banned from entry or be seen as a risk to public safety.

The test checks if people out of work who are signed up with the Croatian Employment Service could take the job first. For roles on the exempt list, which the HZZ board sets, the firm skips the test, but HZZ still has to give a good opinion on the firm itself. A permit granted through the test or the list then covers work only in the police area where the need was found.

Croatian Permits for Work and Stay

The Aliens Act sets out a few routes for work, and the one that fits you turns on the job, on the firm and on how long you will stay.

The law also has routes for those who do research and for people who work for themselves, each with its own terms. Pick the route at the start, since a permit given for one job cannot just be used for a new kind of work, and a work registration certificate runs for only 30 or 90 days. For the Blue Card, your pay for a year must reach one and a half times the mean gross wage for a year, on a contract of a year or more.

Steps From Job Offer to Biometric Card

This is the usual order for a first stay and work permit, and each stage has to be done in full before the next can start.

1. Accept a Croatian job offer: you get a job offer from a firm based in the country, on pay and hours that meet the local work law.
2. Labour market test: the firm asks the Croatian Employment Service to test the market for local staff, though some jobs skip this step.
3. File for the permit: for most jobs the firm files online with HZZ, while other cases go to the police in person or by email.
4. Get an entry visa if needed: once the permit is approved, those whose passport calls for a visa pick one up at a Croatian embassy.
5. Register in Croatia: when you land, you sign up your address with the police and give your prints and a photo for your card.
6. Start with your employer: you then work for the firm and in the job that your permit names, and any move to a new firm follows set rules.

You renew the permit before it runs out, and if you file in time, you may stay and work while the police decide. Once you have been with your first firm for six months, you can move to a new one with no fresh permit, but you may start there only when HZZ says yes. A change is also planned that would add a test in basic Croatian to the first renewal, so keep an eye out for news on it.

Documents for a Croatian Permit File

The police can ask to see the real papers as well as copies, and each paper in a foreign language needs a Croatian translation from a court interpreter. You do not need proof of health cover for a stay based on a job with a local firm.

Documents You Collect Before Applying

• A passport that is valid for your whole stay, plus a new photo of the right size and type.
• The filled-in form for the stay and work permit, which is Form 2a for most jobs with a local firm.
• The job contract, signed by both sides, with the pay and the hours set out in full.
• Proof of your skills, such as a degree, a trade card or a note from a past boss about the work you did.
• A Croatian translation of each foreign paper, made by a court interpreter whose stamp the police will take.
• An apostille or a stamp from an embassy on your papers, in the cases where the police ask for one.
• Proof that you have a home to go to, for example a lease or a note from the firm that gives you a room.

What the Croatian Company Prepares

• The firm's entry in the court register, which proves that it is real and does trade here.
• The result of the labour market test, or proof that the job is on the list of roles that skip it.
• The work contract on local terms, with pay that is no lower than what local staff in the same job get.
• Details of the home, when the firm puts you up in a room or flat of its own.
• For staff who need a visa, a signed debenture note to the ministry, worth one month of the mean wage, within five days of the permit.

Fees and Other Costs in Euros

Croatia sets its fees by law and changes the sums now and then, so ask the police or the Ministry of the Interior for the rates before you pay.

You will earn your wage and pay your rent in euros, and the state fees are in euros as well. Rents on the coast go up in summer, so if you come for the season, find a place to live in good time.

How Long the HZZ Check and Police Decision Take

There is no fixed time frame for a work visa for Croatia, since it turns on the test, on how busy the local police are and on how full your file is. The law now gives the state up to 90 days to rule on a permit that goes through HZZ, and up to 30 more days in rare cases.

Jobs on the exempt list can move a bit faster, as no test has to be run. Spring is the peak on the coast, when hotels and bars hire for summer, so start early and leave time for the visa and the trip.

Sectors Hiring Foreign Workers From Istria to Slavonia

Hotels on the coast and building work all over the country drive much of the need for staff from abroad, and the table shows where firms most often hire.

Hiring on the coast peaks from late spring to the start of autumn, while building sites, plants and haulage firms take on staff all year round.

Plan the Rest of Your Croatian Move

These EU Helpers guides go on from where the permit steps end, with more on time frames, pay, daily life and the move itself.

• Croatian work permit timelines, which shows the stages that take the most time and the things that slow them down.
• Better-paid Croatian jobs in short supply, with roles on the coast, in Zagreb and in the towns where most of the plants are.
• What makes Croatia worth working in, from pay and the cost of a home to a day off by the sea.
• Moving to Croatia step by step, with tips on how to find a flat, sign up your address and settle in fast.

Errors That Hold Up a Croatian Permit

• Starting work before the stay and work permit has been approved, which puts the whole case at risk.
• Coming in on a Schengen tourist visa and then trying to change it for a work permit once in the country.
• Sending in foreign papers that a court interpreter has not yet translated into Croatian, which the police will send back.
• Moving to a new firm in your first six months, or before HZZ has given its view on the change.
• Leaving the renewal so late that the permit runs out before you have filed for the next one.
• Not telling HZZ within five days that your job has come to an end, which can cost you the permit.

What EU Helpers Does for Croatian Hires

• We work from the Aliens Act as it stands now and from the latest exempt list, not from broad EU rules.
• We check the contract and your papers before the firm files anything on the HZZ site or with the police.
• Before your embassy visit and your prints and photo, we go through what the staff there will want to see.
• We plan hiring for the season around the summer peak on the coast, so that staff can start on time.
• We help with renewals, job moves and new addresses while you work here, and we track each date.

The police and the Ministry of the Interior rule on each permit, which we tell you plainly from the start. You can look through our visa approvals so far, read feedback from clients or see who is behind EU Helpers.

Get Started With EU Helpers

Pick the sign-up that fits you, and our team will take you through each step in Croatia, from the HZZ check to your card, or you can book a call with an adviser first.

Register as a Worker (Find Jobs in Croatia)

Sign up once, and we will look for local firms with checked jobs that fit your skills, then help you through the permit and the visa.

1. Job matches in tourism, building, transport and other fields where local firms are short of staff.
2. A checklist of what to bring for the stay and work permit, drawn up for the passport you hold.
3. Help to get the court interpreter translations and apostilles done in good time, before the firm files.
4. Tips to get you set for the visa desk and for your first trip to the police when you land.
5. Support each time you renew or move jobs while you live and work there.

Register as a Worker

Register as a Recruiter / Agency

Work with us to bring your people to local firms, with each step of the permit mapped out from the start.

1. Open local roles, each one with its route and any right to skip the test noted for you.
2. Clear notes on the HZZ test, the exempt list and the share of local staff that a firm must keep.
3. A full check of each worker's file, so the firm can send it in online with no gaps.
4. Updates on each permit, step by step, until the worker turns up for the first shift.
5. Plans for the summer rush on the coast, made well before the first guests arrive.

Register as a Recruitment Partner

Register as an Employer (Hire Foreign Workers in Croatia)

If your business in Croatia cannot find staff at home, we help you hire from abroad and keep within the Aliens Act at each step.

1. Checked workers for hotels, building sites, haulage firms and plants in all parts of the country.
2. Help with the labour market test and the HZZ forms that you have to file online.
3. Permit papers put together with your own staff and checked line by line before they go in.
4. Help with visas and travel, so the people you hire are here when the season or the job begins.
5. One named person on our side, from the first job ad to the end of the first shift.

Register as an Employer

Why Registration Is Important

Your sign-up gives us checked details on each worker, firm and partner before we put anyone forward for a job. It also lets us spot a missing paper early, well before the police or HZZ ask to see it.

Author

EU Helpers Team. We place workers with firms in Croatia, and we check this page each time there is a change to the Aliens Act, the exempt list or the way the police work.

Official Sources

Croatian rules are amended from time to time, so confirm each point with these official sources before applying:

• Croatia, stay and work permits for foreigners, Ministry of the Interior: mup.gov.hr
• Croatia, labour market test and employment of foreigners, Croatian Employment Service: hzz.hr
• Croatia, Aliens Act in the official gazette, Narodne novine: narodne-novine.nn.hr
• Croatia, public services portal, Government of Croatia: gov.hr
• EU Immigration Portal, country information for workers, European Commission: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu