Is it possible to get a second passport in Croatia and become a fellow citizen of the great inventor Nikola Tesla? What are the requirements and conditions put forward by the migration service? As usual, he goes over every step of the procedure in detail.

How to become a resident in Croatia? How to get a residence permit in Croatia?

Croatia is part of the Schengen area and requires a visa to enter. We always recommend that you initially come to the country of possible citizenship, study it, especially if citizenship requires a lot of time.

It is not possible to acquire citizenship by investment in Croatia, so start by carefully studying your possible new homeland.

As in other Schengen countries, you can get a national visa or a general Schengen one. Since 2012, all holders of a multiple Schengen visa, as well as holders of national visas and residence in Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus can enter the territory of Croatia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs offers to fill out a visa application form directly via the Internet. However, in any case, you will have to come with documents and a printed application form to the consulate or diplomatic mission.

The online form is available in Russian.

It is allowed to stay in Croatia for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days. All foreigners are required to register within 2 days of arrival. This can be done personally or it is done by hotels, hostels or those who invited (friends, organizations, etc.).

Exception only for members of the countries of the European Economic Area and relatives of citizens of Croatia and the EEA, who are allowed to stay in the country for up to 3 months without registration and only with a valid passport or ID. Here you can find the registration form .

How to get a temporary residence permit (permit) in Croatia?

If you already have a permanent residence in the EEA countries, then you have the right to come to the Croatian embassy in your place of residence and request a temporary residence permit. This will require a passport, the availability of funds for living, medical insurance, and the absence of problems with the law.

In general, third-country nationals apply for a residence permit in Croatia for one of the reasons: study, family reunification and work.

The application is submitted to the foreign embassy of Croatia. The application can be only for residency, or it can be both for work and residence.

You will be required to provide a color photograph, a copy of a valid passport, health insurance, proof of funds for living, justification for a temporary residence permit (marriage certificate, letter of admission to the university, work contract).

Documents must be originals or certified copies. Foreign documents must be translated into Croatian and properly certified. Documents must be no older than 6 months (insurance, extracts). The passport has a validity period of at least 6 months.

When obtaining a residence permit in Croatia, it is necessary to report your arrival to the police at the place of residence within 30 days. If this is not done on time, the residence permit will be cancelled.

A residence permit is issued for a year with the right to extend.

A residence permit in Croatia through study is issued upon admission to a school or higher education institution. Training is paid. Renewed annually as long as there is education. In theory, there is a chance to extend the residence permit for two years at once.

You can study for a bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate. After that, there is a chance to get a job in a local company and get a new type of residence permit – through employment.

It is not easy to obtain a residence permit in Croatia for employees . If you studied in Croatia, this is somewhat easier, but in general, quotas have been introduced for foreigners, which decrease every year. In addition, the requirements for employees are high. A separate option is the EU Blue Card, which implies both experience and a large salary.

In any case, it is necessary to conclude an agreement, obtain an entry visa and a residence permit. It is necessary to renew the residence permit annually, in some cases, if there is a contract, a residence permit can be issued for up to 2 years.

Residence permit in Croatia, business immigration and investments

It is difficult to single out a separate program for business investors; it operates within the framework of a regular work visa. But there is a list of requirements for entrepreneurs.

In fact, to obtain a residence permit, you need to create a company in Croatia, become a director in it and hire at least 3 Croatian employees.

51% or more of the company must belong to you, and the authorized capital of at least 200,000 kunas (26,000 euros) or half of the fund in cash and the rest in property, including real estate. The applicant’s salary must be at least the average gross salary in Croatia (about 1,100 euros), and the company must not have any tax debts.

An interesting and important point: while the director, i.e. you will not receive a work permit in Croatia, you are not entitled to sign any documents, employment contracts, etc. And you won’t get permission until there are 3 employees. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain a temporary work permit, which is valid for 90 days – the application is submitted at the local police station and issued in 2-3 days.

Visa extension is possible if the business is active, pays taxes, and the director’s salary does not fall below the designated level – this is checked.

There is information that you can get a residence permit for the purchase of real estate in Croatia. However, the situation is not quite the same: until recently, private foreigners could not buy real estate at all. Only companies, so they often did so.

Today it is possible for foreign individuals to acquire real estate in their name. This is not easy (requires permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), but also does not give access to a full-fledged residence permit. You will get the right to come to Croatia for a while, but you will not be able to switch to permanent residence, and even more so to citizenship.

Residence permit in Croatia through family reunification

Another classic option is family reunification. To use this option, the relative must be: a citizen of Croatia; a person with permanent residence in Croatia; a person with a residence permit for research activities or through asylum; persons who have already lived on a residence permit for 2 years and received permission for the third year.

The family is considered to be spouses and minor children, parents, brothers and sisters of the applicant. If a person has lived on a residence permit through family reunification for 4 years, then he has the right to obtain an independent residence permit if he is of age and fulfills all the requirements of the law.

As you can see, the Croatian immigration system is quite complicated. If you decide to move here, be patient.

How to get a permanent residence permit (permanent residence) in Croatia?

Those who have already lived on a permanent basis with a residence permit for 5 years can apply for permanent residence in Croatia. This means being absent for no more than 6 months in a row and no more than 10 months in total for 5 years.

The applicant will need a valid passport, stable income, social and health insurance, knowledge of the Croatian language at a basic level. It is also necessary to pass a test: on knowledge of the laws, culture and history of Croatia.

The application is submitted to the police station at the place of residence.

When leaving for a period of 1 to 5 years, you can maintain your permanent residence. To do this, you must write an application to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In general, permanent residence in Croatia allows you to permanently live in the country, work, study and receive services on a common basis.

How to get Croatian citizenship?

3 years after receiving permanent residence, the applicant gets a chance to apply for citizenship. Croatia offers 3 main ways to acquire citizenship: by birth, descent and naturalization. There is also the option of gaining/losing citizenship through international agreements.

A child is considered a citizen of Croatia if both parents were citizens of Croatia at birth; if one parent was a citizen and the child was born in Croatia; if the child was born outside of Croatia, 1 parent is a citizen, and the second is a stateless person.

If the child is found on the territory of the country or his parents are unknown / stateless, then he receives citizenship. At the age of 14, he can lose it if it becomes known that his parents are definitely foreigners.

If we talk about naturalization, then there are general requirements and nuances. In general, the applicant must:

1

Be of legal age;

2

Renounce your current citizenship or show that you have submitted a waiver application;

3

Prove that his registered place of residence for 5 years was an address in Croatia;

4

Prove that he knows the Croatian language and writing well;

5

Recognize the laws and cultures of Croatia.

If a person was born on the territory of Croatia, he may apply for citizenship without fulfilling the requirements of paragraphs 1, 2 and 4.

If a person has been married to a Croatian citizen for more than a year and permanently resides on the territory of Croatia, then paragraphs 1-4 are not required.

If your naturalization is in the interests of Croatia, then by decision of the Minister you have the right to obtain citizenship without fulfilling points 1-4.

How to get dual citizenship in Croatia?

Croatia allows you to have more than one citizenship. However, this is not always easy – as you remember, when obtaining citizenship through naturalization, you must give up your previous passport. There are workarounds, but they are less convenient than straightforward naturalization.

Within Croatia, you will always be treated as a pure citizen of Croatia, however, as is customary in many states.

The Croatian passport ranks 14th in the ranking of passports and allows you to travel to 143 countries without a visa, along with Brazil, Monaco and Bulgaria.

Taxes and tax planning in Croatia for people relocating

There are a lot of taxes in Croatia and they are different.

Corporate or income tax – 20%. VAT is 23%, reduced to 10% for accommodation services, newspapers, etc. 0% for part of food, medicines, etc.

There are taxes on alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, on tobacco, oil, coffee, on private vehicles, on luxury goods (30%).

Among the administrative taxes, inheritance and gift tax (5%), on slot machines and on watercraft and motor vehicles.

Cities or communities collect income tax, the rate varies depending on the location: 10% for a community, 12% for a city up to 30,000 people, 15% for those higher and 30% for Zagreb.

General income tax varies from 15% to 45%.

Tax on the sale of real estate – 5%. Buyer pays.

Useful links for those who are planning to move to Croatia

Fill out an application for a visa to Croatia online – https://crovisa.mvep.hr/default.aspx?langId=en

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (English) – http://www.mvep.hr/en/

Ministry of Internal Affairs – https://www.mup.hr/