Temporary stay of third-country nationals

Submitting an application

An application for temporary stay is submitted at a diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Croatia.
 
Exceptionally, third-country nationals who are required to have a visa to enter the Republic of Croatia may also apply for temporary stay at a police administration/police station if they are:
 

1. close family members of a Croatian citizen,
2. life partners or informal life partners of a Croatian citizen,
3. arriving for the purpose of studying at a university at undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate level,
4. scientific researchers arriving on the basis of a hosting agreement,
5. close family members of third-country nationals referred to in items 3 and 4,
6. submitting an application for temporary stay on humanitarian grounds,
7. family members of an EU Blue Card holder.

 

Purposes of temporary stay

Temporary stay may be granted to third-country nationals who intend to stay or who are staying in the Republic of Croatia for the following purposes:
 

1. family reunification,
2. secondary school education and university studies,
3. scientific research,
4. humanitarian grounds (if, due to particularly serious health reasons or old age, the citizen of a third country has not regulated his stay in the Republic of Croatia, or if during his stay in the Republic of Croatia it has been established that he is a victim of domestic violence or violence against women),
5. life partnership,
6. work, and
7. work of posted workers
8. stay of persons with long-term residence in another EEA Member State,
9. other purposes,
10. stay of digital nomads.

Temporary stay for the purpose of work is granted as a stay and work permit.
Third-country nationals may submit an application for temporary stay for other purposes or for the purpose of stay of digital nomads only after six months have passed from the expiry of temporary stay that was granted for other purposes or for the purpose of stay of digital nomads.
 

Conditions for granting temporary stay

Third-country nationals will be granted temporary stay if they:
 

1. prove the purpose of their temporary stay,
2. have a valid travel document,
3. have funds to support themselves,
4. have health insurance,
5. when applying for temporary stay for the first time, enclose proof that they have not been convicted by a final ruling of any criminal offences in their home country or a country where they resided for more than one year immediately prior to arriving in the Republic of Croatia, unless they are posted workers, students, scientific researchers, or intra-corporate transferees utilising mobility, arriving from another EEA Member State,
6. have not been banned entry and stay in the Republic of Croatia and no alert has been issued in SIS for the purpose of banning their entry, and
7. are not considered threat for public policy, national security or public health.

 

Withdrawing a temporary stay permit

The Ministry shall withdraw a temporary stay permit for a third-country national through a police administration or a police station if:

1. the conditions for granting temporary stay cease to exist
2. he has been forbidden to enter into the Republic of Croatia and stay in the Republic of Croatia, or if an alert has been issued in SIS for the purpose of forbidding his entry
3. he fails to register his temporary residence with a police administration or a police station within 30 days from having been granted temporary stay or issued with a long-term visa
4. he cancels his temporary residence in the Republic of Croatia upon his own request
5. he stays abroad for a total of more than 90 days on multiple occasions or more than 30 days on a single occasion since the day he was granted temporary stay in the duration of up to one year
6. he stays abroad for a total of more than 180 days on multiple occasions or more than 60 days on a single occasion since the day he was granted temporary stay in the duration of up to two years
7. he has been staying in the Republic of Croatia contrary to the purpose of his temporary stay permit
8. spouses or common law partners, or life or informal life partners do not live in a real marital or common law partnership, or a genuine life partnership or informal life partnership, and temporary stay was granted for the purpose of family reunification or life partnership.

Exceptionally, tems 5 and 6 of this Article shall not apply to researchers and students if they are staying in another EEA Member State on the basis of short-term or long-term mobility, or to third-country nationals who have been granted a stay and work permit and who have been posted to work in another EEA Member State.

By way of derogation from items 5 and 6 of this Article, a temporary stay permit shall not be withdrawn for a third-country national who stays outside of the Republic of Croatia for up to 90 days on a single occasion for justified reasons if, prior to leaving the Republic of Croatia, he notifies the competent police administration or police station thereof.
Should exceptional circumstances occur after his departure from the Republic of Croatia, the third-country national shall notify a diplomatic mission or a consular post of the Republic of Croatia within 30 days from the occurrence of these circumstances.
 

Duration of temporary stay

Temporary stay is granted for a period of up to one year.

The period of validity of a travel document has to be at least 3 months longer than the period of validity of a temporary stay permit.

If the application is approved, an alien is issued a biometric residence permit.

If the application is submitted at a diplomatic mission/consular post, aliens will be notified that a decision relating to the application has been issued, instructing them to appear at the competent police administration/police station to provide biometric data required for their residence permit.

Aliens have to report their temporary residence address at the competent police administration/police station not later than three days from their entry into the Republic of Croatia.

Administrative fee: If an application is submitted at a police administration/police station, aliens have to pay the amount of 46,45 EUR to be granted temporary stay and 31,85 EUR for the production of a biometric residence permit (59,73 EUR  for accelerated procedure). Both amounts have to be paid with a payment slip (separately) to the state budget account, IBAN code of which is obtained at the competent police administration/police station.
An additional administrative fee in the amount of 9,29 EUR has to be paid for the issuance of a biometric residence permit either to the IBAN code of the state budget or in revenue stamps.

NOTE: The administrative fee for temporary stay (46,45 EUR) may also be paid via internet banking, to the state budget account, IBAN HR1210010051863000160, model HR64, reference number: 5002-713-OIB (personal identification number - OIB, of an alien for whom the administrative fee is being paid for).

Aliens who have not been assigned an OIB will have to enter the following reference number: 5002-713-the number of their valid travel document/identity card.

(IMPORTANT: maximum a ten-digit number, and if the number starts with zeros (0), they are omitted. Letter symbols, slashes, full stops, commas, etc. are also NOT to be written).

For example, if a travel document/identity card number of a foreign national is AZ004586, then the reference number reads: 5002-713-4586 (without letter symbols and zeros, and with maximum ten digits).

A fee in the amount of 31,85 EUR for the production of a biometric residence permit may also be paid via internet banking, to the state budget account, IBAN HR1210010051863000160, model HR65, reference number: 7005-485-OIB (personal identification number - OIB, of an alien for whom the administrative fee is being paid for).

Aliens who have not been assigned an OIB will have to enter the following reference number: 7005-485-RKP-file number.

An administrative fee in the amount of 9,29 EUR for the issuance of a biometric residence permit may also be paid via internet banking, to the state budget account, IBAN HR1210010051863000160, model HR64, reference number 5002-713-OIB.

Aliens who have not been assigned an OIB will have to enter the following reference number: 5002-713-the number of their valid travel document/identity card.

(IMPORTANT: maximum a ten-digit number, and if the number starts with zeros (0), they are omitted. Letter symbols, slashes, full stops, commas, etc. are also NOT to be written).