Moving to Croatia from Australia

More than 3,700 euros a month: The Interior Ministry sets the test at 2.5 times the average monthly net salary of the previous year, shown by a bank statement of regular income or six months of payslips. The 2025 average net salary was 1,449 euros, which sets the 2026 minimum income. To be safe, have more than 3,700 euros a month, about A$6,000 at the ECB rate of 15 October 2026. In place of income you can show money already in a bank account; the minimum runs about 43,500 to 65,200 euros depending on whether you plan 12 or 18 months, and to be safe you should hold more than 66,000 euros for 18 months. Those are 12 and 18 times the monthly figure. Each additional family member or life partner adds 10% of the average net salary, so on our arithmetic a couple, and then a couple with one child, run about 3,800 to 3,900 euros a month; to be safe, have more than 4,000 euros a month if all three of you come. The page does not say what savings a family needs, so that is unknown. The figure changes every year, so confirm it on the Interior Ministry page when you apply.

If it is granted for less than 18 months you can ask for an extension of up to 6 months, no later than 60 days before it ends, and a new application can be filed 6 months after the previous stay expires. Self-employed people show proof that their own company is registered (outside Croatia) and evidence of the work. You show either income or savings: a set minimum income (to be safe, have more than 3,700 euros a month), or a bank balance (the minimum runs about 43,500 to 65,200 euros for a 12 or 18-month stay; to be safe, hold more than 66,000 euros for 18 months). Australian citizens do not need a visa for a short visit (the Croatian Embassy in Canberra says so for valid Australian passports), and the Interior Ministry says people who do not need a visa can apply online, at a Croatian embassy or consulate, or at the police if they are already legally in Croatia; people who do not need a visa and apply in person may stay until the decision is final. Fees are 46.45 euros for the stay when you apply at a police station, plus 9.29 euros for the permit and 31.85 euros for the biometric card (59.73 euros if you ask for it faster), or 55.74 euros at a mission plus 41.14 euros for the card, which the page tells you to check with the mission. The 93 euro long-term visa on the same page applies to people who need a visa to enter Croatia, which Australians do not. A Croatian Foreign Ministry page still says the stay is up to a year and cannot be extended; we follow the Interior Ministry, which is the authority that decides and gives the 18-month limit.

Croatia also has temporary stay for other purposes, for which the January 2026 amendment sets the means test at 60% of the average net salary, a lower share than the nomad test; the pages we opened do not say what counts as other purposes, so whether it fits a remote worker is unknown. The Atlas Tax Map records no golden visa and no residence-by-investment programme for Croatia (checked 31 May 2026, citing the Interior Ministry's digital nomad page). Youth mobility is closed to you for now: Home Affairs' report of 31 December 2025 has no Working Holiday Maker arrangement with Croatia and names Croatia among the countries Australia is still negotiating a Work and Holiday arrangement with, so there is no scheme and no age limit to quote, and we do not know whether or when one will start. Age limits for the other routes are not stated on the pages we opened.

For an Australian record, the Australian Federal Police issues National Police Checks, including for working overseas, but we found no official page saying which Australian check Croatia accepts, so that is unknown until you ask. On legalisation, Australia and Croatia are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, which replaces full legalisation with a single authentication, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the only authority that apostilles Australian public documents; whether the Croatian mission wants an apostille on your check, and who may translate it, we could not confirm. An April 2026 ordinance adds a health and vaccination certificate (Form 18a, not older than 90 days) for visa-regime nationals on a first temporary stay; Australian citizens are visa-exempt, so we read it as not applying to you, but we did not confirm that. Australian citizens can visit Croatia without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen area, and time in Croatia counts with time in other Schengen states. Croatia has applied the Schengen rules in full since 1 January 2023. The EU Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026, and Smartraveller says Australians staying 90 days or less register fingerprints and a photo on arrival, free of charge. The European Commission says ETIAS is expected in the last quarter of 2026; it will cost 20 euros and last 3 years or until your passport expires, and we found no official start date, so it is unconfirmed. The Interior Ministry page gives no decision time, only an automatic confirmation and a later contact from a case worker, so processing time is unknown. After approval you register your address with the police and collect a biometric residence card. If you would rather apply before you travel, Croatia's missions in Australia split the country: the Embassy in Canberra covers the Australian Capital Territory, the bordering parts of New South Wales and New Zealand; the Consulate General in Sydney covers New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory; the Consulate General in Melbourne covers Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania; and the Consulate in Perth covers Western Australia. The Canberra consular section works by appointment only and takes consular fees only as payment into the Embassy's account at the Commonwealth Bank. None of the Australian mission pages we opened has a checklist or fee table of its own for the nomad stay (the Embassy's stay and work page sends you to the Interior Ministry), so which mission takes your file and whether it charges the 55.74 euros, or a different amount, is unknown until you ask.

Croatia treats you as having a permanent residence where you own or have a dwelling at your disposal for 183 days in one or two calendar years, and actual stay in it is not required. Habitual residence is a stay of at least 183 days in one or two calendar years, and the tax authority also looks at where your personal and economic ties are closest. Residents are taxed on income earned in Croatia and abroad. Australian law treats you as resident if you reside in Australia in the ordinary sense, if your domicile is in Australia (unless the Commissioner is satisfied your permanent place of abode is outside it), or if you were in Australia more than half the income year (unless your usual place of abode is outside Australia and you do not intend to take up residence there); a fourth test covers some government superannuation members. An ATO example says a teacher who goes to Japan on a one-year contract, rents out her home and plans to return stays an Australian resident, while a family that sets up a home overseas for three years does not, and the ATO points to a 2013 court decision treating someone who failed to cut their connection as resident. Your facts decide it. Australia and Croatia have no income tax treaty, so there is no treaty rule to decide which country wins if both count you as resident.

We did not find the rate Zagreb actually set, so that is unknown. We did not price social charges, local taxes or any other tax.

It says nothing about other income such as rent, interest or gains, so assume those are taxable until an adviser says otherwise. How it applies to a freelancer invoicing clients, rather than working for an employer, is for a Croatian tax adviser to confirm. We read the 2020 amending Act and the Tax Administration's list of 2021 changes, not the current consolidated Act, so check that nothing has changed.

Both countries are parties to the OECD convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters (in force for Australia from 1 December 2012 and for Croatia from 1 June 2014); we did not read its text, and we did not find that it decides which country taxes first, so we do not rely on it. We did not read Australia's rules for relief on Croatian tax and found no rule that settles which country comes first, so how the two systems fit together is unknown without an adviser. If your status changes during a year, you answer yes to "Are you an Australian resident?" and are taxed at resident rates for that year with a pro-rata tax-free threshold; the Medicare levy does not apply to foreign residents. After the date you stop being a resident, foreign income stays out of your Australian return. Get a dated opinion before you rely on either country's view.

The Interior Ministry says you register your temporary residence address at the police within 3 days of entry and get your biometric residence card in person, and that the stay is revoked if you do not register in time. We found no official page saying how long an OIB takes or whether a fee applies, so that is unknown.

The Interior Ministry asks that bank statements show the currency clearly.