Digital nomad visa in Croatia

• The route is for non-EU citizens who work through communication technology for an employer or a company, including their own company, that is not registered in Croatia.
• It does not cover work or services for employers in Croatia. Working for a Croatian employer needs a stay and work permit, which ties you to that employer and the job it names.
• If you are self-employed, you show proof that your own company is registered and evidence of the work you do for it.
• The Aliens Act lists digital nomads as their own purpose of temporary stay, separate from work, family reunification and the catch-all "other purposes".
• Partners and family members can be counted in the stay: the means formula adds an amount for each additional family member or life partner, and the Act's rules on repeat applications mention family and partner stays attached to a digital nomad.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Republic of Croatia, Narodne novine 14/2021. Checked 17 October 2026.

• The income test is 2.5 times the previous year's average monthly net salary. For 2026 that is about €3,620 a month. To be safe, have more than €3,700 a month.
• The 2025 average net salary was €1,449 a month, from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics notice published in Narodne novine; the 2026 test is built on it.
• You show the income with a bank statement of regular income or with six months of payslips.
• In place of income you can show money already in a bank account: about €43,500 for a 12-month stay or about €65,200 for an 18-month stay. To be safe, have more than €44,000 for 12 months or more than €66,000 for 18 months.
• Each additional family member or life partner adds 10% of the average net salary to the monthly test. That makes about €3,770 a month for a couple and about €3,910 for a couple with one child. To be safe, have more than €3,800 or more than €4,000 a month.
• What savings a family needs in place of income is not stated on the pages we opened, so that figure is unknown.
• The test is recalculated every year from the previous year's average net salary, so the figure for 2027 will differ from the 2026 one.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Narodne novine 14/2021, Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Checked 15 October 2026.

• You need the application form, and a passport valid for at least three months longer than your intended stay.
• You need health insurance that covers Croatia for the whole stay.
• As proof of purpose you give a statement plus either an employment or service contract with the foreign employer, or proof that your own company is registered and evidence of the work.
• You give proof of means (a bank statement or payslips) and a criminal record certificate, legalised, from your home country and from any country where you lived for more than a year.
• You need an address in Croatia.
• Documents must be in Croatian or English, with an authorised translation where needed.
• A digital nomad on temporary stay does not have to register for Croatian compulsory health insurance and pays for care themselves, according to a 2021 amendment to the health insurance law for foreigners.
• 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. US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand passports are visa-exempt, so we read it as not applying, but we did not confirm that.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Croatian Parliament. Checked 17 October 2026.

• 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.
• Someone who does not need a visa and applies in person may stay until the decision is final.
• The Interior Ministry gives no decision time, only an automatic confirmation and a later contact from a case worker, so processing time is unknown.
• You register your address with the police within 3 days of entry and collect the biometric card in person. The stay is revoked if you do not register in time.
• A visit before you apply counts towards the 90 days in any 180 that visa-exempt visitors may spend in the Schengen area, and the nomad stay is a national permit separate from that allowance.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, European Commission. Checked 16 October 2026.

• Applying at a police station, the fee for the stay is €46.45 and the permit fee is €9.29. The biometric card fee is €31.85, or €59.73 if you ask for it faster.
• Applying at a Croatian mission, the fees are €55.74 for the stay plus €41.14 for the card.
• The health cover you must hold is bought from an insurer, not from the state, and the pages we opened give no price for it.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 October 2026.

• The stay is granted for up to 18 months, possibly less.
• If it is granted for less than 18 months, one extension of up to 6 months can be requested, no later than 60 days before it ends.
• A new nomad application can be filed 6 months after the previous stay expires. The Act applies the same wait after a stay for other purposes or a family or partner stay with a digital nomad.
• A Foreign Ministry page still says the stay is up to a year with no extension. We follow the Interior Ministry, which decides applications, and the Aliens Act as amended in 2025, which both give the 18-month limit.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Republic of Croatia, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 17 October 2026.

• Long-term residence needs five years of legal, uninterrupted stay before applying, and temporary stay counts towards it.
• Absences are limited: several absences can total up to 10 months in the five years, and a single absence can last up to 6 months.
• You must also have funds to support yourself, health insurance, knowledge of Croatian and the Latin script, and no threat to public policy, national security or public health.
• A nomad stay ends after at most 18 months and the next one can only be requested 6 months after it expires, so a run of nomad stays would have gaps. The pages we opened do not say whether such stays count towards the five years.
• The decision on long-term residence costs €83.62, and the biometric residence permit fee is €31.85, or €59.73 in the accelerated procedure.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Republic of Croatia. Checked 17 October 2026.

• 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.
• Since 1 January 2021 the Income Tax Act says that receipts from work as an employee, or an activity for an employer, not registered in Croatia, earned on the strength of digital nomad status, are not treated as income.
• The wording ties the exemption to that status and to work for an employer outside Croatia. It says nothing about other income such as rent, interest or gains, and how it applies to a freelancer invoicing clients is for a Croatian tax adviser to confirm. We read the 2020 amending Act, not the current consolidated Act.
• For income that is taxed, the lower income tax rate applies up to €60,000 a year and the higher rate above that. Each local government sets its own rates: 15 to 20% and 25 to 30% in a municipality, up to 15 to 23% and 25 to 33% in the City of Zagreb, with 20% and 30% as defaults.
• A foreign person asks for a personal identification number (OIB) at the Tax Administration office that covers the place, in person or through a proxy, with a completed form and a passport. How long it takes and any fee are unknown.

Sources: Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava), Croatian Parliament. Checked 15 October 2026.

• Work permit in Croatia
• Family visa in Croatia

• Visas in Croatia
• Croatia

1. Schengen visa policy: countries whose nationals do not need a visa, European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs. Checked 15 October 2026.
2. Temporary stay of digital nomads, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 15 October 2026.
3. Apostille Convention: status table, Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Checked 16 October 2026. In force for the United States 15 October 1981, Australia 16 March 1995, New Zealand 22 November 2001, Croatia 8 October 1991 and Canada 11 January 2024.
4. Consular jurisdictions of the Croatian missions in the United States, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 15 October 2026.
5. US citizens abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
6. Foreign earned income exclusion, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
7. Physical presence test, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
8. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Checked 15 October 2026.
9. Treasury press release: United States and Croatia sign income tax treaty (7 December 2022), US Department of the Treasury. Checked 15 October 2026.
10. Treasury press release: protocol amending the 2022 treaty signed (28 April 2026), US Department of the Treasury. Checked 15 October 2026.
11. United States income tax treaties A to Z, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
12. Totalization agreements: overview and list, Internet Archive copy of 11 May 2026, US Social Security Administration. Checked 15 October 2026.
13. Croatia travel advice and advisories, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca). Checked 15 October 2026.
14. Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, Annex II: countries whose nationals are exempt from a visa for up to 90 days in any 180 (Official Journal text of 28 November 2018, later amended), European Union (copy hosted by the European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs). Checked 15 October 2026.
15. Authentication of documents: frequently asked questions, Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada). Checked 16 October 2026. The Apostille Convention entered into force in Canada on 11 January 2024; Global Affairs Canada authenticates name-based criminal record checks.
16. Improving authentication services in Canada (news release of 12 December 2023), Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada). Checked 16 October 2026. Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan issue apostilles for their own documents; Global Affairs Canada issues them for the rest.
17. Contact and working hours, Embassy of Croatia in Ottawa, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 16 October 2026. Embassy at 229 Chapel Street, Ottawa; the consular section sees clients Monday to Thursday, by appointment through the Croatian Consular Portal.
18. Consular days (Embassy of Croatia in Canada), Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 16 October 2026. Consular days in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver on 12 to 15 November 2026, by appointment booked by email on 29 and 30 October 2026; an apostille stamp also has to be translated into Croatian.
19. Tax treaties in force: Croatia, Department of Finance Canada. Checked 16 October 2026. Lists the Canada-Croatia agreement, signed 9 December 1997, among Canada's income tax treaties in force; the page gives no date of entry into force.
20. Agreement between Canada and Croatia for the avoidance of double taxation (1997), text (CTS 1999 No. 46), Government of Canada (Treaty Law Division, Global Affairs Canada). Checked 16 October 2026. Tie-breaker for residence (Article 4); independent services (Article 14); employment income and the 183-day rule (Article 15); pensions (Article 18); withholding caps on dividends, interest and royalties (Articles 10 to 12); relief from double taxation (Article 23).
21. Double taxation: agreements Croatia has concluded and applies, Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 16 October 2026. Lists Canada: published in the international agreements gazette 12/1999 and applied from 1 January 2000; also recorded by the Atlas Tax Map (treaty in force, checked 30 May 2026).
22. Croatia: pensions and benefits (Canada-Croatia social security agreement), Government of Canada (Service Canada). Checked 16 October 2026. Agreement in force 1 May 1999; covers CPP and OAS, not the Quebec Pension Plan; combines periods for old age, disability and survivor benefits.
23. Benefits from a foreign country (international agreements), Retraite Quebec. Checked 16 October 2026. Lists Croatia among the countries with which Quebec has an agreement; the form is in French and the language of the country.
24. Visas (Embassy in Canberra), Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (Embassy in Canberra). Checked 16 October 2026. Says Australian and New Zealand citizens with valid passports need no visa for a short stay of up to 90 days in a 6-month period.
25. Apostilles and Authentications 'Legalisation', Australian Embassy, The Netherlands (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Checked 16 October 2026. Says DFAT is the only authority that can apostille Australian public documents; the country receiving the document decides which certificate it accepts.
26. National Police Checks, Australian Federal Police. Checked 16 October 2026. The AFP issues National Police Checks, including for working overseas; the page does not say which check Croatia accepts.
27. Consular Section of the Embassy (Canberra), Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (Embassy in Canberra). Checked 16 October 2026. Canberra covers the Australian Capital Territory, the bordering parts of New South Wales and New Zealand; Sydney covers NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory; Melbourne covers Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania; Perth covers Western Australia; appointments are mandatory; consular fees are paid into the Embassy account at the Commonwealth Bank.
28. Income tax treaties: treaties in force (Australia), Australian Treasury. Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 24 March 2026; the table runs from Chile to China to the Czech Republic with no entry for Croatia, so no income tax treaty with Croatia is in force.
29. Double taxation: agreements Croatia has concluded or assumed, Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 16 October 2026. Croatia's list of its income tax agreements; the list has no entry for Australia (the page carries no date).
30. Social Security Agreement between Australia and Croatia: frequently asked questions (archived copy), Department of Social Services (Australian Government), Internet Archive copy of 7 October 2024. Checked 16 October 2026. Agreement started on 1 July 2004; covers the Age Pension and Disability Support Pension for the severely disabled and Croatian pension insurance benefits; 12 months of Australian working-life residence needed to use it from Croatia; Croatia's 17 years of insurance; seconded workers; proportional rate abroad (35 years of working-life residence for a full pension). The live DSS address now redirects to the agreements overview.
31. International Social Security Agreement between Australia and Croatia (archived copy), Services Australia, Internet Archive copy of 9 July 2025. Checked 16 October 2026. Page last updated 27 June 2025: Australia has agreements with a number of countries to share responsibility for social security coverage; links the agreement in Croatian.
32. Vetting process for visas, New Zealand Police. Checked 16 October 2026. Police clearance has no official meaning in New Zealand; the closest is a Ministry of Justice criminal record check; the Department of Internal Affairs Authentication Unit does the apostille for a fee.
33. Consular Section of the Embassy (Embassy of Croatia in Canberra), Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 15 October 2026. The Canberra embassy covers New Zealand; a dedicated email for New Zealand enquiries; consular fees are paid into the embassy account at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (currency not stated); appointments through the Croatian Consular Portal.
34. Embassy of the Republic of Croatia (New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade directory), New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Checked 15 October 2026. Lists the Canberra embassy and two honorary consulates, Auckland and Nelson; no Wellington post is listed.
35. Consular days in New Zealand (Auckland 6 to 8 November 2026, Wellington 9 November 2026), Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 15 October 2026. Visits by a consular officer from Canberra, by appointment: passports, notary work, civil registry and citizenship for Croatian citizens; the list does not include stays for foreigners.
36. Tax treaties (New Zealand double tax agreements in force, signed and under negotiation), Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Tax Policy. Checked 15 October 2026. 41 agreements in force; Croatia is under "signed, but not yet in force" (with Belgium, Iceland and the United Kingdom protocols).
37. Croatia 2025 agreement (status page), Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Tax Policy. Checked 15 October 2026. Status: pending; signed 20 November 2025; in force, effective and legislation all pending.
38. Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and New Zealand for the Elimination of Double Taxation (treaty record), New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (New Zealand Treaties Online). Checked 15 October 2026. Signed 20 November 2025; ratification required; "currently undergoing Parliamentary Treaty Examination"; an Order in Council is needed to give it effect in New Zealand law.
39. Social security agreements, Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development). Checked 15 October 2026. Lists the countries New Zealand has social security agreements with (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey, Malta, Netherlands, South Korea, United Kingdom); Croatia is not among them.
40. Pensions according to EU regulations and international social security agreements, Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO). Checked 15 October 2026. Croatia applies agreements with Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Canada (and Quebec), North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Korea; New Zealand is not listed.
41. Act amending the Aliens Act (Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o strancima), Narodne novine 40/2025, Republic of Croatia, Narodne novine (official gazette). Checked 17 October 2026. Articles 57, 58, 61 to 63, 67, 69, 88 to 98, 100, 126 and 128 of the Aliens Act as this act rewrote them (in force from 15 March 2025); articles 58, 63, 91, 98 and 99 were changed again by NN 55/2026. Croatian-language text.
42. Regulation on means of subsistence for third-country nationals (NN 14/21), article 2, Croatian Government, Narodne novine 14/2021. Checked 15 October 2026.
43. Aliens Act (Official Gazette 133/2020), English translation, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), English translation of the 2020 text. Checked 17 October 2026. Articles 3, 57, 59, 62, 64 to 66, 68, 71, 89 and 90 in the original 2020 text. The cited paragraphs are not among those rewritten by the later amending acts (NN 114/22 euro conversion, 151/22, 40/25, 55/26).
44. Work of third-country nationals, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 October 2026. Stay and work permit, labour market test, exemptions, fees and the work registration certificate.
45. Notice of the 2025 average wage (NN 21/2026), Croatian Bureau of Statistics, published in Narodne novine 21/2026. Checked 15 October 2026.
46. Act amending the Compulsory Health Insurance and Health Care of Foreigners Act (NN 26/2021), article 4, Croatian Parliament, Narodne novine 26/2021. Checked 16 October 2026. Adds paragraph 12 to article 6: a third-country national on temporary stay as a digital nomad need not register for compulsory health insurance and pays for care themselves. The current consolidated Act was not opened.
47. Amendment to the Ordinance on third-country nationals' stay (NN 43/2026), Croatian Ministry of the Interior, Narodne novine 43/2026. Checked 15 October 2026.
48. Temporary stay of third-country nationals, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 October 2026. General conditions, purposes, where to apply, deadlines and fees; the page gives no processing time.
49. Visa requirements overview (Schengen from 1 January 2023, 90/180 days), as recorded by the Atlas Visa Map, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 15 October 2026.
50. Temporary stay of foreigners, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 15 October 2026.
51. Long-term residence and permanent stay, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 October 2026. Years, absences, language test, fees. One paragraph on absences uses three and four year limits that do not match the five year rule stated elsewhere on the page.
52. Determination of residency status, Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 15 October 2026.
53. Income tax: rates and bands, Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 15 October 2026.
54. Act amending the Income Tax Act (NN 138/2020), article 2: new points 25 and 26 of article 9(1), Croatian Parliament, Narodne novine 138/2020. Checked 15 October 2026.
55. Tax changes from 1 January 2021, Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 15 October 2026.
56. Foreign person: personal identification number (OIB), Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 15 October 2026.