Family visa in Croatia

• Croatia's family route is a temporary stay for family reunification. It lets a close family member of someone who already lives in Croatia join them.
• The person you join can be a Croatian citizen, or a non-EU national with temporary stay, permanent stay, long-term residence or international protection.
• Close family means a spouse, a common-law partner, the couple's minor children and each partner's minor children, minor adopted children, and the parents of a minor child who is a Croatian citizen or holds long-term residence, permanent stay or protection.
• Another relative can qualify only where there are special personal or serious humanitarian reasons to reunite in Croatia, and only for a Croatian citizen or a resident with temporary stay, permanent stay, long-term residence or asylum.
• You cannot use this route to join someone on a seasonal work permit, someone on temporary stay for other purposes, or a service provider or posted worker.
• If the person you join holds a stay and work permit of one year or longer, the Act as amended from 4 June 2026 says they must already have held temporary stay without a break for at least two years. An older Interior Ministry page says one year, so ask the police which applies to your file.
• The Act refuses reunification for a marriage of convenience, for a spouse or partner who is already married or in another long-term relationship, and for couples who do not actually live together.

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

• A general temporary-stay applicant must show monthly means of at least 57% of the previous year's average net salary since the January 2026 amendment. With the 2025 average of about €1,400, the test is about €800 a month. To be safe, have more than €900 a month.
• For a two-person family the 2021 regulation adds 15%, so the test is about €1000 a month. To be safe, have more than €1,000 a month. Each further family member or life partner adds 10% of the average net salary.
• The family-reunification pages we opened do not say which of these amounts applies to a reunification applicant, so the figure above comes from the general rule and our own arithmetic.
• Family members of Croatian citizens do not have to prove means of subsistence, and family members of refugees and people with subsidiary protection are exempt from the means and health insurance proof.
• The test is recalculated each year from the previous year's average net salary, so the 2027 figure will differ from the 2026 one.
• A Foreign Ministry page lists a Decree of 2012 as the way means are calculated. The Interior Ministry and the Act point to the current regulation, which we follow.

Sources: Narodne novine 3/2026, Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Narodne novine 14/2021, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP), Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP). Checked 17 October 2026.

• You need the application form (Form 1a), a colour photo of 35 x 45 mm, a copy of a passport valid for at least three months longer than the stay you ask for, and proof of payment of the fee.
• You need proof of health insurance and proof of means, unless an exemption applies to your sponsor's status.
• For a marriage, you give an extract from the marriage register.
• For an unmarried partnership, you give a birth extract or adoption decision for a child you share, or a single-status certificate or birth extract plus partner and witness statements, an extract from the register of partnerships where there is one, and proof of living in a shared household for at least three years before you apply.
• For a child, you give the birth extract or an adoption decision. Where the sponsor is a Croatian citizen, the registry office obtains the birth and marriage extracts itself, so you do not supply them.
• A first application also needs a certificate of no final criminal conviction from your home country and any country where you lived for more than a year before arriving.
• Foreign documents must be translated into Croatian and certified, must be originals or certified copies, and must not be older than six months unless the rules say otherwise.
• For a minor child, the other parent's consent is needed, signed by hand with an official note or given in a statement before a notary. It is not needed if the child is in one parent's care.

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

• If you need no visa, you can apply at the police administration or station for your intended place of stay. If you need a visa, you apply at a Croatian embassy or consulate.
• A person who needs a short-stay visa can still apply in Croatia if they are an immediate family member of a Croatian citizen. A minor child can apply in Croatia if both parents hold a valid permit, or one does and the other is absent, deceased or without parental rights.
• If you file before your short stay ends, you may stay in Croatia until the decision is final.
• A parent or guardian must apply for a child born in Croatia within three months of the birth.
• You register your address with the police within 3 days of entering Croatia. Not registering the temporary stay within 30 days of the grant is a ground for withdrawal.
• The pages we opened give no decision time for family reunification, so processing time is unknown.
• A visit before you apply counts towards the 90 days in any 180 that visa-exempt visitors may spend in the Schengen area.

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

• The fee for the temporary stay is €46.45. The biometric residence permit costs €31.85, or €59.73 if you ask for it faster, plus an issuance fee of €9.29.
• At a police station, the stay fee and the biometric permit fee are paid separately, using payment slips obtained there, or online.
• The pages we opened give no separate fee for family reunification, so we show the general temporary-stay fees. Consular fees at a mission are not stated on the family pages.
• Health insurance is bought from an insurer, and the pages we opened give no price for it.

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

• Temporary stay for family reunification with a Croatian citizen, a long-term or permanent resident, a person with international protection or a temporary resident can be granted for up to two years.
• The family permit runs only until the sponsor's own permit ends, and not longer than two years. The Interior Ministry's general page says up to one year, so check which applies to your file.
• You ask for an extension at the police no later than 60 days before the permit ends, and you may stay until the decision is final if you filed in time.
• You must report within 15 days any change that ends the grounds for the stay, such as a separation.
• Stay abroad is limited: for permits of up to one year, more than 90 days in total or more than 30 days on one trip can lead to withdrawal. For two-year permits the limits are 180 and 60 days.
• After three continuous years on family or partnership stay, a spouse, partner or adult child can apply for an autonomous stay. The same applies after the sponsor's death.
• Family-reunification holders may work, study and be self-employed under the Act, and some, such as family of Croatian citizens, need no separate work permit.

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

• A family member or life partner of a Croatian citizen can apply for permanent stay after four uninterrupted years on temporary stay for family reunification or life partnership.
• In those four years, absences may total up to six months, with no single absence longer than four months.
• Long-term residence needs five years of uninterrupted legal stay, which includes temporary stay, plus funds to support yourself, health insurance, and knowledge of Croatian and the Latin script. Absences may total up to 10 months, with none longer than 6 months.
• Minors who held family-reunification stay may qualify for permanent residence if a parent has permanent residence or long-term stay.
• The decision on permanent stay costs €83.62, with €31.85 for the biometric permit (€59.73 if faster) and €13.94 for a certified copy of the decision.

Sources: Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP), Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 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 habitual residence is a stay of at least 183 days. Residents are taxed on income earned in Croatia and abroad.
• The tax authority says the lower income tax rate applies up to €60,000 a year and the higher rate above that, with each local government setting its own rates.
• Because family-reunification holders may work under the Act, any pay from a Croatian job is taxed under the ordinary income tax rules. The digital nomad exemption in the Income Tax Act is written for nomad status and does not cover this route.
• A foreign person asks for a personal identification number (OIB) at the Tax Administration office that covers the place, with a completed form and a passport.

Sources: Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava), Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Digital nomad visa in Croatia
• Work permit 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. 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.
3. Consular jurisdictions of the Croatian missions in the United States, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Checked 15 October 2026.
4. 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.
5. Temporary stay of third-country nationals, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 October 2026. General conditions, where to apply, deadlines, absences and fees; the page gives no processing time.
6. US citizens abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
7. Foreign earned income exclusion, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
8. Foreign tax credit, Internal Revenue Service. 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. 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).
18. 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.
19. International social security agreements: countries, forms and maximum detachment, Canada Revenue Agency. Checked 16 October 2026. Croatia: effective 1 May 1999, form CPT115, maximum initial detachment 60 months; certificate of coverage from the CRA.
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. 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).
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. Temporary stay for the purpose of family reunification, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 October 2026. Sponsors, close family members and documents; the page gives no fees, processing time or means amount.
36. Regulation amending the Regulation on the amount of funds for maintaining a third-country national (NN 3/2026), article 2, Croatian Government, Narodne novine 3/2026. Checked 16 October 2026. General means of subsistence set at 57% of the previous year's average monthly net salary, in force from the eighth day after 9 January 2026.
37. 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).
38. Act amending the Aliens Act (Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o strancima), Narodne novine 55/2026, Republic of Croatia, Narodne novine (official gazette). Checked 17 October 2026. Articles 58, 63, 91, 98, 99, 103.a and 103.d of the Aliens Act as this act rewrote them (in force from 4 June 2026): decision deadlines, employer conditions, unemployment periods within a permit, change of employer, family reunification with a work-permit holder. Croatian-language text.
39. Notice of the 2025 average wage (NN 21/2026), Croatian Bureau of Statistics, published in Narodne novine 21/2026. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025 average monthly net salary EUR 1,449.
40. Regulation on means of subsistence for third-country nationals (NN 14/21), article 2, Croatian Government, Narodne novine 14/2021. Checked 16 October 2026. Two-person family increase of 15% and 10% for each further member; the January 2026 amendment changes the base percentage.
41. Temporary residence for third-country nationals, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP). Checked 16 October 2026. Form 1a, document list, extension deadline and child consent; gives no fees or decision time.
42. Granting stay in Croatia, Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP). Checked 16 October 2026. Family of Croatian citizens, four years for permanent residence; gives no fees or decision time.
43. Long-term residence and permanent stay, Croatian Ministry of the Interior (MUP). Checked 16 October 2026. Four years for family of a Croatian citizen, five years for long-term residence, absences, fees.
44. Determination of residency status, Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 15 October 2026.
45. Income tax: rates and bands, Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 15 October 2026.
46. Foreign person: personal identification number (OIB), Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Checked 15 October 2026.