Temporary Stay
A third-country national who is not required to have a visa to enter the Republic of Croatia may apply for an approval of temporary stay at a diplomatic mission/consular office of the Republic of Croatia, or at a police administration, or police station.
A third-country national who is required to have a visa to enter the Republic of Croatia may apply for an approval of temporary stay at a diplomatic mission/consular office of the Republic of Croatia. Exceptionally, the application may also be submitted at a police administration or police station if the applicant:
- is a member of the immediate family of a Croatian citizen
- is a life partner or informal life partner of a Croatian citizen
- is coming to study at a higher education institution, at an undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate level
- is a researcher coming under a hosting agreement
- is a member of the immediate family of a researcher or a third-country national coming to the country to study
- is applying for the temporary stay approval for humanitarian reasons
- applies for an „EU Blue Card“ or is a close family member or a life/informal partner of an „EU Blue Card“ holder
- applies for temporary stay for the purpose of immigration and return od Croatian emigrants.
The Foreigners Act stipulates that temporary stay may be granted to a third-country national for the following purposes:
- family reunification,
- secondary school education,
- study,
- research,
- humanitarian reasons,
- life partnership,
- work
- work of a posted worker coming from another member state of the EEA or the Swiss Confederation for more than 90 days in any 180 – day period,
- stay of a person with long-term stay in another EEA Member State,
- for other purposes
- stay of digital nomads
- immigration and return of Croatian emigrants.
Temporary stay will be granted to third-country nationals who meet the requirements for granting temporary stay, in other words, if they:
- prove the purpose of their temporary stay,
- have a valid travel document,
- have means of supporting themselves,
- have medical insurance,
- prove that no final criminal sentences have been pronounced against them in the country of origin or country in which they stayed for over one year immediately before arriving to the Republic of Croatia (required when applying for temporary stay for the first time),
- have not been refused entry or stay in the Republic of Croatia nor have any alerts for refusal of entry been entered in the Schengen Information System,
- do not pose a threat to public order, national security or public health,
- has a certificate confirming health condition and vaccination status, not older than 90 days.
The period of validity of the foreign travel document must exceed the period of the requested temporary stay by three months.
Specific categories of third-country nationals are exempt from having to submit proof of:
- having medical insurance, or
- no final criminal sentences have been pronounced against them, or
- having sufficient means to support themselves.
An application for the approval of temporary stay submitted to a diplomatic mission/consular office must be forwarded to the competent police administration or police station that will decide on the application.
For additional information about temporary stay, see the public website of the Ministry of the Interior.