Croatia’s “Digital Nomad Visa” is a reality now which is indeed good news for remote workers. The country is now on the list of small European states that are offering digital nomads a long-term residency from 21st January 2021. The state is doing so by introducing permanent visas. The new law comprising the residency of digital nomads came into existence in December 2020 as a modification in Foreigner’s laws.
Once you show that you earn enough from your personal work done online, you can apply for the visa by paying a small amount as the visa fees. Most of the digital nomads choose to work in urban hubs like Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zadar, Dubrovnik, and Osijek are popular for their airport access, as are Lošinj and Brač which also have airports.
Benefits of Croatia’s Digital Nomad Visa
- Spend up to 12 months living and working in Croatia,
- Friendly people and great hospitality,
- High-quality healthcare available,
- Moderate climate,
- Excellent internet speed and connectivity across most urban centers, with excellent mobile connectivity throughout the country,
- Communicate easily – English is widely spoken,
- A Nature lovers paradise,
- Centrally located and well connected to other European hubs,
- Digital nomads in Croatia are exempt from paying income tax when providing services to employers not registered in Croatia.
Who is a Digital Nomad?
A digital nomad is someone who is a:
- Citizen of a third state;
- Performs duties via Communication technology;
- Work for an agency or owns his/her agency (not registered by Croatia);
- The deliverables by digital nomads to the employer do not happen in Croatia.
Who can apply for Croatia’s Digital Nomad Visa?
Remote workers from non-EU countries can apply for this visa. The citizens of EU countries do not need this visa to work in Croatia as digital nomads. Furthermore, citizens of EU/EEA and Switzerland are required to regulate their temporary stay after 3 months via the Ministry of the Interior. If you want to get this visa you must make sure that you are:
- employed or perform work through communication technology for a company or
- your own company that is not registered in Croatia and does not perform work or provides services to employers (legal or natural persons) in Croatia.
Do Digital Nomads pay taxes in Croatia?
A great offer from the government of Croatia always fascinates the Digital Nomads that they do not need to pay taxes when they work there. The only condition is that they are not working for the Croatian companies.
Residency Visa offer for digital nomads from Croatia
Croatia offers the digital nomads a temporary residence. This residency is a maximum of one year, not more than this. A drawback of the visa is that it is non-extendable. After the 6 months of the expiration of their temporary visa, the digital nomads can submit a new application for a new visa. One important thing is that digital nomads are not allowed to work locally in Croatia.
Family reunification
A digital nomad who holds a visa for a temporary residency in Croatia can also invite their close family members later in that state. This can be done through the family reunification visa program.
How to apply for Croatia’s Digital Nomad visa?
The procedure to apply for a temporary residency for the digital nomad visa is online. The competent police authorities will receive your application. You can submit your application to competent authorities depending upon two parameters:
i- Authorities require you to hold a temporary residency visa:
In this case, you can submit your application abroad at the embassy or consulate of the state of Croatia. This is applicable when you are submitting your application in person.
ii- Authorities don’t require you to hold a temporary residency visa
This is also applicable when you are submitting your application in person. In this case, you can select one way from the given ones to submit your application.
- Abroad at the embassy or consulate of the state of Croatia,
- Competent police authorities in Croatia.
Essential consideration
You will send the application according to your address where you want to stay temporarily. Furthermore, you can keep yourself in touch with police authorities for any guidance regarding the submission of the application.
Required documents for Croatia’s Digital Nomad Visa
Before starting it, keep one thing in your mind, all the documents must be in the English or Croatian language. Now let’s dive into the detail of documentation.
- Submission of application in person
In case you are submitting your application in person, then you must fill up one of two forms:
- First, is form 1a known as bilingual form;
- The second is the online application form.
- Copy of authentic travel document
The travel documents must be workable even after a maximum of three months of your stay duration in Croatia. In most cases, it is an ordinary passport.
- Medical insurance
Whether the medical insurance is for private or travels purposes, it must cover the territory of Croatia. The Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (HZZO) is the national contact point for providing information to foreigners with health insurance in the other EU Member States on the use of health care by HZZO contractors as well as by private providers.
A third-country national residing in the Republic of Croatia in the status of a digital nomad is not required to opt-in to the normal mandatory healthcare coverage provided by the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (HZZO) but is obliged to bear the costs of using health care in a health institution, i.e. at a private practice or other health care provider in the Republic of Croatia.
- Contract confirmation document
This is a verification letter to prove that this person is working with a particular employer as a digital nomad. To fulfill this requirement, you can select one of the given documents:
- A written letter from the employer that mentions that you are working as a digital nomad at his/her company;
- An agreement showing that you are working on a specific project with an employer;
- In the case of a digital nomad’s own company, he/she can submit the registration form of their company.
- Income requirements
These types of documents are essential to show that during your residency in Croatia what will be your source of income. For this purpose, you can submit the bank statements and other sources of your continuous and regular income. The income proof can be shown either through regular income proof or through a whole lump sum.
The official gazette no 14/21 launched on 13 February 2021 to take care of the record of the financial source of the applicant.
According to the law, some conditions apply to the applicant based on their salary:
- According to Croatia bureau statistics, the average monthly total salary must be of 2.5 for the previous year. This means, for an applicant, on average, the monthly income required on a minimum basis is HRK 16,907.50 (after tax). If you do not have a regular monthly income, then you can instead show that you have 12 months X the monthly amount in a bank account at once, e.g. 12 x 16.907,50 kuna = 202.890,00 kuna.
- The authorities have increased this average to 10% for a monthly total salary if you are inviting any of your family (each additional) members to Croatia,
- Criminal record
The applicant must not have any criminal record. For this purpose, the record for the previous year will be required. This record will prove that the applicant is not involved in any illegal activity since the previous year. Moreover, the applicant will assure that his presence will never be a reason for any type of harm to anybody in Croatia.
- Address of your stay in Croatia
It’s indeed an important requirement by the police authorities to proceed with your application. You must have to mention the address of that particular location where you will stay in Croatia.
If you are going to Croatia for the first time having no idea about the address, then you can mention any temporary address. This is because they follow all the rituals. You can provide them the address of any hotel or hostel of your accommodation for a short period.
Applying for the visa
You may fill out the visa application form online here. After you finish entering the data, the pin code number of your online application together with the printed and filled out application form, along with other required documents, should be submitted to the competent Embassy/Consulate General or the VFS Global visa center. Once you apply for the digital nomad visa after submitting all the above-mentioned documents, you:
- The embassy of consulate will inform you that you are eligible to hold a temporary stay visa;
- You will contact the embassy or consulate from where you have submitted your application. You will then be provided with a valid visa to travel to Croatia.
Getting a temporary residence visa in Croatia
Once you travel to Croatia, you will have to contact the local authorities to apply for a temporary residence visa. For doing so, you will have to perform the following steps:
Address registration
After reaching Croatia:
- the digital nomad will have to register the address of their temporary stay (they must do it within 3 days of reaching Croatia). They can complete this registration process in a police station near their location in the Republic of Croatia.
- For this purpose, digital nomads can also submit a form known as Form 8a. A statement will also be necessary with this form from any landlord(proof of residence contract).
Issuance of the biometric residence permit
This applies to both groups, the ones who do not need a visa and the ones who have already got a short-term visa. They will obtain a biometric card – residence permit police authorities. Moreover, submission of the photo and biometric information is a must.
Fees for application
The applicant can submit the fees in two below-mentioned ways:
- You are submistting the application in a consular post or diplomatic mission (you are outisde Croatia):
In this case, you will have to submit the fee at the time of submission of the application for Croatia’s Digital Nomad visa. The fee structure is:
- The total fee for the issuance of the temporary visa is HRK 420;
- If you have submitted your application via the VFS visa center, then you will have to bear some extra charges. The total fee, in this case, is HRK 460;
- In order to get the residence permit/biometric card (when you reach Croatia), you will have to pay the total fee of 310.
- You are submitting your application to the police authority (you are inside Croatia):
In this case, you will have to submit the fee at the time when you will be selected for the temporary residency. The fee structure is:
- Fee for the issuance of the temporary visa is HRK 350
- Biometric residence permit fee is HRK 70
- The total fee to get the biometric residence card is HRK 240
Who does not need a visa?
The citizens of Canada, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Sultanate of Brunei do not need a visa to travel to Croatia. On the other hand, most of Central and South America is in a visa-free regime with the Republic of Croatia and other EU member states, e.g. Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia. Even if someone does not need a visa to enter Croatia, he/she must apply for a Biometric residence permit after registering their address with the local police authorities.
Checklist as a Digital Nomad
As a digital nomad, you must check the following that you have:
- completed the online application form and submitted the required documentation
- received confirmation
- made accommodation reservations
- purchased my healthcare coverage (or made a note to purchase upon arrival)
- made my travel arrangements
- set up my mobile coverage for low-cost roaming until I set up local mobile/data options
Croatia country information
| Official name | Republic of Croatia Republika Hrvatska |
| Capital and largest city | Zagreb |
| Official languages | Croatian |
| EU Member State | Yes |
| Schengen member state | no (the country applied for this status in 2015 and has yet to receive it) |
| Population | 4,290,612 |
| Currency | Cuna HRK |
| Area | 56,594 km² |
International Airports in Croatia
For traveling, you can reach the following airports:
Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Osijek, Brač and Mali Lošinj.
Important sources
Finding accommodation in Croatia
Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (HZZO)
Digital Nomad Association Croatia (for contact and information)