The work permit of Croatia has got much fame among Non-EU nationals ever since the Government of Croatia announced an open quota system for a number of immigrants. Secondly, the country has also had a bright chance of becoming a Schengen member state in near future (maybe in 2022).
To improve the economy and fill all the vacant seats of workers in the labor market, Croatia is in search of a huge number of new workers. The good reason behind this demand is that the young and talented inhabitants of Croatia are shifting towards the EU countries for work, leaving a shortage of employees behind them in Croatia. As a result, there are vacant posts in various industries like Transport, Healthcare, construction, agriculture, tourism, and construction in Croatia, which need to be filled immediately by foreigners.
| 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) |
In order to get the Croatia work permit issued by the government, the first and basic thing is the applicant must not be a citizen of EU or EEA states. Then there comes the further procedure.
We are going to discuss the following different aspects step by step in detail for the Croatia work permit:
- How to attain an opportunity for a job in Croatia?
- The conditions must need to be fulfilled for a Croatian work permit;
- Details about Work permit quotas and labor market tests;
- The process to get a work permit for an employee by Croatian companies;
- Work positioning.
How to find a job in Croatia?
Work permit comes later, the first thing is to get a job in Croatia. Without this opportunity, the applicant will be disqualified for a work permit.
There are many ways to seek a job in Croatia and apply them according to your skills and capabilities, some of the basics ways are,
- The help of someone, like your family member or your friend, may randomly tell you about any job opportunity in Croatia.
- Find via Facebook groups and pages.
- Find via any of the recruitment agencies.
- Find via searching the companies of Croatia directly.
There are some traditional ways you can find a job in Croatia which are as follows:
Through government employment agencies
Hrvatski zavod za zapošljavanje, HZZ or burza rada (Croatian Employment Service) is a state institution that implements employment programs on the basis of public authority. It may not register you directly but you can use its job vacancies database to connect with the different approved employers in Croatia. You can click here to reach the agencies.
Through jobs websites
- Danas radim
- Njuškalo
- Nova karijera
- Freelance.hr
- Jooble HR
- Moj Posao
- Adorio
- Bika
- Danas radim
- MojPosao
- Oglasnik
- PickJobs
- Posao
Through recruitment agencies
When you are successfully selected for the job in Croatia, two things will be needed for the job verification, to get a Croatia work permit:
- The first one is an offer that an employee has sent to the company for a job;
- The second one is proof of an agreement with the company which will clearly reveal that you got the job and are assigned by the Croatian company.
What is the average salary in Croatia?
The salary in Croatia is not as high as in other developed and rich EU countries but the average salary in Croatia is 204,431 HRK per year. The most typical earning is 106,013 HRK. The difference is more when it comes to men and women. The men earn an average salary of 206,446 HRK whereas the women could reach up to 190,912 HRK annually.
The most paid careers are Management & Business with an average income of 338,146 HRK and Finance & Banking with an income of 315,047 HRK. Based on education, the highest salaries received by people with a Master’s Degree with a salary of 221,038 HRK. The second most paid education level is a Doctorate Degree with a salary of 218,899 HRK.
Experience counts as well which means people with 12-16 Years of experience receive a salary of 284,522 HRK. Employees with 20+ Years of experience receive 262,041 HRK.
Conditions must need to be fulfilled for a Croatian work permit
Once you are all done with the job verification things, you can apply for the work permit and residence permit.
There are two basic requirements ( discussed above but we are summarizing them here) that must be fulfilled to get a Croatia work permit.
- The citizenship of the third country ( non-EU)
- Must be assigned by the Croatian company for the job.
Details about Work permit quotas and labor market test
As there is a shortage of workers in various industries in Croatia, there is no limit to the hiring of foreign workers in Croatia, according to the new strategy of the government of Croatia implemented in January 2021. This a positive thing, But they make unique criteria for the foreign applicants, which labor market test.
There is an employment agency in Croatia named HZZ, without the permission of this company the Croatian employer cannot request to issue the work and residence permit for the foreigner they want to hire in their company.
The employer of the Croatian company will first request the HZZ company to allow permission. Then HZZ will execute the labor market test. The purpose of this test will be to resolve whether they are going to give permission to that company to hire the foreigner or not.
When an employer requests permission from HZZ, the time duration for completion of the test is 15 days. After receiving the permission request, HZZ will search for the unemployed catalogs of Croatians to check whether there is anyone in the state who can fulfill all the requirements like education, skills, and experience, of this post rather than a foreigner.
If there will be anyone in the catalog, they will suggest the company employer hire them instead of the foreigner. HZZ will give the catalog of all such persons meeting the criteria for the prospective job post to the company.
Then the company will have to do a thorough search of the persons on the list. Then they will provide all the feedback from employers and workers on referred persons to the HZZ. Then HZZ will take a decision on the basis of a performed test to the employer of the company, keeping in mind the feedback.
If the referred persons will prove to disqualify for the post, then HZZ will give the results in form of giving permission to hire the foreigner within 3 months. The employers of the company can simply email their nearby HZZ office, in order to apply for the labor market test.
Which situations do not require “A Labor Market Test”
There are some conditions for which the labor market test is not required:
- Insufficient occupations;
- Applying for the extension of the work permit of the employer belonging from a third country;
- For the employers who work on the season base in Croatia in tourism, agriculture, and forestry, whose main residence is the third country.
Which jobs do not require “A Labor Market Test”
There are some occupations that are not required a labor market test for hiring foreigners. These are those occupations that are an extreme lack of workers.
- Reinforcers
- Roofer
- Stonemason
- Tinsmith
- Truck drivers
- Truck drivers with trailers.
- Underlayer
- User interface designer
- Waterproofing
- Welder.
The process to get a work permit for an employee by Croatian companies
After the positive results from the HZZ, the employer of the Croatian company will send a request to MUP to issue the work permit for the foreigner via this page.
The employer will have to submit the following documents.
- An agreement of employment;
- Verifications for the fulfillment of the requirements, like education, skills, and experience of the foreigner for that perspective post.
There is also the criteria for employers to hire foreigners to the Croatian company. The criteria are:
- The company for which they are hiring a foreigner must be registered;
- The employer is paying all the income taxes;
- The employer, who is hiring a foreigner, must be a citizen of Croatia or EEA states or he/she must have a permanent or long-term residence and Croatia work permit;
- The employer must not have any culprit history.
Fee structure for the Croatia work permit.
- To issue the work permit, the charges are 560 kunas.
- For the residence permit, the charges are 240 kunas.
- The authority fee is 70 kuna.
Once the approval comes with a positive response, the employer will send all the approval letters to the applicant in his country of origin. The applicant can then apply for a visa in the Croatian embassy or consulate in his country of origin. Once here/she receives the 90 days visa, they can travel to Croatia. After reaching there, they must apply for a residence permit by doing the following:
An application for a residence and work permit may be submitted by:
- third-country national (see the part relating to where to apply for the approval of temporary stay); or
- employer, with the local police department or station according to the place of intended residence or work of the third-country national or the seat of the employer; or
- temporary employment agency.
A residence and work permit is a combined approval of temporary stay and works in the Republic of Croatia.
The decision on issuing a residence and work permit is made by the police department or station regardless of the place where the application was submitted.
Work positioning
A foreign employee can work in Croatia on the basis of the following requirements:
- On the basis of an authentic agreement between both parties, the company, and the foreign employer;
- If the employer of the company is not permanent, then he can give work to the foreigner to the end-user in Croatia;
- The foreigner can be transferred from the same company in the third country to the same company in Croatia.
There is a tip for foreigners if they have an A1 certificate granted by their own government, they work in Croatia maximum of 3 months without any work permit.
The administrative police station will grant with following things if the work position of the foreigner needs to be altered after the 3 months.
- A short-term residence;
- A certificate for giving non-permanent permission for the work in Croatia to the inhabitant of any of EEA state.
Important
Do remember that Croatia is not a member state of the Schengen Area. It is a European Union member country. The country officially applied to join on 1st July 2015, but it is still not yet part of the Zone. In October 2019, the European Commission stated that Croatia is ready to join the Zone – but this has still not yet happened. The country may join sometime before the end of 2022.
List of foreign embassies of Croatia
Here you can find Croatian embassies and consulates all around the world.