Permanent Residence

The e-Citizens project enables citizens to print out electronic records of permanent and temporary residence

Permanent residence is the place and address in the Republic of Croatia at which the person has settled on a permanent basis.

Citizens are obliged to register and unregister their permanent residence or report any change to their permanent residence.

Registrations on behalf of underage persons and totally or partially legally incapacitated persons shall be submitted by their parents or legal guardians.

Permanent residence is registered at the police department or station dealing with administrative issues that is competent according to the location at which you want to register your permanent residence. Permanent residence shall be registered within 15 days from the day you settled into your permanent residence.

If registration of your new permanent residence entails deregistration from your previous permanent residence, the police department or station will unregister you from your previous permanent residence.

Registering Permanent Residence

 The following documents shall be enclosed together with the request for registration/change of permanent residence
  • proof of identity
  • completed Permanent Residence Registration Form (Form 1)
  • signed statement testifying that you settled permanently at the place and address at which you wish to register permanent residence (citizen providing false statement is liable for administrative offence and may be charged between - 66,36 do 663,61 EUR.
  • if you are not the sole owner or co-owner of the property at which you are registering, one of the following should be enclosed:
    • consent by your landlord (owner) or all co-owners, certified by a notary public (if the property at which the person is registering permanent residence is co-owned by several persons). The landlord may issue their consent directly in front of the officer on duty at the administrative affairs window of the competent police department or station or electronically, through the e-Citizens system if they possess high level of assurance credential 
    • person that concluded a lease agreement with the landlord that has been certified by a notary public may enclose this agreement, in which case the landlord’s consent is not required 
Person granting the use of their apartment to another person for a period longer than three months is required to notify the locally competent police department or station within 15 days from the day of this event, providing information about the person using the apartment and the address at which the apartment is located. 

Person emigrating from Croatia on a permanent basis is required to unregister their permanent residence before emigration at the competent police department or station according to their place of permanent residence. If you fail to unregister your permanent residence prior to emigration, you are required to unregister within 15 days from immigration into another country through the competent diplomatic mission or consulate of the Republic of Croatia in the country to which you emigrated. 

Reporting Temporary Emigration from the Republic of Croatia for a Period Exceeding One Year

When citizens are temporarily leaving Croatia for a period exceeding one year for the purposes of education, business activities of non-permanent and seasonal nature, long-term medical treatment or other reasons, they are required to notify the competent police department or station according to their place of permanent residence thereof. If they fail to notify the police department or station prior to their departure abroad, they can deliver this notification through the competent diplomatic mission or consulate of the Republic of Croatia in the country on whose territory they temporarily settled. Reasons for temporary stay outside Croatia should be justified with appropriate documents. These include: certificate of education, school certificate, student card, employment certificate, employment contract, residence or work permit, medical documentation etc. In case no documents exist, the applicant shall enclose a signed statement of the reasons for their temporary departure from Croatia.

The maximum duration of temporary departure from Croatia is 5 years. Upon their return to Croatia, citizens must notify the competent police department or station according to their place of permanent residence thereof.

If the citizen remains abroad even after the five-year period has passed, they are required to register their stay again (to the competent police department or station or through the diplomatic mission or consulate of the Republic of Croatia in the country they are staying); in case of extended periods of stay, this registration should be renewed every three years, together with the documents justifying the reasons for their stay outside Croatia.