Before you come to Croatia

When making and following through with a decision which will result in such a major change for you and your family, it is important to be informed about what to expect when you reach your destination

If you are considering repatriation to Croatia or coming to live, work, study or spend your retirement in Croatia, there might be significant differences between the system in Croatia and the one in your country of residence. Therefore, it will be useful to inform yourself in advance and find out what to expect when you reach your destination.
 
Learn about the important areas of interest to you, as well as about the procedures that need to be followed when repatriating/immigrating to the Republic of Croatia.

The Central State Office for Croats Abroad is the state administration body competent for relations of the Republic of Croatia with Croatians living abroad; therefore, we invite you to receive information on the activities, programmes and projects we implement for you and with you directly from us.    

We recommend that you browse this website, where you will be able to easily access all information of interest to you and search for information about the public services in the Republic of Croatia.
 
The Republic of Croatia is a member state of the European Union, and provides help and advice about living in the European Union in all official languages of the EU on its central portal Your Europe.

Find out more about the local self-government in the town, city or municipality where you plan to permanently settle in the Republic of Croatia by looking up the list of cities and municipalities

The number of administrative procedures and the time necessary to resolve the status issues in the Republic of Croatia are primarily dependent on your status, personal background of you and your family members, documentation that you have at your disposal, etc.

To give you a better idea, here are the most important things to consider:
  • your personal legal status: you are a repatriate/immigrant with Croatian citizenship/without Croatian citizenship
  • you are repatriating from an EU and EEA country/third country
  • you are immigrating to the Republic of Croatia from an EU and EEA country/third country for the first time
  • you have/do not have the documents necessary to acquire a certain status and rights, that is, to submit an application to the competent authorities
  • the status you wish to acquire in the Republic of Croatia (primary and secondary education student, university student, employee, employer, pensioner, etc.)
It is recommended that you find a place to stay before you come to Croatia, even for the first few days in the country, to give yourself time to get to know your surroundings and find the house or apartment you want where you plan to live.

We are sure that you are also interested in the most important information about the geography, history, political system, population, economy, culture and society in the Republic of Croatia, which is why we recommend that you visit Hrvatska.eu.