Digital Nomad Visa to Croatia

A freelancer visa or Digital Nomad Visa is one of the residence permits for remote employees and entrepreneurs with foreign citizenship who receive income from abroad and do not conduct commercial activities within the host state. In Croatia, the «nomad visa» has been issued since 2021 thanks to the perseverance of businessman Jan de Jong. The businessman personally petitioned to launch a program for remote workers and managed to convince the Prime Minister that the temporary presence of well-educated people and responsible taxpayers in the country, who do not take jobs from local specialists, will bring tangible benefits to the country's budget.

In 2024, Croatia attracts freelancers with soft minimum monthly income requirements, relatively low taxes and the possibility of moving with your family. The consulate staff considers the dossier of those wishing to come on a digital nomad visa for no longer than 45 days.

Features of Digital Nomad Croatia Visa

A freelancer's residence permit is issued on the basis of a Schengen visa D, which is necessary for foreigners to enter the country. The applicant for the status does not have to be a citizen of any of the EU states, but can be an American or Swiss by passport.

One of the basic conditions for obtaining a nomad visa is to submit an employment contract with a foreign employer to the Croatian consulate for verification. The contract must explicitly specify the possibility of providing services remotely. It is prohibited to hold any position in local commercial organizations (including part-time work for a foreign company and entrepreneurship).

The validity period of the freelancer's residence permit is one year. To prolong the status, nomads leave Croatia and re-submit all documents for verification after 6 months.

Important

Digital nomads are required to reside at an address registered with the district police department. Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will check whether the foreigner is actually in the apartment, house or hotel room indicated in the application. If it turns out that a freelancer moved without warning, his residence permit may be canceled. 

What is the difference from a regular residence permit

A foreigner temporarily residing in Croatia with the status of a freelancer or entrepreneur with foreign income is not eligible for employment in a local company. Doing business with organizations registered in the country is also not allowed. To obtain the right to conduct commercial and labor activities in the country, you must be the holder of a working Schengen visa D, based on an employment contract or on the fact of opening a new company/branch in the territory of the state.

The Croatian residence permit of a digital nomad does not imply a transition to permanent residence and citizenship. If the purpose of a foreigner is to obtain a local passport, he needs other grounds for a long-term stay in the country.

Taxes

Remote workers and foreign entrepreneurs do not pay income tax either in the first year of their stay in Croatia, or in the case of a repeated request for a freelancer's residence permit after the expiration of the original one. But the holders of the status continue to interact with the tax authorities of the state of which they are residents. A long stay in Croatia does not exempt you from paying tax contributions in your home countries.

Important

If a freelancer receives passive income from abroad (for example, he is an investor), he is obliged to pay fees to the Croatian budget. 

Conditions for obtaining a freelancer visa

Here are the requirements that the Croatian consulate checks for compliance with when considering cases from applicants for a digital nomad residence permit:

• A passport of a country that is not part of the European Union. 
• An employment contract with a foreign company marked "an employee can perform all his duties remotely." 
• Monthly income of at least two and a half local minimum wages – in 2024 this amount is 2,500 € + another 10% for each family member who travels with the applicant.
• Criminal record. If the freelancer has lived abroad for more than a year, criminal record certificates must be requested in each of these countries.

When considering the Croatian Digital Nomad Visa, it is worth bearing in mind other types of visas that allow you to legally stay in the country for a long time and put forward other requirements for applicants. We have prepared for you a detailed guide on obtaining a visa to Croatia so that you do not waste time searching for this information all over the Internet. We have analyzed all types of available visas and explained the nuances of registration. All the necessary information has already been collected in one place.

Moving with your family

A remote employee or entrepreneur has the right to take an official spouse, common-law husband or wife and children with him. These people enter Croatia on the basis of a family reunification visa, which is issued separately after the registration of a freelance residence permit.

To bring a marriage partner, you need to confirm the relationship with an apostilled and translated into English/Croatian marriage certificate. If the family union is informal, for example, correspondence, joint photos and videos are suitable. To move with children, you need their birth certificates, and optionally, an adoption certificate.

Required documents

To collect a freelancer's dossier and request a visa to Croatia, you need to prepare:

• a completed application form; 
• a foreign passport valid for at least three months after the end of the residence permit;
• one photo is 3.5x4.5 cm, the prescription for the creation of the image is not older than 180 days;
• a contract for the provision of services, a certificate of business opening, an employment contract or other document concluded with a foreign organization and confirming commercial interaction with it;
• to choose from: a certificate of salary accrual in the amount of 2,500 euros per month, an extract from a bank account with 28,000 euros or a larger amount stored;
• a certificate of non-conviction not older than twelve months;
• to choose from: booking a room in a Croatian hotel, an apartment/room/house rental agreement, a certificate of ownership of residential real estate;
• medical insurance for 30,000 € for the period of temporary residence in the country.
• Apostille is affixed to documents, extracts, and certificates. Another condition is their translation into English or Croatian and notarization. If, after the initial examination of the case, the Croatian consulate asks to add additional papers, this is legitimate and normal. It is necessary to apostille, translate and submit the missing documents for verification as soon as possible. 

Important

Already being in the country, the holder of a digital nomad residence permit receives a free E-Health plastic card from the HZZO organization. By presenting the latter in state polyclinics, a foreigner covers the costs of basic medical services. If he came with the children, they will be treated using the parent's E-Health card, you do not need to apply for a separate one. 

Step-by-step action plan

The step-by-step procedure for obtaining a freelancer visa to Croatia is as follows:

• Collect documents according to the list given above. 
• Choose the application method: in person at the embassy or consulate on the basis of an appointment on the official website, online at the district office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (if the foreigner has already entered the country).
• Those who submit documents for the status outside the state must arrive within one calendar month after receiving a positive decision on request. 

If a negative response is received after reviewing the dossier, it is necessary to contact a migration lawyer. He will help you file an appeal and properly collect the documents to solve the problem.

What should I do after getting a visa?

A freelancer who has entered the country with a Schengen D visa is required to register a temporary residence address at the district police station (MUP) and submit a completed questionnaire. If an apartment, room or house is rented, the owner comes to the office together with a foreign tenant and a certificate of ownership. The digital nomad has three days to do all this. He then gives fingerprints, takes photos and leaves personal data to the police in order to later obtain an OIB tax number and a biometric ID card of the resident.

The state fee for these services in 2024 is € 31.85. Details for the transfer of funds are given at the bottom of the page dedicated to the residence permit for digital nomads in Croatia (Temporary stay of digital nomads). You should take the payment receipt with you when visiting the police station. Procedures after entry on a D visa can be accelerated if you pay a state fee of € 59.73.

Important

The residence permit will be valid for one year. It cannot be extended while on the territory of the state: you need to leave Croatia, wait six months and apply for a stay again.

Advantages and disadvantages of the program

Here are the main reasons for the attractiveness of the Croatian Digital Nomad Visa for foreign remote workers:

• you can legally live in a developed European country with a mild climate, excellent infrastructure, well-organized air and railway communication, not very high prices compared to most EU countries;
• income tax – 0 €;
• it is allowed to take a marriage partner and/or children with you, a school child will be given 70 free hours of learning the local language to simplify adaptation;
• Many residents speak English;
• visa-free travel in the EU;
• a high level of medical services. 

Among the disadvantages of staying in Croatia with such a status, the difficulty of extending it is highlighted. If a freelancer or a foreign businessman lives in the territory of the state with children, it will not be easy for him to organize the departure of the whole family abroad for six months after the expiration of the residence permit.

It should be understood that it is impossible to be absent from Croatia for more than thirty consecutive days for 6 months. Otherwise, the residence permit will be cancelled. It is possible to travel freely in Europe without requesting new visas, but on the condition that a foreigner will not leave Croatia for more than a month in six months.

It is impossible to interact commercially with local citizens in the country, it will also not work automatically to switch from a digital nomad's residence permit to permanent residence and to a passport.

Important

Freelancers who have received a digital nomad visa in Spain or Montenegro are entitled to a gradual change of status. 

Digital Nomad Visa in Croatia is a convenient way to temporarily legally move to a European state for those who receive income from abroad and are willing to comply with the specific conditions for extending this type of residence permit. At the same time, being in this country, it is convenient to consider other options for living in the EU.

Additional features

You can get acquainted with the detailed conditions for granting visas to digital nomads of Croatia on the official website of the government.  

Frequently Asked Questions