Croatia Digital Nomad Visa

Croatia's digital nomad route is a temporary stay granted by the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), not a stand-alone visa. It covers nationals of countries outside the EU, the European Economic Area and Switzerland who work through communication technology for an employer, or their own company, that isn't registered in Croatia.

The stay runs for up to 18 months. A holder granted a shorter stay can extend it once, inside the same cap. The main applicant needs €3,622.50 a month, or savings that cover the whole stay, and pay from qualifying foreign work isn't taxed as income in Croatia.

It suits a long single base in Croatia. It doesn't suit anyone who wants to settle: the cap and a six-month gap before any new stay mean it can't build toward long-term residence.

MUP's conditions for the main applicant:

• Who qualifies: a third-country national (anyone without EU, EEA or Swiss citizenship) employed by, or working through, a company not registered in Croatia, including the applicant's own foreign company.
• No Croatian clients: the holder can't work for or provide services to employers in Croatia.
• Income: €3,622.50 a month, which is 2.5 times the average monthly net salary paid in Croatia in the previous year.
• Family: Add 10% of the average monthly net salary for each family member or partner (EUR 144.90 at the 2025 average of EUR 1,449).
• Savings instead of income: €43,470 in a bank account for a 12-month stay, or €65,205 for 18 months.
• Clean record: no criminal convictions in the home country or in any country lived in for more than a year immediately before arriving in Croatia.
• Health insurance: travel or private cover that includes Croatia for the whole stay.

Close family members can join through temporary stay for family reunification, but only once the nomad's own stay has been granted. MUP rejects family applications filed earlier. Unmarried partners count after three years together, or sooner if they have a child.

Documents go in Croatian or English, with translations by an authorized translator, and financial papers must state the currency. MUP's list:

• Application: the bilingual Form 1a for filing in person, or the online application.
• Passport: a copy of a travel document valid three months longer than the intended stay.
• Health insurance: proof of cover for the whole stay in Croatia.
• Proof of remote work: a statement from the employer or the applicant that the work is done through communication technology, plus either a contract with the foreign employer or the registration of the applicant's own company and proof of working through it.
• Proof of means: a bank statement holding the full amount for the stay, a bank statement showing regular income at the monthly amount, or payslips for the last six months. Online uploads are PDF files of up to 2MB each.
• Criminal record certificate: legalized, from the home country or any country of residence of more than a year before arrival. It isn't needed again for an extension.

• Temporary stay, filed in Croatia or online: €46.45.
• Temporary stay, filed at an embassy or consulate: €55.74.
• Visa D: €93 for nationals who need a visa to enter Croatia. VFS visa centers add their own service charge.
• Biometric residence card: €31.85, or €59.73 for the accelerated procedure, plus a €9.29 administrative fee. Applicants who file abroad should ask the mission about card fees and collection there.

MUP lists how to pay each fee by bank transfer on its digital nomads page. Health insurance, translations and legalization of documents are extra and vary by provider and country.

Online through the MUP digital nomads portal, at a Croatian embassy or consulate, or (visa-exempt applicants legally in Croatia) at the police administration or station for the intended address. Visa-required nationals must file abroad or online and then collect a visa D.

• Online: the application goes to the police administration for the intended address. An automatic receipt follows, then a case worker who may ask for more documents.
• Nationals who need a visa: they file at a Croatian embassy or consulate, or online, and get a long-stay visa D after approval. MUP rejects an application such a national files at a police station. Filing online from inside Croatia on a short-stay visa gives no right to stay beyond that visa while the case is pending.
• Visa-exempt nationals: they can also file in person at an embassy or consulate, or at the police administration for their intended address while legally in Croatia, and may stay until the decision becomes enforceable.
• Address registration: foreigners report their address to the police within three days of entering Croatia. After approval, the temporary residence address must be registered within 30 days of the stay's start (six months when a visa D is needed), or the stay is revoked.

MUP publishes no processing time for this status.

• Length: up to 18 months, and MUP may grant less.
• Extension: If granted for less than 18 months, one extension of up to 6 months can be requested in person at a police station at least 60 days before expiry, within the 18-month cap. A new digital nomad application is possible only 6 months after the previous stay ends.
• Overall cap: 18 months, extension included, under Article 61 of the Aliens Act.
• Long-term residence: No. The stay is capped at 18 months and a new temporary stay for another purpose can only be requested six months after the nomad stay expires, so it cannot build the five years of continuous temporary stay that long-term residence requires.

Anyone planning a longer future in Croatia needs a different residence basis before the nomad stay ends.

Pay received for work for an employer not registered in Croatia under digital nomad status is not treated as income under the Income Tax Act, so it is not taxed in Croatia.

The exclusion covers only pay from the foreign employer or the holder's own foreign company. Croatia treats a person with a habitual residence of at least 183 days in one or two calendar years as resident, and residents are taxed on income from Croatia and abroad under the general rules. A holder's home country may also tax the same pay.