EU citizens + CH, NO, IS and LI

• Mobility period shorter than 90 days 

EU citizens are not obliged to apply for approval for a temporary stay or to register their address if they are staying in Croatia shorter than 90 days.

• Mobility period longer than 90 days* 

EU/EEA citizens who plan to study in Croatia for more than 90 days are obliged to apply for the approval of a temporary stay for the purpose of studies (dozvola boravka). You should submit your application for the issuance of the residence card within 90 days of your arrival in Croatia at the Foreigners’ Office, Central Police Station (Odsjek za strance, Policijska uprava zagrebačka) via email: zg.drzavljanstvo.stranci@mup.hr. Email with necessary documents should not exceed 20 MB. 

Working hours: 8:00 am – 3:00 pm

Documents needed for the application:

1. Form1b (EU citizens)

2. Acceptance letter (in Croatian) from UNIZG or FEB stating the study purpose of your stay – you will get one at your receiving faculty/academy once you come to do the enrolment procedure.

3. Proof of sufficient means of subsistence (statement of bank account, scholarship confirmation or statement which states that a student has sufficient means of subsistence signed by the student).

4. Proof of secured accommodation.

• if staying in the student hall of residence – confirmation of the accommodation in the dorm or e-visitor confirmation.

• in case of private accommodation – a rental contract OR owner’s statement of consent, both has to be certified by a public notary.

5. Proof of health insurance (European Health Insurance Card – EHIC card or travel insurance).

6. Scan or photocopy of the passport or the identity card.

EU/EEA citizens do not pay administrative fee.

*period longer than 90 days – each time a person crosses the border of Republic of Croatia period starts to count again.

MOBILITY within EU – NON-EU citizens

Article 73 (paragraphs 5 and 6) of the Aliens Act, states as follows:

• A student who has a valid authorisation issued by another EEA Member State and who is covered by a Union programme or a multilateral programme that comprises mobility measures or by an agreement between two or more higher education institutions may spend a part of his studies at a higher education institution in the Republic of Croatia in a period of up to 360 days without an obligation to regulate his temporary stay for the purpose of university studies if he does not pose threat to public policy, national security and public health. When registering his short-term stay, the student shall inform the competent police administration or police station according to his place of stay about his intention of stay by providing a proof of participating in a Union programme or a multilateral programme.

This means that students belonging to this category do not need a regular approval of the temporary stay for the purpose of studies, instead, for the purpose of informing the competent police administration or police station according to his place of stay, they need to fill in the Statement of student mobility (form “Obrazac – mobilnost”).

Besides the Statement of student mobility, students also need:

1. Scan or photocopy of the passport or the identity card.

2. Scan or photocopy of the residence permit from the EU country in which the student has a valid residence for the purpose of studying.

3. Acceptance letter (in Croatian) from UNIZG stating the study purpose of your stay – you will get one at your receiving faculty/academy once you come to do the enrolment procedure.

4. Proof of sufficient means of subsistence.

5. Proof of health insurance. Students who meet the above conditions do not pay fees nor are they required to create a biometric residence permit but, once the procedure has been completed, they are issued a mobility registration certificate.

Students who meet the above conditions do not pay fees nor are they required to create a biometric residence permit but, once the procedure has been completed, they are issued a mobility registration certificate.

NON-EU CITIZENS

• MOBILITY PERIOD LONGER THAN 90 DAYS

Non-EU citizens staying in Croatia for more than 90 days are obliged to apply for the approval of the temporary stay for the purpose of studies (dozvola boravka) within 48 hours of their arrival. 

To apply for the permit, you will need to submit the following documents at the Foreigners’ Office, Central Police Station (Odsjek za strance, Policijska uprava zagrebačka) via email: zg.drzavljanstvo.stranci@mup.hr. Email with necessary documents should not exceed 20 MB.

Working hours: 8am – 3:00 pm

Documents needed for the application:

1. Form 1a (NON-EU citizens),

2. Acceptance letter (in Croatian) from UNIZG or FEB stating the study purpose of your stay – you will get one at your receiving faculty/academy once you come to do the enrolment procedure,

3. Form 16a,

4. Proof of sufficient means of subsistence (statement of bank account, scholarship confirmation and similar; only for the scholars of the University of Zagreb – invitation letter stating the scholarship amount) – €287,00 per month + €688,80 for travel cost,

5. Proof of secured accommodation needed if:

• staying in a student hall of residence,

• for private accommodation only certified apartment rental contract is accepted,

6. Proof of health insurance,

7. Scan or photocopy of passport,

8. A certificate confirming that applicant has no criminal convictions issued by the authorities of the passport holder’s own country, and country of permanent residence. Such document cannot be older than six months from the date of issue. Please check with your embassy do you require Apostille on the document. 

*Photo is not submitted when applying for residence, but upon approval of residence, when submitting a request for the ID card (dimensions have to be 30 x 35 mm).

Cost of the permit (administrative fee)

Cost of the permit (administrative fee) – paid to the Ministry of Interior Affairs Republic of Croatia

The total cost is €46,45. After the procedure is completed additional cost for the creation of the ID card is €31,85 for the regular procedure OR €59,73 for the urgent procedure with additional administrative fees in the amount of around €10,00.

Students from Turkey, North Macedonia and Lichtenstein do not pay administrative fee.

IMPORTANT: All documents need to be translated into Croatian and certified by a court interpreter or a translation agency that has a court interpreter. Document number 8 can be accepted in English language and must be legalized in accordance with special regulations. 

For the additional information please contact MUP: +385 1 4563 639 / +385 1 4563 674; zg.drzavljanstvo.stranci@mup.hr; zagrebacka@policija.hr.

EU/EEA citizens can enter Croatia with just a valid ID card (or passport) and then need to register at the Central police station if staying for more than 3 months to regulate the residence permit.

Citizens of the USA, Australia, Canada, etc. (for full list see Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs) can enter Croatia with a valid passport and then apply for the residence permit in Zagreb. Check with the Croatian embassy in your country of residence which documentation you will need for your application in Zagreb and make sure you take it along when coming to Zagreb.

NON-EU/EEA citizens coming from a country that has a visa-regime with the Republic Croatia need to apply for a visa via the Croatian embassy in their home country before departing for Croatia.

The list of countries whose nationals need a visa to enter Croatia can be found at the pages of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

Visas CANNOT be applied for or extended in Croatia! Please contact the Croatian embassy in your country of residence for more information. You will receive an acceptance letter that covers some of the documentation needed for your visa application as soon as your complete application has been approved by the faculty/academy of the University of Zagreb that will host you.

IMPORTANT! Please bear in mind that the visa application process might take up to several weeks or even months so do try to file your application as soon as possible. 

You might need the originals of your "Letter of Acceptance" for your visa application; if so, please let us know as early as possible so that we can send it to you via mail in time and do also provide a shipping address.  

All exchange students must have health insurance during their stay in Croatia.

1. All EU/EEA students need to bring their European health insurance card to that is valid during the entire period spent in Croatia.

2. All non-EU/EEA exchange students are required to take out a travel medical insurance that is valid during the entire period spent in Croatia. The ensured cover must be at least 30.000 EUR and include repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical care and/or emergency treatment in a hospital. Student will need to submit a proof of medical insurance upon arrival to Zagreb, Croatia when applying for the first temporary permit.

3. Students coming from Bosnia and Hercegovina, Montenegro and Serbia that have health insurance with their national health insurance provider in the home country may take out a proof of health insurance from the home country - so-called “bolesnički list” – and exchange it for insurance policy from the Croatian national health insurance provider. Upon arrival to Zagreb students will report to the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (Hrvatski zavod za zdrastveno osiguranje – HZZO) and submit the so-called “bolesnički list” at the address: Branimirova 37, Odjel za međunarodnu suradnju / Department for international cooperation. The HZZO will issue a document that enables exchange students to use the health services within the Croatian health system. The document is issued without additional charges.

• number assigned by the Tax Administration of the Croatian Ministry of Finance. 

• prerequisite for student enrolment at FEB

• FEB IO can request OIB on behalf of exchange student 

• CROATICUM - Centre for Croatian as Foreign and Second Language offers semestral as well as monthly courses

• University School of Croatian Language and Culture 

More info: http://www.unizg.hr/homepage/learn-croatian/