EU Blue Card in Croatia

A Blue Card can be issued to a third-country national with a contract for highly qualified employment of at least six months concluded with an employer in Croatia. The gross annual salary resulting from the contract must correspond to at least 1.5 times the average gross monthly wage paid in Croatia in the previous year, as published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics; the contract also serves as proof of health insurance.

For an unregulated profession you need a higher education qualification related to the job, or proof of high-level professional skills issued by the competent commission. For a regulated profession on the Croatian list you need a decision recognising your foreign professional qualification from the competent chamber or ministry. A clean criminal record and a valid passport complete the file.

The highly qualified worker applies on Form 4a at a Croatian mission or at the police administration for their place of stay; the employer can also apply at the police administration for its seat or the place of work. Blue Card applicants and their family members are among the visa-required groups who may apply in Croatia. No labour market test or HZZ opinion is needed, and the application can be sent to the police by e-mail.

After approval you pay EUR 74.32 for the permit and EUR 31.85 for the biometric card. If you are abroad and need a visa, you then obtain a D visa (EUR 93) at the mission or VFS centre within two months of the permit start date, enter Croatia and register your address.

A renewal is requested at the police no later than 60 days before the card expires according to the Croatian-language MUP page (30 days on the older English page); if you applied in time you may keep working until the decision is enforceable. After five years of uninterrupted stay on a Blue Card in Croatia, or five years in the EU of which the last two in Croatia, you can apply for EU long-term residence, provided you have means, health insurance and pass the Croatian language and Latin script test.

A family member of a Blue Card holder can be granted temporary stay for family reunification for the validity of the card, applying at a Croatian mission or at the police. Family members may work without a stay and work permit. When a Blue Card holder moves from another EEA state, the family members must apply at the police within one month of entering Croatia, attaching the residence permit from the first state, health insurance and proof that they lived there as the holder’s family.

You may work only in the job and for the employer the permit was issued for. If the contract ends or other conditions cease, both the employer and the card holder must inform the police within five days. The English MUP page states that a holder who changes employer within the first two years must apply for a new Blue Card within eight days of leaving the first employer, while after two years a change of employer is notified within eight days with the new contract.

A holder of a Blue Card from another EEA state that fully applies Schengen may carry out business activities in Croatia, such as meetings, conferences, negotiations or sales, for up to 90 days in 180 without a Croatian permit. After 12 months with that card, the holder may move and apply for a Croatian Blue Card at the police.