🇭🇷 Croatia Digital nomad visa

Who the DN is for

Croatia’s digital nomad permit — officially a “temporary stay of digital nomads,” and technically a temporary-stay permit rather than a visa — is aimed at non-EU nationals who work through communication technology for a company, or their own company, registered outside Croatia. Remote employees, freelancers with foreign clients, and owner-operators of foreign companies all qualify, and all three income types count toward the financial requirement. The program has run since January 1, 2021, and a March 2025 amendment to the Foreigners Act extended the maximum stay from 12 to 18 months.

The financial bar for 2026 is EUR 3,622.50 per month, set at 2.5 times the previous year’s average Croatian net salary, so it moves each year. You prove it with bank statements or payslips covering the last six months — or take the savings route instead: EUR 43,470 for a 12-month stay, EUR 65,205 for the full 18 months. Family members and life partners (formal or informal) can join you, with each adding 10% of the average monthly net salary to the required amount.

It is not for anyone who wants to work in the Croatian market: the legal definition excludes work or services for employers registered in Croatia, full stop. It is also a poor fit if you are building toward settlement. The stay is capped at 18 months, followed by a mandatory six-month break before you can reapply — a structure that, by our reading (the government does not say this explicitly), rules out the continuous residence permanent residency would require.

How to apply, step by step

1. Confirm you qualify: you work remotely for a company — or your own company — not registered in Croatia, and you can clear the income or savings threshold.
2. Choose your channel. There are three: the official online portal at digitalnomadscroatia.mup.hr, a Croatian diplomatic mission (the route for nationals who need a visa to enter), or a police administration office inside Croatia (for visa-free nationals).
3. Assemble your evidence: six months of bank statements or payslips showing at least EUR 3,622.50 per month (plus 10% per accompanying family member), or proof of the lump-sum savings, plus health insurance valid in Croatia for the entire intended stay. The interior ministry’s (MUP) published document list defines the complete set of requirements.
4. Pay the fees for your route. In-country at a police station: EUR 46.45 approval, EUR 9.29 administrative fee, and EUR 31.85 for the biometric residence card (EUR 59.73 expedited). Via a diplomatic mission: EUR 55.74 approval, plus EUR 93.00 for a long-stay D visa if you are visa-required, or EUR 41.14 for the biometric permit.
5. Wait for the decision. Official sources do not state a processing window, so build in buffer time rather than relying on third-party estimates.
6. If you were granted less than 18 months, you can request a single extension of up to six months; file it within 60 days before your current permit expires.

Taxes

Croatia pairs this permit with an explicit statutory tax exemption. Article 9(1)(26) of the Income Tax Act, in force since January 1, 2021, exempts income from work performed for an employer not registered in Croatia, earned on the basis of acquired digital nomad status, from Croatian income tax. The exemption applies to that qualifying remote income whether or not you become a Croatian tax resident.

It is narrow, though: it covers only the nomad work income itself. Anything else you earn can become taxable if you cross into tax residency. Croatia treats you as resident through habitual abode — a continuous or connected stay of at least 183 days across one or two calendar years — or through having a dwelling at your disposal for 183 or more days, even if you never actually stay in it. Residency determinations are fact-specific and can involve treaty tie-breaker analysis, so don’t assume the headline exemption settles everything: outcomes depend on personal circumstances and treaty rules.

Health insurance

Proof of health insurance sits on MUP’s mandatory document list: a travel or private health policy covering the territory of Croatia for your entire intended stay. No official source sets a minimum coverage amount — the duration is what your policy has to satisfy.

Take this requirement seriously. Digital nomads are expressly excluded from Croatia’s compulsory public health insurance (HZZO) and must bear their own healthcare costs, so the private policy is your only real cover for the whole stay, not a box-ticking exercise. We compare policies that can span the full 18 months at /countries/croatia/health-insurance/.