Updated October 2024

We often get asked about the process of gaining temporary residence here in Croatia. Post-Brexit, many Brits aren’t able to spend the whole of summer sailing in European waters anymore. 3 months of Schengen time is generous, but it’s not quite enough if you’ve got your own place (per se, in this case a floating place) and just want to tootle around the Med on your boat for as long as you like. Or maybe you’re even looking to spend longer onboard, living in the marina over winter, like we do. It’s totally doable! The caveat is you have to have an annual berth in a marina. Well, technically you need to have a prepaid rental property for a year – but they extend this to annual berth holders.

So that’s the biggest thing. Then there’s a bunch of paperwork you need to get together, and you need to make a few visits to the local foreign affairs department of the regional MUP (Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova – basically the administrative police). I’m going to talk about how it works in 2024, in the Dubrovnik region. Every region differs slightly with their rules, regardless of what the overall MUP website says (in our experience, anyway!). Dubrovnik’s MUP’s address is confusing as its official building is not where you go to apply for this – you need to go to what they call their Traffic Department, here: Ul. Vladimira Nazora 32, 20000, Dubrovnik (https://maps.app.goo.gl/zoGwQ91g7fdD84vMA). There is a nearby underground parking garage, and plenty of buses nearby.

On your first visit to the police, take note of local customs – dress fairly smartly and demurely, as if you were going to a business meeting. Croatians often tend to take a small gift with them whenever they go somewhere someone is doing them a service, like the doctor, or in this case, the foreign affairs people. Kinda like a hostess gift – a box of chocolates or something like that, to thank them for helping you with your issue. It’s not obligatory, but if you’re feeling grateful for any help given, it’s nice to do it.

The next thing you’ll need to prepare yourself for is the more old-fashioned system in place. You’ll need to get a ticket number at the machine in the MUP building (you need a ticket for the foreign affairs department, available in the list), and wait your turn. Depending on the time of year you’re doing this, this could take anything from 10 minutes to several hours! In spring the queues are long because of foreign seasonal workers applying for work visas. Just try and be patient – everyone is in the same boat. And in our experience, the ladies behind the desk are as polite and helpful at the end of the day as they are at the start, so try and show the same magnanimity. 🙂

This is the paperwork you’ll need:

You let them know by randomly writing somewhere on the form how long you want your temp res to run for (up to a year).

As part of the application you’ll receive an OIB number and have to pay a couple fees (totalling about €100 by the end of the process). Thankfully over the last year they’ve made these payable by card – we’ve yet to see exactly where payment is paid – will update this when we know. UPDATE October 2024: Unfortunately this still has to be paid at the post office or a bank. Only locals can make payments at the police. Make sure to get your OIB number first from the police, then take a 15 minute walk down the hill to the post office or one of the banks in town, fill out the slips they give you, make payment, and return to the police with the receipts. Here is the Google Map to the nearest post office, or pošta: https://maps.app.goo.gl/My13PFhJzujFMGDEA

You’ll need to have your fingerprints done there at the police counter.

Once your OIB has been issued and all your paperwork is handed in they’ll stamp your application form. You can take a photo of this, as they don’t give you a receipt. Now your Schengen time stops, and you’re allowed to remain in the country while the application is going through, regardless of the outcome. The process can take several weeks, and you can’t leave the country while it’s ongoing, so be prepared to stay put for a while.

While you’re waiting, hang around in the marina and give your boat a nice spring clean because it’s likely you’ll get an impromptu visit by the border police as part of the application process! They will want to come onboard and have a quick look at your situation and ask some questions, the same way they do if you’re applying for any other form of residency on land – part of it is this unexpected visit at your address, so best to be around for it, in our opinion.

After a month or so you’ll get an email from MUP (in Croatian) telling you whether you’ve been approved or not. At this stage you’ll need to wait about one more month for your temp res card to be issued – you’ll need to visit MUP to pick it up. They won’t let you know when it’s ready, but don’t bother trying early – it really takes about a month! I think there’s one more fee here, and some signatures required, but once you have your card, you’re free to travel again! This has strict restrictions though: you can only leave the country for up to 30 days in the year, and only for 10 days max at a time. We’ve heard rumours this might have changed recently to allow for more days – will look into it and update when we know. UPDATE October 2024: this has changed to 30 days max at a time, 90 days total per year. Check this though, as this seems changeable.

Once your year of temp res is up, you can’t reapply for 6 months. But you can use Schengen time to remain in Croatia – so your usual 90 days in 180 days story. Once your Schengen time is up, you have to leave Croatia for 90 days, then come back in on Schengen and you can reapply for your temp res. Here is a site where you can calculate your Schengen days available (bearing in mind you have to count travel to all EU Schengen countries over the last 180 days): https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/visa-calculator/

Okay, so back to that ACRO certificate with the apostille. We recommend you apply for this while you’re still in the UK (or your home “third national” country) as it’s a lot cheaper than paying for the expedited service and DHL costs once you’re in Croatia. The certificate has to be recent though (within the last 6 months), so get your timing right! You apply for your UK ACRO certificate online here: https://www.acro.police.uk/s/acro-services/police-certificates and you’ll need a recent passport photo, your addresses for the last 10 years, a copy of your passport, and a payment card for the online fee. The certificate will be posted to a UK address, and then you’ll need to send it to be apostilled by a registered company – we used the UK Gov site to find one: https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised You have to apply for a paper one for your temp res application. This also incurs a fee which can be paid online, and then the apostilled certificate will be posted either locally, or you can have it couriered to you in Croatia for a fee. The whole process can take a couple months if you use the standard services, but we got ours done in less than 2 weeks including courier as we forked out for the expedited process. It is expensive though, so plan ahead if you can! Also, MUP’s website says you only need this for your first application – but on this particular type of temp res (accommodation) each time you apply is considered as a first application because you have to wait 6 months in between. So you’ll need it for this type of residency even if you’ve applied before.

Here is the full info on MUP’s website about applying for temporary residency: https://mup.gov.hr/aliens-281621/stay-and-work/temporary-stay-of-third-country-nationals/281661 As I said before, every region can have its own local rules, so be prepared for some slight variations – you’re allowed to come back with any paperwork you don’t have at any time, so just be patient – you’ll get there!

Disclaimer: this information is based on our own research and experience and is particular to our circumstances. It’s intended as a general guide to help you figure out your own application and is not endorsed by any officials. As we all know, officialdom changes regularly, so be sure to check MUP’s site, and go see them to get the correct and up-to-date requirements for your situation. If you have any new or different info, please let us know in the comments!

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