Note: The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia is the body competent for issuing residence and work permits as well as work registration certificates.
The Aliens Act (OG 133/20, 114/22, 151/22, 40/25 and 55/26) stipulates that a third-country national in the Republic of Croatia may work based on the residence and work permit or a work registration certificate.
The Aliens Act also provides for exceptions to the above rule. Accordingly, third-country nationals may work in the Republic of Croatia without a residence and work permit or a work registration certificate if, for example, they have been granted temporary residence for the purpose of family reunification or a life partnership with a Croatian national (or with a third-country national holding long-term residence, permanent residence, asylum or subsidiary protection, or who has been issued an EU Blue Card, a residence and work permit for an intra-corporate transfer, or long-term resident status in another EEA Member State). The same exemption also applies to third-country nationals who have been granted temporary residence on humanitarian grounds, autonomous residence, temporary residence as posted workers, temporary residence for the purpose of research or family reunification with a researcher, temporary residence for the purpose of studies, asylum, long-term residence, permanent residence, or temporary residence for the purpose of the immigration and return of members of the Croatian diaspora, as well as in certain other cases.
A third-country national as a rule may work in the Republic of Croatia only in those jobs for which the national has been issued a residence and work permit or a work registration certificate and only for an employer for which he has been issued a residence and work permit or a work registration certificate and with whom he has established employment. However, in order to address the needs of the labour market, the latest amendments to the Aliens Act have made it possible for third-country nationals to change employers after six months of employment with their first employer without the need to obtain a new residence and work permit. The amendments have also facilitated changes to any occupation with the same employer, subject to a labour market test. Furthermore, the 2026 amendments to the Aliens Act introduced additional provisions governing the conditions that employers must meet when employing third-country nationals, as well as the rights of third-country nationals. The new amendments also introduce an obligation for foreign workers to learn the Croatian language, requiring them to pass an examination at the A1.1 proficiency level after one year of residence as a condition for the renewal of their residence and work permit. This requirement will enter into force one year after the latest amendments to the Aliens Act take effect, i.e. on 4 June 2027.
