The business visa is the most appropriate working visa for employees of Croatian companies with short-term technical assignments of less than one year’s duration. If an applicant intends to act as a company director or a new investor in Croatia, the business visa is necessary, but the work permit is not. A valid employment visa is required by all employees not covered by the business visa. However, the process of acquiring both types of visa is very similar.
The application for the Employment Visa ("Entry visa for the purpose of employment") can either be made at the consulate in your current country of residence or the Ministry of the Interior.
Officials at the Ministry of Interior state that processing times vary from consulate to consulate. It normally takes four to six weeks to receive an employment visa, and the following documents should be submitted at the time of application:
Within 24 hours of arrival in Croatia the recipient of the employment visa must register the visa with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) at a designated police station, and apply for the “extended residency permit” (“White Card”).
The extended residency permit is normally granted in two or three weeks. The individual can then apply for a work permit.
A business visa is required in two cases. On the one hand, a business visa is granted in cases where a foreign national is to perform work based on the existing agreements for business and technical cooperation, long-term production cooperation and technology transfer. On the other hand, it is also the appropriate visa for a person seeking to establish a business or to act as a director of an existing business.
Visas are issued at the Croatian diplomatic missions and consular institutions abroad. However, the involvement of the Ministry of Labour is also required where a "Resolution" is needed to confirm the desirability of the skills to be introduced, as is that of the immigration department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to validate the business visa upon entry (at a police station).
The documents required for a business visa application include:
Presentation of this evidence is required upon registration of the business visa, which must take place within 24 hours of entry into Croatia (i.e. it must be fully prepared in advance).
Additional documentation is required where the Business Visa is for the purpose of working at an existing Croatian company, although the Resolution from the Ministry of Labour is not needed:
Business visas are issued the entire period of the assignment, but for no longer than one year when they must be renewed. Business visas are separate from the work permit, and foreign nationals in possession of a business visa must also apply for a work permit upon entry into Croatia.
Where a business visa is being acquired for a technical expert, for example, to work at an existing Croatian company, the Croatian employer will take care of the business technical agreement or work assignment documentation that is required.
For new foreign investors a Resolution from the Ministry of Labour must be obtained in advance. It is not clear whether the local consulate is able to acquire the Resolution from the Ministry of Labour on behalf of the applicant. Interviews with the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Labour, as well as members of the private sector were contradictory on this point.
However, it was widely noted that it was in the best interests of the applicant to acquire the Resolution ahead of applying for the Business Visa. It is much easier for ethnic Croatians to enter Croatia in order to establish a business, and many companies seem to use this entry route, since it is much easier for such an individual to enter Croatia, establish a company, and arrange for the entry of non-ethnic Croatians by sponsoring an Employment Visa.
Within 24 hours of arriving in Croatia on a business visa, the investor or recipient of this type of visa must register it with the Ministry of Internal Affairs at a police station. The first purpose of this registration is to inform the authorities of the applicant's residential address; and the second is to apply for an "extended residency permit" or "white card".
This process has a fee of 20 Kuna, and requires the following documentation:
Registration at the police station typically takes one to two hours if documentation is in order. It is clearly extremely difficult for an individual to make such arrangements (rental contract, etc.) outside the country or upon arrival without the sponsorship of a Croatian employer (who has undertaken all the preparations), or the comprehensive services of an intermediary (like a consulting company).
Actually receiving the "White Card" or "extended residency permit' will take two to three weeks. The applicant (or his agent) should check on progress periodically, in case the application is incomplete, and he has not been told. Once approved, the applicant must go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get the "extended residency permit" stamped into his passport.
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