Croatia digital nomad permit 2026: income, documents, where to apply and tax

Croatia defines a digital nomad as a third-country national, meaning a person without EU, EEA or Swiss citizenship, who is employed or works through communication technology for a company, or their own company, that is not registered in Croatia ¹. You must not work for or provide services to employers in Croatia ¹.

The stay is granted for up to 18 months, possibly less ¹. If you get less than 18 months, you can ask for an extension at least 60 days before your stay expires; the extension is granted for a maximum of 6 months ¹. After the stay ends, a new digital nomad application can be filed only 6 months after expiry ¹.

Close family members, including unmarried partners who have lived together for more than 3 years (less if you have a child together), can join you through family reunification once your own stay has been granted. If they apply before you are granted, their applications are rejected ¹.

Under the Regulation on means of subsistence (Official Gazette no. 14/21 and 3/26), a digital nomad needs at least 2.5 average monthly net salaries of the previous year, as published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics ¹. The Ministry of the Interior currently states that amount as 3,622.50 euros a month ¹.

You can prove it in three ways ¹:

Proof	What it must show
Bank statement of regular income	At least 3,622.50 euros a month 1
Payslips	At least six months at the monthly amount 1
Bank statement of savings	43,470 euros for 12 months, or 65,205 euros for 18 months 1

For each additional family member or partner the amount rises by 10% of the average monthly net salary ¹. The Ministry page does not print that figure in euros. Our own arithmetic, assuming the 3,622.50 euros equal exactly 2.5 salaries, puts one salary at 1,449 euros and the addition at about 144.90 euros a month per person: confirm the exact figure with the police administration.

The amount follows the national average salary, so it changes each year. Some websites still quote older monthly figures; use the one on the Ministry page on the day you apply.

You can file online, and the application goes to the police administration or station for the place where you plan to stay ¹. In person, where you file depends on whether you need a visa to enter Croatia ¹.

If you need a visa to enter Croatia, apply at a Croatian embassy or consulate. Once your stay is approved, you get a long-stay visa D there ¹. An application from a visa-required national filed at a police station in Croatia is rejected ¹. If you file online while in Croatia on a short-stay Schengen visa, you can stay only as long as that visa allows, and you will need a visa D from a consulate once approved ¹.

If you do not need a visa, you can apply at an embassy or consulate, or at the police administration or station where you will live if you are legally in Croatia, and you may stay until the decision becomes enforceable ¹.

After arrival, register your temporary residence address within 3 days at the competent police station, using Form 16a with a lease, a title deed or the owner's statement ¹. You must register within 30 days from the start of your granted stay, or within six months if you needed a visa D, or the stay is revoked ¹. Every third-country national then collects a biometric residence permit card in person ¹.

Croatia's Income Tax Act lists, among receipts that are not taxed, the income of individuals from employment or self-employed activity for an employer not registered in Croatia, based on digital nomad status ². In practice this covers the income the permit is built on: remote work for a foreign employer or your own foreign company ^{2 1}.

The exemption is Croatian only. Your country of citizenship or previous residence may still tax that income, and income from other sources, such as rent or investments, is outside this provision ². Ask a tax adviser in Croatia and in your home country before you move, in particular about where you are tax resident.