How to get a Croatian criminal background check

UPDATED: 29/06/2023

Criminal background checks are often listed as the required documentation for the employment process, work and stay permits, or exercising rights from health and pension insurance. Most of the time, foreigners must obtain a background check from their home country. However, there are certain situations when you may need to obtain a background check from Croatia if you lived here for 12 months or more.

Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to obtain a Croatian background check – called a “certificate of impunity”. There are three types of Croatian certificates of impunity depending on the purpose for which you need them. After reading this post, you’ll be able to distinguish the main differences and how to request a copy on your own.

If you need a foreign background check and/or fingerprints taken for the purposes of residence or citizenship, then pop over to this guide.

In this post, we cover:

• Types of Croatian certificates of impunity
• Conviction no criminal proceedings are being conducted
• Certificates of non-conviction
  • Certificate from criminal records
  • Certificate from misdemeanor records

The facts are these…

How to obtain a criminal background check in Croatia

Types of Croatian certificates of impunity (aka a background check)

In Croatia, we usually use terms uvjerenje o nekažnjavanju or potvrda o nekažnjavanju for a certificate of impunity. However, there are three different certificates including:

• Uvjerenje da se ne vodi kazneni postupak (Conviction no criminal proceedings are being conducted)
• Certificates of non-conviction
  • Potvrda iz kaznene evidencije (Certificate from criminal records)
  • Potvrda iz prekršajne evidencije (Certificate from misdemeanour records)

All of them are issued by the state.

Conviction no criminal proceedings are being conducted

Conviction no criminal proceedings are being conducted is proof that there are no criminal proceedings for criminal offenses instituted against you before the municipal and county courts. It is called Uvjerenje da se ne vodi kazneni postupak in the Croatian language.

The conviction issued for adults proves that:

• No final decision on the investigation has been made
• There is no confirmed indictment
• No verdict on the issuance of a criminal warrant was brought
• No final judgment has been rendered

The conviction issued for minors proves that:

• No final decision on conducting the preparatory proceedings has been issued
• There are no grounds for conducting the preparatory procedure and proceedings against the minor

You can get this certificate at Croatian municipal courts or through the e-Građani online application. The certificate is valid in entire Croatia regardless of the place of issuance. Both natural and legal persons can get the certificate.

[Read: Difference between legal and natural persons in Croatia]

Once you receive the certificate, you can check its credibility via e-Građani for the following 6 months here. You don’t need to log in to the system to check it.

How to get the certificate at the municipal court

If you need the certificate for use outside of Croatia or you are exempt from paying fees on other grounds, you must submit the request for the issuance at the municipal court or its permanent office regardless of your address of Croatian residence. However, you can also get it at the court for other scenarios.

You can submit the request to the court in person or through an authorized person. An authorization must be signed and verified by a notary public or Croatian embassy or consular office.

[Read: How to get something notarized]

Below are all the steps for getting the certificate at the municipal court.

#1 Pay the fee

The court fee in the amount of 3,98 euros can be paid in tax stamps or internet banking.

Our guide on what is a tax stamp and why you need them is available here.

Information on internet payment is available here.

#2 Collect the documentation

You must provide:

• Application form – Available here
• ID card or a certified copy of an ID card
• Proof of payment of the court fee if you are not exempt from it

If you are submitting the request for someone else, you also need:

• Power of attorney
• ID card or a certified copy of an ID card of the person for whom the certificate is sought
• ID card or a certified copy of an ID card of an authorized person

#3 Submit the request

Visit the municipal court and submit the request. A list of all municipal courts in Croatia including their contact information is available here.

Exceptions: Municipal Civil Court in Zagreb, Municipal Labor Court in Zagreb, Municipal Misdemeanor Court in Zagreb, and Municipal Misdemeanor Court in Split do not issue these certificates.

For the certificates that will be used abroad, you can request a certificate signed by an authorized official with the stamp of the court. Other certificates are not issued with their signature and stamp, and they contain an electronic signature instead.

How to get the certificate via e-Građani

When submitting the request through e-Građani, you must pay a fee of 1,99 euros online. [Read: e-Građani (e-Citizens) – Online portal for Croatian government services]

You are exempt from paying a fee if you need the certificate for:

• Exercising rights from health, disability, or pension insurance
• Exercising social welfare rights
• Employment

Paying a fee is required for other purposes including:

• Work and stay permit
• Change of name or surname
• Weapons license
• Housing
• Recognition of foster care status

[Read: How to apply for a work permit]

Legal persons exercising public authority are also exempt from paying fees if they need the certificate for the purposes of proceedings arising from the exercise of public authority.

To submit the request, follow these steps:

1. Visit e-Građani here
2. Click on Uvjerenje da se ne vodi kazneni postupak
3. Click on Predati zahtjev
4. Log in to e-Građani
5. Choose the purpose of submitting the request under Svrha izdavanja uvjerenja. The choices are:
   • Zasnivanje radnog odnosa (Establishing an employment relationship)
   • Ostvarivanje prava iz zdravstvenog, invalidskog ili mirovinskog osiguranja (Exercising rights from health, disability or pension insurance)
   • Ostaviranje prava na socijalnu zaštitu (Exercising the right to social protection)
   • Ostalo (Other)
     • If you chose Ostalo, enter the purpose under Svrha izdavanja uvjerenja (slobodan unos)
6. Enter the e-mail address where you want the certificate to be delivered under Adresa elektroničke pošte za dostavu uvjerenja – optional
7. Click on Predaj zahtjev
   • If you chose Ostalo click on Plati pristojbu i predaj zahtjev and pay a fee online

For legal persons, the certificate may be requested by natural persons with the right to represent the legal entity. It is done through the service e-Ovlaštenja (e-Authorizations) which is available here.

You can also track the status of your request through e-Građani. After being processed, it will be issued by the Općinski kazneni sud (Municipal Criminal Court) in Zagreb.

If you are a natural person, the certificate will be delivered to your e-Građani Personal Inbox. For legal persons, it will be delivered to the desired email address. The certificate is valid in all Croatian counties.

In case you have any remarks or questions regarding the data issued on the certificate, contact the competent court.

Certificates of non-conviction

Certificates of non-conviction are usually issued for exercising rights outside of Croatia or in an international organization. They can be submitted by yourself or an authorized person to the Ministry of Justice and Administration or the Croatian embassy or consular office. [Read: All the Croatian government ministries and what they do]

Certificates of non-conviction can be issued only in the Croatian language.

Certificate from criminal records

A certificate from criminal records is proof that you have not been convicted of criminal offenses. It is called Potvrda iz kaznene evidencije. Below are the steps describing how to get this certificate.

For a natural person, provide:

• Application form Obrazac Va – Available here
• Copy of an ID card or passport
• Power of attorney certified by a notary public or the Croatian embassy or consular office if an authorized person submits the application

For a legal person, provide:

• Application form Obrazac Vb – Available here
• Excerpt from the court register issued by the competent commercial court (not older than 6 months)

In Croatia, the request can be submitted in person or by mail to:

Odjel za kaznene evidencije
Uprava za kazneno pravo Ministarstva pravosuđa i uprave
Ulica grada Vukovara 49, 10 000 Zagreb

It will be issued the same day you submit the request.

To submit the request outside of Croatia, visit the Croatian embassy or consular office – view a list here.

Special certificate from criminal records

Posebno uvjerenje iz kaznene evidencije (Special certificate from criminal records) is issued only for particular purposes or in cases defined by a special law, for example, when issuing licenses for the performance of freight transport in international road transport. This certificate will be requested from the Ministry by the competent authority, so you don’t have to get it yourself.

A written request must contain the purpose and legal basis for requesting data from criminal records.

The application form Obrazac IIIa available here must be provided for natural persons.

The application form Obrazac IIIb available here must be provided for legal persons.

Certificate from misdemeanor records

To get the certificate from misdemeanor records, you must submit a written request with an authorized translation of a specific regulation or request of a foreign state body on the need to issue a certificate. This certificate is called Potvrda iz prekršajne evidencije in Croatian.

Here are the steps describing how to get this certificate.

For a natural person, provide:

• Application form Obrazac 5 – Available here
• Copy of an ID card or passport

For a legal person, provide:

• Application form Obrazac 6 – Available here

In Croatia, the request can be submitted in person or by mail to:

Odjel za prekršajne evidencije
Uprava za kazneno pravo Ministarstva pravosuđa i uprave
Ulica grada Vukovara 49, 10 000 Zagreb

It will be issued the same day you submit the request.

View our other documentation posts

• Apostille versus full legalization of government documents
• Background checks for third-country nationals
• How to create a legally binding contract in Croatia
• How to get something notarized
• How to prepare foreign documents for use in Croatia
• Which documents to bring to Croatia (if you plan to live here)

Sources:
Uvjerenje da se ne vodi kazneni postupak i uvjerenje / potvrda iz kaznene evidencije by MPU
Uvjerenje da se ne vodi kazneni postupak by e-Građani
Uvjerenje da se ne vodi kazneni postupak
Potvrde za ostvarenje prava u inozemstvu by e-Građani
e-kaznena.pravosudje.hr
Posebno uvjerenje iz kaznene evidencije – koje stranka ne može sama za sebe zatražiti – po službenoj dužnosti traži nadležno tijelo by MPU