UPDATED: 9.5.2023.

Every person physically on the territory of the Republic of Croatia is required to have their presence registered with the police (referred to as MUP). Registering involves showing your identification and address where you are staying.

In this post, we cover:

• Types of registration
  • Tourist
  • Resident
• When you should register with the police
• Where you can register
• What you need to bring
• Application form for address registration
• How often you need to register your address
• What to do if you have two addresses

The facts are these…

How to register or change your address with the Croatian police

Types of registration

There are two types of registration:

• Registration of a tourist
• Registration of a resident

Tourist registration

If you are a tourist staying in a hotel or apartment accommodation, the owner or caretaker is supposed to handle this for you (which is why they ask for your passport). While it is required that everyone register, it is common for people who are staying with friends or camping not to register. To be clear, it is required for everyone.

You can learn in detail how tourist stays are registered in all situations including when you are staying with friends or family in our guide which is available here.

Resident registration

If you intend to live in Croatia long term and therefore plan to exceed the allowed tourist visa duration defined by your nationality (usually 30 to 90 days), then it is critical that you register your address with the police at least 8 days before the end of your tourist visa.

You can check how long you can be in Croatia as a tourist for your nationality here.

Registering your address with the police is the first step to obtaining legal residency. To be extra clear, you should be registered as a tourist once you arrive. Then you can change your registration to that of applying for residence once ready.

When should I register my address with the Croatian police?

As soon as you arrive in Croatia. If staying in tourist accommodation, the owner or caretaker should register on your behalf.

[Read: How tourists are registered with the police]

If you plan to stay long-term, you need to register your long-term address as soon as you have an official address at least 8 days before the expiration of your tourist visa. If you are already a resident in Croatia, then you should re-register your new address every time you move.

Third-country citizens with granted temporary stay must report their address within 3 days of entering Croatia (if they are already not in Croatia on a tourist stay) or the day of change. Third-country citizens with granted permanent residence must report their address within 15 days from the day of the change.

Where do I go to register?

To register your long-term address in Croatia, go to the closest administrative police station to your residence. A full list of administrative police stations in Croatia is available here.

Upon arrival at MUP, ask for the desk that handles residency for foreigners, which is called Državljanstvo i stranci or Šalter za strance.

If your accommodation is registering you as a tourist, they will do so using an online system called eVisitor. You can learn more about this here.

What do I need to bring with me?

To register as a tourist, you only need to bring your passport or EU/EEA national identification card and proof of accommodation. Again, it’s unlikely you need to do this as your accommodation will take care of it.

To register a long-term stay BEFORE your tourist visa is up, you’ll need to bring:

• One of the following documents:
  • EU/EEA national identification card
  • Foreign passport
  • Certificate of temporary retention or confiscation of a travel document (and another identity document)
  • Certificate of reporting the disappearance of a travel document (and another identity document)

• Proof of residence
  • Notarized rental contract
  • Notarized landlord statement (this option depends on your basis for residence)
  • Certificate of ownership
  • Purchase contract
  • Gift contract (called “darovni ugovor”)

In addition to proof of residence, police may also ask for a certificate of assignment of a house number.

If your rental contract is not notarized, you will need to provide proof from the tax office that the rental contract has been registered with them. THIS IS A NEW CHANGE FOR 2022, most likely to prevent tax evasion.

[Read: How to get something notarized]

If using a landlord statement and your landlord is Croatian, they have the option of submitting their statement in e-Građani using a service called e-Prijava boravišta hrvatskih državljana. Before you visit MUP, the landlord can give a statement via e-Građani. MUP will receive the statement and it will wait for you once you go there. This means that they won’t have to visit MUP in person to give a statement for you. This service also allows Croatian citizens to apply for boravište.

If you are registering an address AFTER your tourist stay is up, your temporary residence application should already be in motion. If you go to the police after your tourist stay is up and have not yet registered an address or started a residency application, you will most likely be told to leave the country at a minimum and fined at a maximum.

Is there an application form?

Yes. The police will provide you with a registration form to fill out.

If you are a third-country citizen, you can download this form (Obrazac 16a) here.

If you are an EU/EEA citizen, you should use form Obrazac 6b. On MUP’s web site, only a scan of this form is available here.

Once you fill out the form and provide your documents, the police officer will give you a stamped copy of the registration form back for your records. Keep this safe and make copies. You’ll need to provide this as your proof of address and proof you are in the residency process until you get your residence permit. The police may even ask for you to provide it on future visits.

Be truthful when completing this form. If you give a false statement, you can be fined between 66,36 and 663,61 euros.

How often do I have to register my address?

Until you are approved for your first temporary residence permit, you may need to update your registration every 90 to 180 days. The length may vary depending on the type of residence permit you are applying for and your nationality. European nationals are given preference.

After you gain residence, you only need to update your address when you change residences. The process to change your address with the police is the same as when you register your address for the first time.

What if I have two addresses?

In Croatia, it is possible to have 2 addresses on file with the Croatian police:

• Prebivalište – A permanent address, where you get communication from the government
• Boravište – A temporary or occasional address where you may live for 3 or more months, which may include:
  • Where you are staying while you’re away at school
  • Where you are staying abroad
  • Where you are staying while doing temporary work in another city
  • Summer home
  • Your address if you are a foreign citizen and do not hold permanent residence

You are required to register both with the government. You can learn all about these two types of addresses here.

What’s next?

If you are planning to stay long-term and have registered your address with the police already, then your next step is to apply for temporary residence.

Here are all of the options for temporary residence along with instructions on how to apply. You can also have an expat-vetted lawyer take care of the residency application for you. Contact us for a referral.

Sources:
Upute o proceduri – prijava/odjava prebivališta/boravišta
Pravilnik o statusu i radu stranaca u Republici Hrvatskoj
Pravilnik o ulasku i boravku državljana država članica EGP i članova obitelji