OIB, form 1b and registering with the police: the Croatian order
Croatia doesn't ask for a permit but for an order, and it begins with one number: the OIB, which you arrange free of charge and from the Netherlands. Then the home, and then the registration — not at the municipality but at the police, with form 1b and a clock of three months plus eight days.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
As an EU citizen you don't need a residence permit in Croatia. You do go through a chain with a strict order, and whoever reverses it keeps standing at a counter without the paper they're asking for.
This article sets out the chain:
- first the OIB, your personal identification number;
- then the home, with a contract the counter accepts;
- then the registration with the police;
- and after that the rest.
Step one: the OIB — and you arrange it from the Netherlands
The OIB (osobni identifikacijski broj) is the personal identification number the whole country revolves around. Without an OIB no rental contract, no bank account, no car registration, no health-insurance enrolment and no utility connection. The good news: the application is free and doesn't have to happen in Croatia.
There are two routes:
- Online. As an EU citizen you apply via the e-Citizens portal (e-Građani), the Croatian government portal, with the e-service ‘Electronic PIN (OIB) assignment’. You log in with a recognised European login. For Dutch people that's DigiD, via the European eIDAS link.
- At the counter. If that doesn't work, you go to an office of the Porezna uprava (the tax authority), in person or through an authorised representative. You bring your passport and the application form, and it is often ready the same day. The form exists in English and German.
Older sites still say it can be done by email, to OIB@porezna-uprava.hr. That was a COVID measure from March 2020, and even then the email usually only got you a time to come to the office. Now the email route is only meant for people who live abroad and receive a Croatian pension.
Do this in your preparation. Whoever turns up at a viewing without an OIB can't sign. And whoever can't sign has no proof of address for the step after this.
Step two: the home — with a contract the counter accepts
For the registration you need proof of accommodation. MUP, the ministry of the interior that the police fall under, says precisely what that is: a title deed, a purchase contract, or a lease that has been certified (ovjeren) by a notary or by the ministry of finance. If the lease is not certified, the owner gives consent by co-signing form 6b at the police station. Arrange the certification when signing, then the landlord need not come along.
The address itself you register with that same form 6b, and it has a clock of its own that most guides miss: whoever stays at an address for more than three months reports it within fifteen days of arriving at that address. If you move within Croatia, the police cancel the old address ex officio as soon as you report the new one.
Step three: the registration — at the police, with form 1b
The counter isn't the municipality but the police: the MUP office of your place of residence, or the e-service MUP has opened for EU citizens.
The clock is more precise than most sites tell you. You may stay freely in Croatia for three months. If you want to stay longer, you register your residence no later than eight days after the end of those three months. Three months plus eight days after entry, then. The address registration runs along in the same application.
What goes with it:
- form 1b;
- your passport or ID card;
- the proof of accommodation;
- per category, the proof of your means of existence.
If you work, that's your employment contract or an employer's statement. If you're self-employed, your business registration. If you don't work, because you are retired or wealthy, you show sufficient means of subsistence plus health insurance that covers you. MUP doesn't publish a fixed minimum amount. With a Dutch pension the S1 form from the CAK satisfies the insurance requirement: with that form your healthcare in Croatia is paid for by the Netherlands.
| Form or step | Deadline | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| OIB online via e-Građani, or at the counter | at the counter often the same day | free |
| Address registration, form 6b | within 15 days of arriving at the address | free |
| Registration of temporary stay, form 1b | no later than 8 days after the end of your first 3 months | free; the registration certificate comes out of the printer |
| Biometric residence card | on request, valid 5 years | € 13.27 |
| Permanent stay, form 3b | after 5 years of continuous lawful stay | card € 13.27, valid 10 years |
| Family member who is not an EU citizen, form 2b | no later than 8 days after the end of the first 3 months | card € 13.27, valid 5 years |
The card: optional on paper, indispensable in practice
At registration you can apply for a biometric residence card: € 13.27, valid for five years. Formally it's optional: your right of residence follows from EU law, not from the card. Practically, you just want it, because it's your ID at the bank, at HZZO, at customs for the car and at every counter that wants to see "a Croatian document".
And after that: five years to permanent
After five years of uninterrupted lawful residence you apply with form 3b for permanent residence (stalni boravak); that card costs the same and is valid for ten years. For the time in between only one rule applies: keep your paperwork together. Croatia rarely asks for something twice. But when it does, you want to be able to show it.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Croatia or go straight to step 1.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- MUP — residence of EEA nationals (short-term, temporary and permanent) — mup.gov.hr
- Porezna uprava — assigning the OIB, also online for EU citizens — porezna-uprava.gov.hr
- e-Citizens — the e-service ‘Electronic PIN (OIB) assignment’ — europe.gov.hr
- MUP — the e-service for EU/EEA citizens — mup.gov.hr
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