Conditions an employer in Croatia must meet to hire third country nationals

Before the conversation reaches a candidate, the Croatian Employment Service examines the employer. Article 99 of the Aliens Act, published in Narodne novine 55/2026, requires employed nationals of Croatia, the EEA or Switzerland to number at least 20 percent of employed third country nationals, and at least 10 percent in a shortage occupation.

The domestic to foreign workforce ratio

Those thresholds have applied since the amended act entered into force on 4 June 2026. The ratio is measured on the day the application is filed, counting workers on full time contracts. An employer with ten third country nationals in ordinary occupations must hold at least two full time workers from Croatia, the EEA or Switzerland at that moment. Where the hire is in an occupation on the shortage list for the competent police administration, the threshold falls to one in ten.

Two things in that calculation catch employers out. The first is that the ratio is a snapshot rather than an annual average, so one domestic resignation in the week before filing breaks the condition. The second is that the occupation is assessed by police administration area rather than nationally, so the same company with two plants can face a 10 percent threshold in Osijek and a 20 percent threshold in Zagreb. How the list is read by area is covered in the piece on the shortage occupation list by police administration.

The business conditions the Employment Service checks

Alongside the ratio, a positive opinion requires evidence that the employer genuinely trades. Presenting the May 2026 amendments to the Aliens Act, the Croatian government set out a turnover threshold on the business account of 100,000 euro for legal entities and 40,000 euro for natural persons, with the observation period extended from six months to twelve. The employer must also have employed, continuously over the past year, at least one worker who is a national of Croatia, the EEA or Switzerland on a permanent full time contract, and must have no outstanding liabilities to the state.

A newly incorporated company without twelve months of turnover and without one domestic worker on a permanent contract will not, as a rule, pass. That is the most common reason investment projects using a new Croatian entity stall before the first application rather than at the candidate stage.

What happens after a positive opinion

A positive opinion is not a permit. The application then goes to the police administration, where Article 91(8) of the Aliens Act requires a decision within 90 days of a complete application at the latest, with an extension of a further 30 days in justified cases. The administrative fee for issuing a residence and work permit is 74.32 euro under the Ministry of the Interior schedule, with 31.85 euro for producing the biometric residence card under the standard procedure and 9.29 euro for issuing the document.

Where the occupation is not in shortage for that area, a check of domestic supply precedes the opinion. A move to a different employer later on runs through the same conditions again, as set out in the piece on changing employer after six months.

Checks worth running before the file is filed

Employers hiring from third countries for the first time usually lose weeks in three places. First, on a ratio that held at planning time but not at filing time. Second, on outstanding liabilities to the state, because even a small contribution debt halts the opinion until it is cleared. Third, on documents assembled in the wrong order, which turns a single request for supplementary papers into a restarted deadline. The renewal calendar, which has the same trap, is set out in the piece on permit renewal deadlines and fees.

Article 99 is drafted to separate employers with an existing domestic core from those without one. An employer who knows its ratio, its turnover and its tax standing before opening the procedure spends days on documents rather than months on a second filing. A comparison of the same entry conditions across destination countries sits on the employers page.