Work in Croatia as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

• HLKCroatian Medical Chamber (Hrvatska liječnička komora)

  Doctors: recognition of foreign qualifications, register and licence

  How to register with the HLK

• HKMSCroatian Nursing Council (Hrvatska komora medicinskih sestara)

  Nurses: recognition of foreign qualifications, register and licence

  How to register with the HKMS

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   1. Check accreditation and gather your training records

   The chamber's first check is whether your university and programme were accredited from the day you enrolled to the day you graduated, year by year if you studied at more than one institution. If they were not, the application is refused. Ask your university now for a diploma supplement or transcript listing every subject with hours and grades, and a full curriculum certified as the one that applied to you.
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   2. Start learning Croatian towards B2

   Both the HLK and the HKMS require proof of Croatian at B2 or above before entry in the register. The certificate must come from an authorised institution; the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth publishes the list of institutions that run the Croatian language and Latin script exam for foreigners. Start early, because the language certificate is usually the slowest part of the route.
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   3. Prepare certified copies and translations

   Doctors need proof of citizenship, the secondary school certificate if the diploma supplement does not show entry conditions, the medical diploma and supplement, the full curriculum, proof of the internship and professional exam, any specialist documents, employer letters proving experience, and the licence valid in the country you come from. Submit certified copies plus one uncertified copy of each, unbound. Translations must be done by a permanent court interpreter, which can be done abroad if the interpreter binds the original to the translation.
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   4. Appoint a representative in Croatia and pay the fee

   If you live abroad, the General Administrative Procedure Act requires you to name a person with an address in Croatia to receive official letters; the HLK provides a template that needs no notarisation for this purpose. The HLK general-system fee is €132.72 and the HKMS document-processing fee is €53.09, paid to each chamber's account with your identification number as the reference.
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   5. Submit and wait for the comparison of your training

   The HLK appoints experts, nominated by the deans of Croatian medical faculties, who compare your programme with Croatian training; for nurses, the HKMS asks a Croatian educational institution for an opinion. Each case is assessed individually, so the chamber cannot say in advance what differences it will find. An incomplete file triggers a written request for more documents.
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   6. Choose and complete a compensation measure if required

   If differences are not made up by your experience, the HLK asks you to choose in writing within 30 days between an adaptation period of up to three years and an aptitude test (provjera kompetentnosti), and to name the Croatian medical faculty where you will do it. It then issues a temporary decision within 60 days. For nurses, the HKMS runs a competency check with a written exam and, if you pass, an oral exam the same afternoon, for a fee of €199.08.
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   7. Complete Ministry of Health steps (doctors)

   After the HLK procedure, doctors trained in third countries apply to the Ministry of Health for recognition of the internship and to pass the general part of the professional exam, and separately for recognition of any specialist title. The HLK says these procedures run one after the other, not at the same time, so plan for them in sequence.
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   8. Register with the chamber and obtain your licence

   With the recognition decision, apply to the HLK's Office for Registration and Licensing for entry in the register of doctors, or to the HKMS for entry in the nurses' register. The HLK says the decision on registration is issued within 30 days of a complete application, and the licence follows once the 15-day appeal period has passed. Bring your B2 Croatian certificate.
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   9. Your employer applies for a stay and work permit

   With a job offer, your employer applies to the police for a stay and work permit, which for a regulated profession must include the decision recognising your foreign qualification. If you need a visa to enter Croatia, the Aliens Act provides a long-stay visa (visa D) once the permit is granted. After at least a year on a permit issued after a labour market test, you must also pass a basic Croatian test at A1.1, which the employer pays for.

• Croatia does not use IELTS or OET for licensing. The language requirement is Croatian, and English test results do not count.
• Doctors: the HLK requires proof of knowledge of Croatian and the Latin script at a minimum of B2, written and spoken, to enter the register of doctors and receive a licence.
• Nurses: the HKMS register rules require proof of Croatian at least at B2 (CEFR), issued by an authorised educational institution based in the EEA.
• Exemptions for nurses: the HKMS says nurses who completed primary school, secondary school or university in Croatian are exempt, as are nurses who completed a compensation measure in Croatia during recognition.
• Where to test: the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth publishes the list of institutions that run the Croatian language and Latin script exam for foreigners.
• For residence: under the Aliens Act, third-country nationals who have stayed at least a year on certain stay and work permits must pass a standardised basic test at A1.1, paid for by the employer. This is separate from, and much lower than, the professional B2 requirement.

• Stay and work permit (dozvola za boravak i rad)

  The employer applies on your behalf. Most permits need a labour market test and an opinion from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ); occupations the HZZ lists as in demand can skip the test but still need the opinion. For a regulated profession on the Croatian list, the application must include the decision recognising your foreign qualification. The Aliens Act says the permit is issued for the length of the employment contract, up to three years.

• Where you can work

  With a stay and work permit you may work only for the employer that obtained it, in the job it was granted for. Where the permit followed a labour market test, the Aliens Act limits the work to the area of the police administration where the test was carried out. Changing jobs usually means a new permit.

• Long-stay visa (visa D)

  If you need a short-stay visa to enter Croatia, the Aliens Act provides for a long-stay visa (visa D) for third-country nationals who have been granted a stay and work permit. It allows a stay of up to 30 days, giving you time to enter and complete the residence formalities. Ask the Croatian diplomatic mission responsible for your country how to apply.

• EU Blue Card

  For highly qualified workers with a contract of at least six months. The gross annual salary must be at least 1.5 times the average monthly gross salary paid in Croatia in the previous year, as published by the state statistics body, with a lower threshold for recent graduates. For a regulated profession you must attach the recognition decision. The Act says the Ministry of the Interior decides within 60 days of a complete application.

• Fees

  The Ministry of the Interior lists €74.32 for a stay and work permit, €31.85 for the biometric residence card (€59.73 for the accelerated service) and an additional €9.29 issuing fee. Recognition fees are separate and paid to the chamber.

• Family and long-term residence

  Family members can apply for temporary stay for family reunification; for EU Blue Card holders it is granted for the validity of the Blue Card. The Ministry of the Interior says Blue Card holders can apply for long-term residence after five years of uninterrupted stay, and under the Aliens Act other third-country nationals can apply after five years of continuous lawful temporary stay, if the other conditions are met.

Pay in Croatian public hospitals and health centres is set under public-service pay rules and the collective agreement for the health and health insurance sector, which the Ministry of Health publishes. We could not confirm an official, current pay table for doctors or nurses for 2026 from an official source, so we do not give figures. The rows below show what you can rely on; check the salary and allowances in your contract.