HLK (Croatian Medical Chamber): Licence, Exams and Fees

• Register of doctors (Imenik liječnika): doctors working in direct healthcare in Croatia must be registered; doctors working abroad, unemployed or retired may also register.
• Licence for independent work (licenca): issued to registered doctors, normally for six years.
• Recognition of foreign professional qualifications of doctors of medicine and medical specialists.
• Approvals for temporary and occasional medical practice by doctors established in another EU member state.
• EU certificates for doctors who want to work in another member state.

• A medical degree from a university and programme that were accredited for the whole period from your enrolment to your graduation; if not, the HLK refuses the application.
• The full curriculum of your medical school, certified as the one that applied to you, with the official name and length of the programme, entry conditions, year of enrolment, every subject with total hours and grades.
• Proof of your internship programme and of a passed professional (state) exam, where you have one.
• For specialists: the specialist training programme and the certificate or diploma of your specialist exam.
• Proof of professional experience, such as employer letters, and the licence valid in the country you come from.
• Certified copies of each document plus one uncertified copy, with certified Croatian translations by a permanent court interpreter for anything not in Croatian or the Latin script.
• A representative with an address in Croatia to receive official letters if you live abroad.
• Croatian at B2, written and spoken, for entry in the register and the licence, which come after recognition.

Check your route with the route finder

1. 1

   1. Complete the application form

   Download the HLK application form and the instructions for filling it in from the recognition page. The HLK also publishes an English guide. Make sure your contact details are complete, because all later steps are notified in writing.
2. 2

   2. Assemble documents in the order the HLK lists

   The general-system instructions list proof of citizenship, the secondary school certificate (unless the diploma supplement states entry conditions), the diploma, supplement and full curriculum, proof of the internship and professional exam, specialist documents, proof of experience, your current licence and any name-change certificate. Put each certified copy or translation with its uncertified copy, and do not bind the uncertified copies, because the HLK scans them.
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   3. Translate and certify

   Translations into Croatian must be made by a permanent court interpreter for the language of your diploma. They can be made abroad, provided the interpreter binds the original document to the translation. Copies of official documents can be certified by a notary in Croatia or abroad. Mistakes here are the most common cause of requests for more documents.
4. 4

   4. Appoint a representative and pay

   If you live abroad, name a person with an address in Croatia to receive official letters, using the HLK template, which needs your signature but no notary; a power of attorney to represent you must be notarised. Pay €132.72 for the general system to the HLK account, using your OIB or another identification number as the reference.
5. 5

   5. Accreditation check

   The HLK first checks the accreditation of your programme and your institution for every year you studied, and for every institution if you transferred. If the programme or institution was not accredited from your enrolment to the end of your studies, the application is refused.
6. 6

   6. Comparison of training

   Experts appointed by the HLK, on the proposal of the deans of Croatian medical faculties, compare your programme with current Croatian programmes. If your further training and experience make up for the differences, the HLK recognises your qualification without a compensation measure.
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   7. Choose a compensation measure

   If differences remain, the HLK asks you to choose, in writing within 30 days, between an adaptation period of up to three years and an aptitude test, naming the Croatian medical faculty where you will do it. The HLK issues a temporary decision within 60 days of your reply. The aptitude test can last up to six months; the adaptation period up to three years.
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   8. Final recognition decision

   After you complete the measure, the HLK issues the decision recognising your foreign professional qualification. If you are a specialist, recognition of the specialist title by the Ministry of Health is a separate procedure.
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   9. Ministry of Health: internship and professional exam

   The HLK says third-country doctors then need the Ministry of Health to recognise the internship and must pass the general part of the professional exam. These steps run in sequence after the HLK procedure, not alongside it.
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    10. Register and obtain the licence

    Apply to the HLK's Office for Registration and Licensing for entry in the register of doctors, with your B2 Croatian certificate. The HLK says it decides within 30 days of a complete application, and the licence follows once the 15-day appeal period has passed, or sooner if you waive the right to appeal using the HLK form.

• Aptitude test (provjera kompetentnosti u profesiji)

  One of two compensation measures for third-country doctors with substantial differences in training. It is carried out at a Croatian medical faculty you name, and the HLK says it can take up to six months. The HLK does not publish a standard format or syllabus; the content follows the differences found in your case.

• Adaptation period (razdoblje prilagodbe)

  The alternative to the aptitude test: supervised practice of up to three years at a Croatian medical faculty's institution, chosen by you within 30 days of the HLK's request.

• General part of the professional exam (stručni ispit)

  Run by the Ministry of Health after the HLK procedure, together with recognition of the internship. The Ministry publishes instructions for the professional exam on its pages for health workers.

• Croatian language exam

  Not run by the HLK. You need a certificate of Croatian and the Latin script at B2 or above from an institution on the list published by the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth.

• The HLK does not use English tests. IELTS, OET and TOEFL results are not part of the route.
• Croatian at a minimum of B2, written and spoken, is required for entry in the register of doctors and for the licence.
• The certificate must come from an institution authorised to run the Croatian language and Latin script exam for foreigners, as listed by the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth.
• Documents not in Croatian or the Latin script need a certified Croatian translation by a permanent court interpreter.

Estimate your total cost

• Automatic system (EU diplomas): the HLK decides within 30 days of a complete application.
• General system: the HLK says it takes longer than the automatic system and does not give a total time.
• Choosing a compensation measure: 30 days to reply, then a temporary decision within 60 days.
• Compensation measure: up to six months for the aptitude test, up to three years for the adaptation period.
• Ministry of Health internship and professional exam steps: after the HLK procedure, timing not published.
• Registration: decision within 30 days of a complete application, then the licence after the 15-day appeal period.