temporary stay for the purpose of secondary school education
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | privremeni boravak u svrhu srednjoškolskog obrazovanja as of 2026-08-15[4] The Act's own term, heading of art. 72. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | temporary stay for the purpose of secondary school education as of 2026-08-15[1] From the Ministry's English rendering of art. 57(1)'s second purpose, 'secondary school education and university studies'. |
| Legal basis | Zakon o strancima (NN 133/20, 114/22, 151/22, 40/25, 55/26), čl. 72. u vezi s čl. 59. i čl. 89. st. 1. t. 11.; Uredba o načinu izračuna i visini sredstava za uzdržavanje (NN 14/21, 3/26), čl. 3. st. 1. as of 2026-05-27[3][4][6] Art. 72 sets both limbs of the route and the term of validity; NN 55/2026 amended art. 72(3) only to narrow which paragraph-1 conditions the second limb disapplies. Regulation art. 3(1) first limb sets the means level. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-15[1] Granted as temporary stay; the holder is issued a biometric residence permit. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-15[1] The temporary-stay chapter applies to third-country nationals only. |
|---|---|
| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2026-08-15[4] The general condition in art. 59(1)(5) applies on a first application; art. 72 states no exemption from it, and the exemption in art. 59(1)(5) itself names posted workers, students, researchers and intra-corporate transferees using EEA mobility, not secondary-school pupils. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 1 year as of 2026-08-15[4] Art. 72(2): the permit for the purpose of secondary school education is issued with a term of validity of up to one year. Unlike art. 73, this article was not given a multi-year form by NN 55/2026. |
|---|---|
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-15[4] Art. 62(1): an application to extend is lodged at the latest 60 days before expiry. |
| Work rights | hours capped as of 2026-08-15[2][5] Art. 89(1)(11): a person with the status of a full-time pupil may work through authorised agents, without entering an employment relationship, for at most 20 hours a week, without a stay and work permit or a work registration certificate. NN 55/2026 raised the student cap in point 10 to 25 hours and left this point untouched, so the pupil cap remains 20. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source |
|---|
Requirements
| Enrolment status required | enrolled as of 2026-08-15[4] Art. 72(1)(2): the applicant is enrolled in a secondary-school institution. The same paragraph requires participation in a recognised national or regional pupil-exchange programme approved by the education ministry, or in an educational project run by an educational institution; the alternative limb in art. 72(3) requires instead the consent of the ministry responsible for science and education to attend a Croatian secondary school. |
|---|---|
| Means requirement | 0.15 × average monthly net paid salary, previous year per month as of 2021-02-12[3] |
| Work-hours cap | 20 as of 2026-08-15[2][5] Art. 89(1)(11): at most 20 hours a week, and only through authorised agents without entering an employment relationship. |
| Post-study route exists | Not established from a qualifying source Not researched; no instrument following completion of secondary education was found in the sources read. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2025-03-07[1][5] Art. 58(1) and (2) apply. The art. 58(3) carve-out that lets a visa-required applicant lodge at a police administration names university study, not secondary education, so a visa-required pupil applies at a diplomatic mission or consular post. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | Not established from a qualifying source No statutory decision period is stated. |
| Fees |
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| Quota |
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Physical presence
| maximum total absence | 90 days · to keep the permit as of 2025-03-07[1][5] Art. 87(1)(5) as substituted by NN 40/2025: a temporary stay granted for one year or less expires if the holder is abroad for more than 90 days in total on multiple occasions from the day the stay was granted. A single absence of up to 90 days for justified reasons does not end the stay if the holder notifies the competent police administration before leaving. |
|---|---|
| maximum consecutive absence | 30 days · to keep the permit as of 2025-03-07[1][5] Same provision: more than 30 days on a single occasion, for a stay granted for one year or less. |
| registration only | to keep the permit as of 2025-03-07[1][5] Registration of residence within 30 days of the grant, or six months where a long-stay visa was required, and reporting of the address within three days of entry. |
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-15[4] |
|---|---|
| Eligible relations | Not established from a qualifying source Follows the unresolved question above. |
| Family members' work rights | Not established from a qualifying source Follows the unresolved question above. |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 6 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 6 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2021-02-12 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-15 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-22 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Temporary stay of third-country nationals
Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia (MUP) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-15 · Archived copy - [2] Work of third-country nationals
Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia (MUP) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-15 · Archived copy - [3] Uredba o načinu izračuna i visini sredstava za uzdržavanje državljanina treće zemlje u Republici Hrvatskoj, NN 14/2021
Narodne novine · Vlada Republike Hrvatske · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2021-02-12 · Accessed 2026-08-15 · Archived copy · Amended by hr-uredba-uzdrzavanje-3-26 - [4] Zakon o strancima (Aliens Act), NN 133/2020
Narodne novine (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia) / Hrvatski sabor · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2020-12-04 · Accessed 2026-08-15 · Amended by hr-zakon-o-strancima-114-22, hr-zakon-o-strancima-40-25, hr-zakon-o-strancima-55-26 - [5] Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o strancima, NN 40/2025
Narodne novine / Hrvatski sabor · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2025-03-07 · Accessed 2026-08-15 - [6] Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o strancima, NN 55/2026
Narodne novine / Hrvatski sabor · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2026-05-27 · Accessed 2026-08-15