Residence Visa

This page is our way of answering all of those questions. Please be aware that the laws regarding residence visas can and do change. What you read on this page is the current status of those laws. When we become aware of a new change, we will update this page with the new information.

What is a Residence Visa?
A residence visa is simply a document held by a foreigner who has communicated an intent to live in a country for an extended period of time. It does not have anything to do with citizenship. Just to be clear, we are pursuing a residence visa, not citizenship.

Why Do De Need a Residence Visa?
A residence visa gives the holder several privileges that foreigners without a residence visa do not hold. In a nutshell, it is more costly, difficult, and time-consuming to live in Croatia without a residence visa. The following is a list of the benefits we are aware of:

• Cheaper health insurance. We pay monthly for health insurance in Croatia. With that payment, we have access to reasonable health care at a much cheaper rate than in the US. Foreigners with a residence visa pay approximately half as much as those without a residence visa. Under the current laws and exchange rates, we would pay about $180.00 less each month for health insurance.
• Less time and money spent registering at the local police station. Without a residence visa, we are required to go to the local police station annually and register for the next year. This process is costly, and frustrating. It is frustrating, because it occurs in the middle of summer ministry and we are required to go to the police station as soon as they call. Effectively, we need to drop everything we are doing and register. In addition, the cost of the registration is several hundred dollars and requires us to get notary seals on some of the documents which also includes more fees. With a residence visa, this process only occurs every two years.
• It will be easier to return to the United States for ministry and family visits. Once we have the residence visa, we will be free to come and go from Croatia as we please. While we cannot leave for an unlimited time, current law gives us up to six months at a time to be gone.
• This may seem like a simple matter, but with a residence visa we do not need to carry our passport with us every time we leave Zagreb. A residence visa is like a drivers license. It fits in your wallet, is waterproof, and contains the necessary information on it to identify who you are. There are fewer questions from police and a greater freedom to travel within the country of Croatia. Trust us, this is helpful and worth having.

What restrictions exist for us prior to getting the residence visa?
In order to receive a residence visa, we need to jump through a few hoops. The most difficult hoop is the regulations on how long we can be out of Croatia. Foreigners desiring a residence visa are not permitted to leave Croatia for more than 30 days at a time for their first five years in Croatia. This is a confusing law. So in practice, when we leave the country, we must return within thirty days, or Croatia will reset our count of years toward the residence visa to zero and we will need to start over, with another five years. The only exception to this is a medical reason or a family death. In those cases we can receive up to ninety days outside of Croatia.

Under these requirements we are able to leave Croatia, but it is difficult to return to the United States for only thirty days and be able to visit supporters, churches, and family.

Conclusion
As you can see, there are good, long-term reasons to pursue our residence visa, but they make life difficult for us in the short run. We appreciate your understanding and support as we continue to stay in Croatia long enough to earn our residence visa so that in the future, we can more effectively live and minister here, as well as more frequently visit supporters, churches, and family in the United States.