Author
In Croatia, family reunification is regulated by the LITP,[1] as well as by the Law on Foreigners. At the moment, no requirements in relation to waiting periods before a family member of a beneficiary of international protection can apply for family reunification are prescribed nor is a maximum time limit for applying for family reunification prescribed by the legislation. A minimum income requirement is also not prescribed.
A family member for whom reasons exist for exclusion and for reasons of protection of the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia shall not have the right to family reunification.[2]
In practice, family reunification procedures remain lengthy and highly bureaucratized and beneficiaries of international protection and their family members experience difficulties in managing the procedure without additional support.
On the local level, and building on a cooperation agreement concluded in 2024 between the City of Zagreb and the CLC, aimed at strengthening the capacities of City of Zagreb staff in the field of integration and improving service delivery, in March 2025, the CLC delivered a workshop that covered key aspects of the international protection and migration framework, including procedures for granting protection and the rights of applicants and beneficiaries, with a particular focus on the family reunification process, its stages, conditions, and related challenges.
Eligible family members
According to the LITP both refugees (“asylees”) and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection have the right to family reunification[3] with the following family members:[4]
- the spouse or unmarried partner under the regulations of the Republic of Croatia, and persons who are in a union, which under the regulations of the Republic of Croatia may be deemed to be a life partnership or informal life partnership;
- the minor child of the marital or unmarried partners; their minor adopted child; the minor child and minor adopted child of a married, unmarried or life partner who exercises parental care of the child;
- the adult unmarried child of a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection who, due to their state of health is not able to take care of their own needs;
- the parent or other legal representative of a child;
- a relative of the first degree in a direct ascending blood line, with whom they lived in a shared household, if it is established that they are dependent on the care of a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection.
However, according to the Law on Foreigners,[5] another relative can also be considered a family member of a third-country national who has been granted asylum or subsidiary protection if there are special personal or serious humanitarian reasons for family reunification in Croatia. In order to prove the existence of serious personal or humanitarian reasons for family reunification, relevant documentation must be submitted, to prove family connection between the third country national and the beneficiary of international protection in Croatia, and the proof of existence of serious personal or humanitarian reasons (excerpt from the registry of births, medical and other documentation).[6]
A minor child of a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection who has not formed their own family shall follow the legal status of their legal representative to whom international protection has been granted, on which the Ministry of Interior shall issue a decision.[7] In practice that means that children will be granted asylum or subsidiary protection depending on the status of their parent. However, this is not an automatic process as children should be first granted temporary stay followed by a long term visa to enter Croatia. Once child arrives in Croatia, the parent who has been granted protection submits an application for approval of international protection for the child. The application must be submitted in writing at the Reception Centre for Applicants for International Protection and must contain a signed application of the parent requesting approval of international protection for the minor child in the Republic of Croatia, proof of acquired status (decision granting asylum or subsidiary protection) and the child’s birth certificate or other document showing the relationship with the requested child and full and accurate personal data, including personal name, date of birth and citizenship, and place and country of birth.[8]
In the case of family reunification of refugees or beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, for a person who is unable to obtain official documents to prove a specific family relationship, circumstances shall be taken into consideration on the basis of which it may be assessed whether or not such a relationship exists. A decision to refuse an application for family reunification cannot be based exclusively on the fact that no official document exists to prove a specific family relationship.[9]
Family reunification procedure
The family reunification procedure consists of two stages. First, an application for temporary stay is submitted; once temporary stay is granted, an application for the issuance of a long-term visa has to be submitted.
National legislation provides that in the case of reunification with an asylee or a foreigner under subsidiary protection, the procedure is as a rule initiated by a family member of the person who has been granted international protection in Croatia, by submitting an application to the competent Croatian diplomatic/consular representation. In practice, if some problems exist and family members cannot reach the competent Diplomatic Mission, some Diplomatic Missions or Consular Offices of the Republic of Croatia allow applications to be submitted at some other Croatian mission. The application for temporary stay based on family reunification may be submitted via secure postal mail (for example DHL). However, the 2025 amendments to the Law on Foreigners made an exception and enabled a third-country national who has been granted asylum or subsidiary protection in Croatia to submit an application for temporary stay for the purpose of family reunification for a close family member who requires a visa to enter Croatia at the police administration or police station according to the intended place of residence of the third-country national.[10]
The deadline from the Law on General Administrative Procedure is applicable in the procedure for granting temporary stay, which means that the deadline to make a decision and deliver it to the applicant is 30 days from the date of submission of the complete application. In cases of conducting an examination procedure, the deadline is 60 days from the date of submission of the complete application.[11] However, the deadline does not start to run when the application and documentation are received by competent embassy. Decision making on application for temporary stay for the purpose of family reunification is the competence of the police department or police station according to the place of residence or intended residence of the citizen of a third country. Therefore, the above-mentioned deadlines begin to run from the day the complete application is received in the competent police administration or police station.[12] Once temporary stay for the purpose of family reunification is granted, the person has to apply for a long-term visa to enter Croatia.
The application for a long-term visa must be submitted no later than three months after the start of the validity of the temporary stay. The family member, if over 12 years of age, has to appear in person at the embassy or external service provider to make an application for a visa to enter Croatia and provide biometric data. The legal time limit for issuing the visa is 15 days from the date of submission of the admissible application for a long-term visa. However, this period can be extended up to a maximum of 45 days, if there are justified reasons to do so.[13]
In practice, the whole procedure lasts approximately at minimum six to nine months, and in some cases even a year or more from the date of submission of an application for temporary stay up until the family member come to Croatia.
All family members of asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection shall regularise their residence pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Foreigners in order to be able to enter Croatia, which means that they should submit an application for temporary stay.
Family members of asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection who regularise their stay pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Foreigners have to fulfil the following requirements:
- justify the purpose of temporary stay,
- hold a valid foreign travel document,
- when applying for temporary stay for the first time, provide a document proving that s/he has not been convicted of criminal offences by a final ruling, which has been issued by their home country or a country in which s/he has resided for more than a year immediately prior to arriving in the Republic of Croatia, however this proof does not need to be submitted for a third-country national until he/she is 14 years of age,
- has not been forbidden to enter into the Republic of Croatia and stay in the Republic of Croatia, or if no alert has been issued in SIS (Schengen Information System) for the purpose of forbidding his entry,
- does not pose threat to public policy, national security or public health.[14]
However, they do not have to provide proof of health insurance and proof of means of subsistence in order to be granted a temporary stay for the purpose of family reunification.[15] If, during the procedure for granting temporary stay, the close family member cannot provide proof of the existence of a certain familial relationship with a third-country national who has been granted international protection, other proof of the existence of such relationship can also be taken into account, which is assessed in line with the legislation governing the general administrative procedure.[16]
In accordance with 2025 amendments of the Law on Foreigners, a temporary stay shall be granted to a family member of the beneficiaries of international protection with a period of validity of up to two years,[17] and the validity of the foreign travel document should be for three months beyond the period of validity of the temporary stay permit.[18]
In 2024, a total of 95 applications for temporary stay based on family reunification with beneficiaries of international protection were submitted, and by the end of 2024, 37 applications were pending, 7 procedures were suspended, while 51 applications were approved. The largest number of applications were submitted by nationals of Syria (53), Eritrea (6), Iran (6) and the DR Congo (5).
As reported by the Ombudswoman for Children, in 2024, four temporary stays were approved to children for the purpose of reunification with persons with approved international protection relating, and all cases relate to reunification with the father.
In 2025, there were 63 applications for temporary stay based on family reunification with persons under international protection. The geographical distribution of these applicants shows a wide range of origins, though the Syrian Arab Republic was the most prominent, accounting for 33 of the total applications. However, it should be noted that data is not available regarding how many of these applications were ultimately approved, nor how many family members of persons granted international protection subsequently applied for long-term visas and arrived in Croatia.[19]
According to the annual report of the Ombudsperson for Children, in 2025 three temporary stays were granted to children under the age of 14 for the purpose of family reunification with persons under international protection.[20]
[1] Article 66 LITP.
[2] Article 66(5) LITP.
[3] Article 66(1) LITP.
[4] Article 4(1) point 18 LITP.
[5] Article 64 (2) Law on Foreigners.
[6] Article 9 (3)(2) Ordinance on the residence of third-country nationals in the
[7] Article 66 (2) LITP.
[8] Ministry of Interior: Frequently asked questions-International Protection, available in English at: https://bit.ly/3KOLbNy.
[9] Article 66(6) LITP.
[10] Article 58 (4) Law on Foreigners.
[11] Article 101 Law on General Administrative Procedure.
[12] EMN, Ad-Hoc Query on 2023.26 Family reunification for beneficiaries of international protection, available in English at: https://bit.ly/3L9as5v.
[13] Article 37(6) Law on Foreigners.
[14] Article 59(1) Law on Foreigners.
[15] Article 66 (1) Law on Foreigners.
[16] Article 66 (2) Law on Foreigners.
[17] Article 61 (1),(1)
[18] Article 61(2) Law on Foreigners.
[19] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 8 March 2024
[19] Croatian Law Centre: The Croatian Asylum System in 2025- National Report; available at: https://www.hpc.hr/en/2026/06/17/2025-national-asylum-system-report/
[20] Ombudswoman for Children: Annual Report for 2025, available at: https://dijete.hr/hr/download/izvjesce-o-radu-pravobraniteljice-za-djecu-za-2025-godinu/?wpdmdl=22442&masterkey=OKCQngIKWtGfizW2eK4L7WTkcIQQFPqZU5Q8W9IwGpmmTtIdf649OQw7SOHMTdB2i9coKf2cfYj39Bj6gCp8Hl4y1UuVNvKMSkd01M7nFzN0.