Author
There is a difference in duration of residence permit issued to recognised refugees (“asylees”) and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection. A residence permit shall be issued to an asylee for a period of five years,[1] and to foreigner under subsidiary protection for a period of 3 years.[2]
Both categories have the right to residence in the Republic of Croatia from the day of the delivery of the decision approving international protection, which is demonstrated by their residence permit. The right to residence in the Republic of Croatia shall be established by the decision approving international protection.[3] The request for issuing residence permit should be submitted to the competent police administration,[4] and the residence permit should be issued within 30 days from submitting the request.[5]
According to the Ministry of Interior 411 residence permits were issued to asylees and 79 to foreigners under subsidiary protection in 2018.[6] No information is available for 2019 and 2020.
In 2021, 257 residence permits were issued to asylees and 24 residence permits to foreigners under subsidiary protection,[7] while in 2022, residence permits were issued to a total of 211 persons who has been granted with international protection status (183 asylees and 28 persons under subsidiary protection).[8]
However, the decision approving international protection shall be revoked in the part relating to approval of the right of residence in the Republic of Croatia if the asylee or foreigner under subsidiary protection moves out of the Republic of Croatia or resides continually abroad for longer than 6 months without previously informing the Ministry of Interior of this fact.[9]
[1] Article 75(2) LITP.
[2] Article 75(3) LITP.
[3] Article 55(1)-(2) LITP.
[4] Article 75(1) LITP; Article 10(1) Ordinance on the Forms and Data Collections in the Procedure for International and Temporary Protection.
[5] Article 12(1) Ordinance on the Forms and Data Collections in the Procedure for International and Temporary Protection.
[6] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 28 January 2019.
[7] Croatian Law Centre: The Croatian Asylum System In 2021 – National Report, The report was prepared as part of the project “Access to the territory and the asylum system in Croatia – legal support and capacity building” with the financial support of UNHCR; available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3NgBDfc and in English at: https://bit.ly/3NBvVpC.
[8] Croatian Law Centre, The Croatian Asylum System in 2022 – National Report. The report was prepared as part of the project “Legal Assistance and Capacity Building for Access to Territory and Asylum in Croatia“, with financial support of the UNHCR Croatia: available in English at: https://bit.ly/434T7RL.
[9] Article 65(3) LITP.