The UK’s Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union guarantees the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and of UK citizens living elsewhere in the EU. The UK opted for something called Pre-settled and Settled status.
Different EU countries opted for different approaches to enshrining the rights of their resident British nationals following the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc, and Croatia chose a declaratory system by which legally resident Brits simply register for a new residence card/document which evidences their acquired rights.
Instead of writing in full what needs to be done again for those who missed the last article, I’ll simply link it here.
Brits living in Croatia need to follow the instructions provided in the above link for their specific situation. If you’re a temporary resident and haven’t yet gained permanent residence in Croatia, the procedure will be slightly different for you as in some cases you might (or you might not) be asked to provide more documents in order to determine your basis for continuing to live in Croatia.
In any case, be ready to have more documents on hand in case you’re asked for them.
If you’re a permanent resident already and became one before the UK’s transition period ended on December the 31st, 2020, you are no longer subject to any requirements and the system of declaration will be very simple.
More information about what might be asked of you and what you’ll need to provide, as well as the corresponding forms you need to fill in when submitting your documents depending on your current status (temporary or permanent resident) are provided in the link above. The email addresses of each administrative police station are also provided, as your registration must go to the police station responsible for your area of registered residence.
A quick jargon buster:
This is a declaration system to evidence your acquired rights, this isn’t a new application for a new status.
You need to have been legally registered as living in Croatia in order to fall into the scope of protection offered by the Withdrawal Agreement.
The registration procedure is free, you only need to pay for new photos (if you don’t already have some on hand) and just under 80 kuna as an admin fee for the new card to be made.
If Brits living in Croatia fail to submit their documents for registration for their new residence cards, they will not lose their rights, but may face an administrative fine and potential complications which aren’t worth the hassle. Make sure to register for your new cards and before the end of this month. Don’t risk your rights.
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