Župan & Antunović is a law firm based in Zagreb, licensed to practise in both Croatia and Slovenia. We work in English throughout and are ranked in The Legal 500. Most of our clients are foreign nationals or foreign companies dealing with Croatia for the first time, so we spend as much time explaining how something works as doing it. We screen every enquiry free of charge before any fee arises, which means we will tell you if your case cannot succeed rather than take an engagement and discover it later. We handle residence permits, including digital nomad permits, EU Blue Cards and the residence route for retired property owners over 60. We form Croatian and Slovenian companies remotely, typically within one to two weeks, with no requirement for a local director or resident representative. We act on property purchases with title and land registry due diligence. And we handle citizenship by descent, which in Croatia has no generational limit at all, so a great-grandchild
Residence permits. We handle the full range of Croatian residence applications for non-EU nationals. The digital nomad permit is granted for up to 18 months and exempts qualifying remote work income for a foreign employer from Croatian income tax, though not dividends, rental income or capital gains. The EU Blue Card is issued for up to 48 months and is available either through employment by a Croatian company or through a route many people do not know exists, where the applicant establishes a Croatian company and is employed by it in a highly qualified position, meaning no external sponsoring employer is required. Since 2025 there is also a route for retired non-EU nationals over 60 who own residential property here, with no minimum property value, spouse or partner included. We also handle family reunification and EU long-term residence. Applications are filed electronically by us, so in most cases the client attends nowhere.
Company formation. Croatian and Slovenian companies established remotely under power of attorney, typically within one to two weeks. A foreign national or company may be the sole shareholder and sole director, and no local director, local shareholder or resident representative is required in either country. Minimum share capital in Croatia is EUR 2,500. Croatian corporate profit tax is 10 percent for taxpayers with revenues below one million euros. On banking, the share capital deposit account is opened digitally and a registered company can operate through an online business account, so no step of a Croatian incorporation requires the founder to travel here.
Citizenship by descent. Croatia imposes no generational limit, so a great-grandchild or a more distant descendant qualifies on the same basis as a child, without investment, relocation or any residence requirement. The work is documentary rather than legal: Croatian civil registration was conducted by parishes until well into the twentieth century, so the ancestor's record usually sits in a parish book or a regional archive, and surnames were routinely altered on emigration, so establishing that the person in the parish record and the person in the foreign documents are the same individual is the substance of the case.
Real estate. Purchases and sales including title and land registry due diligence, ownership registration, tax filings, and the licensing required where a property will be let. Croatian land registry entries are frequently decades out of date, sometimes showing a deceased owner or an unresolved succession, and that exposure is invisible to a foreign buyer without a proper search. For non-EU buyers, whether acquisition is permitted at all depends on reciprocity, which differs by nationality and should be confirmed before a purchase is structured.
Employment. Contracts, terminations, secondment arrangements, and the questions that arise when a foreign company employs staff in Croatia.
Succession. Estates involving Croatian property, conducted before a notary. These arrive more often than people expect and are usually more complicated than they hope, particularly where an estate has gone unregularised for decades.
Litigation and enforcement. Civil and commercial disputes, and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Croatia, which cannot be conducted by anyone not admitted to the Croatian Bar.
Regulatory and licensing, particularly in the financial sector, including DORA and NIS2 compliance, MiCA and crypto asset service provider authorisation, and payment institution licensing before the Croatian National Bank and HANFA.
Accounting and tax compliance through ZBA Consulting, our associated company, which employs certified accountants and handles bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, corporate tax filings, annual financial statements and representation before the Tax Administration.