Relocating to Croatia

Hi cyrus1!

Welcome to Expat.com!

Armand

frist of all u have to learn speak Croatian b4 u come
if u have good money just come here and everything  will be easy,,croatia is very slow country if u want to finish papers but when u show money all doors open to you and things went fast..
last thing take care when u make any business deal with croatian they will never be staright

Cro is great really nice country. Just their language is really hard. PPl live there for 10 years and still don't speak good.

Hi, im from Croatia, i live in Varazdin (pop 50 000). I think foreigners cant own property in Croatia, but you can start company which can.
It is very easy to start buisniess in Croatia. All you need is about 25000 kn (about 3300 euros). This is in general, but it depends on what kind of buisness do you want to start.
Best area to live is on the northwest of Croatia(Zagreb, Varazdin, Cakovec...).
You can contact me if you want more info.

Foreigners CAN buy a property in Croatia on their company name. Which is even better.

Hi, I am Croat that moved away from Croatia. I always had a bit of an issue with the mentality which is a bit of a "know it all", "been there done that" thyme of a thing. If you can put that aside, it is a lovely nature but bad, bad ruined country.
I do not have a faintest idea about Belize but surely you are exploring that option on your own:)

If for some reason, Croatia prevails, I am selling a farmhouse close to Zagreb, with 16000 squared metres of land as I haven't been back in a while and do not plan to go back. And having a house there is almost like a doomed place of inevitable destitution, when holidays are so scarce (we are too young to go to the same place every year and feel guilt for just letting house go)

Almost all parts of Croatia are really safe for night walk, biggest danger is actually on the road.
If you plan to start company or register branch office of your current one then it would be best for you to buy property in companies name.
Also you might rent something in your companies name and it should be deductible from taxes. Good accountant will make your company cover as much living expenses as possible. Since you have to give money away then it's better to spend it on yourself than to hand it over to IRS.

Also there are certain poorer parts of Croatia which have benefits for companies registering there. Even if you are in bigger town you can register business in nearby place as usually you won't need to wait in line when you need some local paperwork done.

Be careful about property ownership rights. We bought property in February 2013 (Dalmation Coast), but we had to put ownership under my Austrian wife's name. EU citizens can buy in Croatia but Australian and New Zealanders cannot. This may apply to South Africans as well.

Regarding business idea, everything depends what you are planning to do. To open the company is one of the easiest things you can do in Croatia but to run a business, or to close the company down .... Its a bit more complicated... If you want to start apartments - very easy, restaurants - lots of papers, requirements etc... I think Dalmatia is most difficult for any business opportunities but I might be wrong... Just look at IKEA case and you will see how difficult it can be. Croatian government is very lost at the moment. The rating of Croatia for any business opportunities goes down and down each survey.  Number of working permits for foreigners is reduced drastically which also might be a problem in your case.

Unfortunately I agree with what is written by this woman
http://tacklingmommyhood.com/2013/10/ch … e-america/

If you are wealthy enough to live in Croatia and do not worry about your future, its one of the best places to be, safe, beautiful, unspoiled nature, healthy food and so on... But otherwise I would think twice or even three times...

Hi, i am interested in starting a business in Croatia. I have about $6000. Would that be possible as a South African citizen and to move there?