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The old town walls of Dubrovnik

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🇭🇷  Retiring in Croatia from New Zealand

What New Zealanders need to know: the visa, how your pensions are taxed, what to do before you leave and every year after.

By the retireacross editorial team · Last reviewed

Visa for New Zealanders

Check the visa-free stay for your passport with the consulate before a trial stay. To live there you need a residence route:

  • Temporary stay for other purposes: income from 869 EUR a month. Official page

With an EU, EEA or Swiss passport (for example a second Irish passport) you need no visa: you register as a resident instead.

Check your figures in the visa checker

Sources: Narodne novine 3/2026: means of support for third-country nationals (60% for other purposes) (checked 2026-10-22) · Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: granting stay in Croatia (checked 2026-10-22) · Novi list: 2025 average net salary €1,449 (State Statistical Office) (checked 2026-10-22) · European Commission: Schengen visa policy (90 days in any 180) (checked 2026-10-22)

How your pensions are taxed

No tax treaty between New Zealand and Croatia: New Zealand can keep taxing New Zealand-sourced income (and you stay tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there); Croatia may tax them as a resident, so the same income can be taxed twice, with relief only if Croatia gives a foreign tax credit. New Zealand and Croatia have signed a treaty that is not yet in force.

  • State pensions: taxable in the paying country.
  • Private pensions: possibly taxed in both countries, without treaty relief.

Sources: Inland Revenue Tax Policy: New Zealand tax treaties (checked 2026-10-26)

New Zealand: You stay New Zealand tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there (a home you go back to), even if you are away more than 325 days; NZ Super paid abroad under general portability is paid gross. Official page

Croatia's own rules: Income tax rates are set by each town within national bands. Pensioners pay only on the part of their pension above €600 a month, at half the town's lower rate (for example 11.5% in Zagreb, 10% in Rijeka); the same applies to foreign pensions, which must be registered with the Tax Administration. No wealth tax; inheritance tax does not apply to spouses and children.

Before you leave New Zealand

  1. Check NZ Super before you go (New Zealand): To get NZ Super you must be ordinarily resident in New Zealand when you apply at 65, and meet the residence rule (10 to 20 years since age 20, rising with your birth date). If you plan to leave before 65, check how and when you can apply first. Official page
  2. Call International Services at least 6 weeks before leaving: NZ Super does not follow you automatically: apply to keep it going by calling Work and Income's International Services at least 6 weeks before you leave. It cannot be paid if you move to the United Kingdom. Official page

More for New Zealanders

Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.