Practical information for CEEPUS students

CEEPUS is based on CEEPUS networks that consist of a minimum of three participating units. For the list of approved networks and their participating units, please refer to http://www.ceepus.info/public/network/network_info.aspx.

There are two types of mobility: mobility inside CEEPUS networks (network mobility) and mobility outside CEEPUS networks (freemovers).

Within the CEEPUS programme, scholarships are available for two categories of students: semestral students (minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 10 months in one cycle) and doctoral students who are working on their thesis (shorter stays are allowed).

Mobility within the networks is a priority. There are two application rounds for network mobilities: 15 June and 31 October. Freemover applications are processed only after all the network mobilities have been awarded and the deadline for freemover applications is 30 November.

• Undergraduates and graduates: 1.300,00 HRK (free accommodation and subsidized meals)
• PhD students: 1.500,00 HRK (free accommodation and subsidized meals)

Within the CEEPUS programme, scholarships are available for two categories of students: semestral students (minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 10 months in one cycle) and doctoral students who are working on their thesis (shorter stays are allowed).

There are two types of mobility: mobility inside CEEPUS networks or  network mobility and mobility outside CEEPUS networks or freemovers.

Network Mobility

If your home institution participates in one or more CEEPUS networks we advise you to first contact the CEEPUS coordinator at your home institution to enquire about the number of available scholarships, available destinations and the selection procedure. If your CEEPUS coordinator approves your scholarship, you will need to initiate the procedure of online application, described in the paragraph below. 

Mobility applications are submitted online at CEEPUS website. If you have not registered on the CEEPUS website, please register with the Mobility role. After you sign in, click on the link "your mobility application", choose the academic year, click "Action" and follow the instructions. For all the further infromation and assistance in filling in your mobility application, you can contact the CEEPUS coordinator at your faculty or your local National CEEPUS Office.

If your institution is a member of a CEEPUS network, you do not have to upload any additional documents, with the exception of an Equal Status document. This document is obligatory for non-CEEPUS citizens who are enrolled at a higher education institution in a CEEPUS member country. The Equal Status document is a document proving your status of a regular student in a CEEPUS country.  Your application first needs to be approved by your home institution and your home NCO. After that, the application is forwarded to the host institution and is finally accepted by the host NCO. You will receive an e-mail with the information whether your your application has been accepted or not.

The full list of the networks active in 2021./2022. with Croatian PPUs  is available here.

Freemovers

If your home and/or host institution do not participate in a CEEPUS network, you can still apply for a CEEPUS scholarship. You need to follow the same procedure of online application as described in the section on Network mobility above, but you will need to upload a Letter of Acceptance from the host institution and two Letters of Recommendation from your home institution. Bear in mind that scholarships for freemovers can only be approved after all the network mobility applications have been processed. This is why freemover scholarships are usually awarded only after the 30 November for the summer semester.

Please note that grantholders awarded with a grant as freemovers are entitled to the same grant amounts as grantholders awarded through CEEPUS networks.

If you are not sure how to select right institution in Croatia, you can browse Croatian higher education institutions programs and subjects at web portal Study in Croatia.

After you have been awarded a CEEPUS scholarship you will receive an automatically generated e-mail from CEEPUS you need to accept in the CEEPUS system. During Janury (for the mobility in the summer term) or August (for the mobility in the winter term), you will receive an e-mail from the Croatian CEEPUS Office containing some general  information concerning your stay in Croatia as a CEEPUS scholarship holder, together with the neccessary documentation.

EU CITIZENS

Mobility period shorter than 90 days

Since Croatian accession to the European Union, EU citizens are no longer obliged either to apply for the approval for temporary stay or to register their address if they are staying in the Republic of Croatia shorter than 90 days.

Mobility period longer than 90 days

EU citizens who plan to study in the Republic of Croatia for more than 90 days are obliged to apply for the registration of temporary stay for the purpose of studies (Prijava privremenog boravka za državljane članice EGP-a) - residence card. You should submit your application for the issuance of the residence card within 90 days of your arrival in Croatia at the Foreigners’ Department of the local Police Administration Office (Odsjek za strance, Policijska uprava).

Administration fee

You are exempt from paying the regular administration fee of 500,00 HRK (approximately 70,00 EUR) for granting the approval of temporary stay. However, you should pay the for cost of the issuance of the residence card in the amount of 240,00 HRK (approximately 35,00 EUR) and the duty stamp fee of 20,00 HRK (approximately 3,00 EUR).

NON-EU CITIZENS

Mobility period shorter than 90 days

Upon your arrival in Croatia, within 48 hours you have to register your address in Croatia at the Foreigners’ Office of the relevant Police Administration Office (Odsjek za strance, Policijska uprava).

For scholarship holders who are staying at student dormitories (or hotels) the address is automatically registered.

Mobility period longer than 90 days

Non-EU citizens staying in the Republic of Croatia for more than 90 days are obliged to apply for the issuance of the approval of temporary stay for the purpose of studies (dozvola boravka) within 90 days of the arrival at the Foreigners’ Office of the relevant Police Administration Office (Odsjek za strance, Policijska uprava).

Administration fee

You are exempt from paying the regular administrative fee of 500,00 HRK (approximately 70,00 EUR) for granting the approval of temporary stay. However, you should cover the cost of the issuance of the approval of temporary stay in the amount 240,00 HRK (approximately 35,00 EUR) and the duty stamp fee of 20,00 HRK (approximately 3,00 EUR).

The required documents for the residence card (EU citizens) or the approval of temporary stay (non-EU citizens):

1) EU citizens: a filled-out copy of the Application Form 1b 

2) Non-EU citizens: a filled-out copy of the Application Form 1a

3) Original and a photocopy of the passport (non-EU citizens) or the identity card (EU citizens)

4) Proof of secured board and sufficient funds for living expenses in the Republic of Croatia issued by the Agency (Uvjerenje - read below)

5) One colour photograph (30 x 35 mm)

6) Proof of health insurance (see Step 4).

The Agency will prepare a proof of secured board and sufficient funds for living expenses, a document which proves that you are a scholarship holder in Croatia awarded with a CEEPUS scholarship from the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes (so-called Uvjerenje). Upon your arrival, you can obtain it from your mentor at the host institution.Scholarship holders who are staying in Zagreb can obtain it at the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes, Frankopanska 26, Zagreb, on any workday day between 09.00 -16.00.

The residence permit is valid during the period of the CEEPUS mobility specified in the CEEPUS Letter of Award.

Visa information

For the most current information regarding entry and visa regulations between your country and Croatia, please enquire at the national ministry of foreign affairs.

During your stay in Croatia you must have health insurance. For non-EU citizens health insurance is also a prerequisite for the approval of temporary stay.

Non-EU countries with health care agreements with Croatia
If there is a signed bilateral health care agreement between your home country and Croatia, ask for the bilingual form (tiskanica) to be filled in and stamped by your health insurance company. The form should then be presented at the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (http://www.hzzo.hr/en), which will issue a health insurance document valid in Croatia (bolesnički list).

Croatia has entered into agreements on social security with the following non-EU countries
participating in CEEPUS: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
International students who have the European Health Insurance Card may use health care services upon presentation of the card and submission of the printout copy of the card, if other instructions are not given, according to the Croatian legislation in force.

Countries without health care agreements with Croatia and without the European Health Insurance Card
Students coming from the countries that do not have bilateral health care agreements with Croatia or that do not use the European Health Insurance Card are obliged to organise and cover the costs of health care services by themselves. The countries in this category in the academic year 2021/2022 are Kosovo, Albania and Moldova. We recommend that you organise travel insurance before your mobility. Any health insurance expenses for scholarship holders from these countries will not be covered by the scholarship.

Accommodation for students is provided upon reservation by the NCO for the dates stated in the Letter of Award. Please check the information e-mail you will receive one month prior to the arrival for more details on the location of the student dormitory. There is no need to bring bedding with you. If you are placed at the Zadar dormitory, you will need 2 photos (3x3cm) and a medical certificate from your home country proving that there are no health-related obstacles for your stay at a dorm. Zagreb dormitory also requires a medical certificate available here.

You can find the information on the amount of the grants awarded by the NCO Croatia at www.ceepus.info by clicking on the Croatian flag. The grant will be paid into the account of the host faculty. Your mentor at the faculty or the international relations officer will give you further information on scholarship payment.

In order to receive a grant you will need to open a giro account (žiro račun) at a Croatian bank. 
1) 15 days before the arrival to Croatia at the latest you should request a Personal Identification Number (OIB) at the Central Tax Administration (Porezna uprava). Please, apply for determination and assignment of the Personal Identification Number (OIB) in advance (15 days minimum), following the new procedure which is described here:
https://www.porezna-uprava.hr/en/Pages/SingleNews.aspx?NewsID=6&List=News

We suggest you to read carefully the procedure and submit your application at your soonest convenience. If you don’t submit your request minimally 15 days prior to the start date of your mobility you wont be able to retrieve grant funds.

Grant holders who already have OIB don't have to submit their request again!

In Zagreb the Central Tax Administration is at Avenija Dubrovnik 32, Zagreb, 5th floor, room 529.
In other cities students should contact their mentor/CEEPUS coordinator at the Faculty or the International Relations Office of their Faculty for further information on the location of Central Tax Administration or find it at http://www.poreznauprava.hr/Adresar/Stranice/default.aspx.

After you obtain your OIB, you should open a bank account at a bank as specified above and provide your CEEPUS coordinator at the host institution with the account information and IBAN number as soon as possible.

Make sure you close the account before departing for your home country.
It usually takes one week after you give the account details to the host institution to get the scholarship funds, thus we recommend that you secure sufficient funds to cover your needs for at least first 10 days of your stay in Croatia.

As a CEEPUS scholarship holder, you are entitled to a student card (iksica) for two subsidised set meals (meni) a day at student cafeterias (menza). The student card is issued at your home institution.

At the end of your stay, you should fill in Mobility Report and Letter of Confirmation online at www.ceepus.info.
Documents should then be printed and signed /stamped by the host institution. Following this, you should upload signed and stamped documents again, via CEEPUS software, at www.ceepus.info.
After you generate, fill out and print forms of both documents at www.ceepus.info, please, don't make any more changes in the forms at the website. Even the smallest change will change the QR code and you won't be able to upload documents, because the QR code will be different from the one on the printed version.
Documents should be uploaded 14 days after the end of your mobility at the latest. If you don't upload final documents in due time, your mobility won't be considered completed, thus, you will need to return grant funds to your Host Institution.

VERY IMPORTANT: as written in your Letter of Acceptance, you need to notify the National CEEPUS Office Croatia of any changes IMMEDIATELY (by the first day of the month preceding the month of your arrival), by e-mail at ceepus@mobilnost.hr. Failing to do so will mean that your accommodation and financing is not guaranteed any longer. Example: if something goes wrong and you are unable to come on the date your scholarship starts but you let us know about the change of plans, we can re-book the room. If you do not notify us about changes and you arrive later than planned, it is probable that there will be no room waiting for you and we cannot guarantee you an accommodation.

Deadline

If you have a justified reason to request the prolongation of your CEEPUS scholarship, you should complete the prolongation procedure at least one month prior to the expiration of your scholarship. All the prolongation requests received after this period will be automatically rejected.

Procedure

In order to have your scholarship prolonged, you should follow these steps:

1. Ask the CEEPUS coordinator/your mentor at the host institution to fill out the Prolongation Form available below.
2. Send the Prolongation Form to the NCO Croatia by email or regular mail.
3. Access the Motivation field of your online CEEPUS mobility application. Enter "Prolongation"  in this field, give the reasons for the extension of your scholarship and the period you want the scholarship to be prolonged for.
4. Inform the NCO Croatia that you have done that.

Conditions of the prolongation

If the approved prolongation period is shorter than 16 days, the NCO will extend your accommodation and the validity of your student card, but it will not award you an additional monthly grant. You are only eligible for additional grants if the period you are requesting the prolongation for is longer than 17 days.