buying a property as a foreign national

[micamaca]

Hi folks, someone recommended this site to me, and am relieved to find it. I am married to a Croat, we are thinking of buying a property together in Croatia, two thirds my money and one third his.
I understand I have two options to consider...getting the property registered in both names immediately and waiting 2 - 3 years for permission to issue from Minister of Foreign Affairs to have my name registered as foreign national... or waiting for my citizenship to issue, or waiting for EU membership ...

Or we can have it registered in his name only and get it transferred later when one of the above happens...

But which is safer...obviously I think I should have my name on title from day one, but if we are waiting for permission, neither of us will be registered on title...just a note in the land registry or something instead,,

can anyone give me some sound advice on this please!

thanks mica

[Peter Ellis]

Hi
If it is registered in his name it will certainly be simpler and you will be able to register title almost immediately.
If you are going for citizenship and intending to add your name once you get it, that is one solution, but the law on citizenship applications has changed since I got mine. When I did it, there was a wait of 12 months before I was eligible for citizenship after getting permanent residence. This has now been increased to 3 years. On balance it is probably quicker to buy in joint names as the period for getting Ministry approval of reciprocity is unlikely to be that long.
EU membership would not necessarily guarantee an immediate right to registration because EU member states do not yet have a universal policy on property ownership. Some parts of Austria, for example, do not allow foreigners to own property.

[mica]

Hi Peter,

thanks very much for coming back to me. I was in the Croatian Embassy yesterday and they do seem to think we would be better having my husband registered first and then having my name added. I applied for citizenship last year and the embassy seems to think it will take just 12 months, so I'm hopeful that's right. I can always apply for permission anyway and if and when I get it I can add my name on then. I wouldn't like to be waiting three years for anything! Another girl told me they bought in Oct 2003 and they still haven't got their permission yet so I think we will go down the road of the sole name and making a will to leave it to me till such time as I can be registered.

Thanks for all your advice, I think I may be going down the right road and that makes me feel better. Whereas yesterday, I was very worried and confused. But what you've just told me echos what I heard from someone else this morning.

So thanks again Peter, mica

[Peter Ellis]

A note on wills. Croatia recognises UK wills. In the absence of a will property is divided equally between surviving spouse and children. As far as I know, you could inherit even if you were not a Croatian citizen, provided that you were appropriately related.
As a footnote, the automatic inheritance in the absence of a will is what causes a lot of difficulties over title. Whilst equitable, if some of the inheritors have emigrated and lost touch with the family, it results in property sales by part owners in residence being unable to offer clean title, because the whereabouts of other part owners is unknown.

[micamaca]

Hi Peter,

thanks for that, I'll keep that in mind.

How do you get the energy to reply to all these posts, and you seem to have an answer for everyone. You're some worker!

kind regards micamaca

[Graham Amiss - Bosmere Travel]

Peter is not a bad old boy, even if he chooses real estate as a profession

[raman]

i i m a resident of india.i want to start buisness in croatia.i can spind around 70000 us dollars.please guide me how to get residency of croatia and permission to settle here.

[Peter Ellis]

Dear Raman

Sorry that I missed this earlier. Permanent residence here can not be guaranteed on the basis of a certain level of investment as it can in some countries.
If you were contemplating starting a business and started a company here the directorship of it would get you a business visa in order to run it, but it is not going to be a permanent residence visa.
Realistically, USD70,000 is unlikely to buy you a business as such. On the other hand it would buy a new apartment which you could let out and perhaps develop a business based on this, although your budget would be tight, as you would need to furnish it, too.