Croatia has no points system and no salary threshold for skilled workers; its shortage instrument is the HZZ list of occupations exempt from the labour-market test. Roles on it skip the 15-day test and need only a 10 % domestic-staff ratio. This is the list by sector, with the Filipino profile that fills each entry.
Cooks and assistant cooks, waiters, bartenders, receptionists, and — in the coastal and tourist counties — chambermaids, cleaners, kitchen assistants and bar assistants; seasonal sales staff in Istria and Dubrovnik-Neretva. The Filipino profile: hotel-school graduates and cruise-line and Gulf hotel staff, English-speaking, used to four- and five-star standards. Tourism and hospitality accounted for 43,700 permits in January–July 2026, the largest sector.
Bricklayers, reinforcement workers, carpenters and formworkers, roofers, façade workers, tilers, floor layers, insulators, plumbers and heating installers, painters, steel-structure fitters, construction electricians, and plant operators. The Filipino profile: Gulf-project trades with TESDA certificates and drawing literacy; foremen with English. Construction permits fell to 27,000 in January–July 2026 from 44,000 two years earlier as public works cooled — the roles are still exempt.
Ship welders, ship fitters and steelworkers, ship pipe fitters, ship electricians, painters and blasters — for the yards in Split, Rijeka, Trogir, Kraljevica and Pula. The Filipino profile: the Philippines is a shipbuilding nation; welders and fitters from Subic and Cebu yards and from Korean and Japanese blocks carry class-recognised tickets.
Welders, metalworkers and fitters, CNC and conventional machinists, machine operators, maintenance mechanics, butchers and bakers. The Filipino profile: SMAW/GMAW/GTAW welders with 6G tests, CNC operators from Philippine and Gulf machine shops, food-plant operators.
Heavy-goods and articulated-truck drivers, bus drivers (county entries including the City of Zagreb), warehouse workers and couriers. The Filipino profile: professional drivers with Gulf and domestic haulage experience — with the Croatian licence and Code 95 planned into the timeline — and warehouse operatives with forklift certificates.
Nurses, midwives, laboratory and dental technicians, care workers and geriatric aides. The Filipino profile: registered nurses (recognition by the Croatian Chamber of Nurses and language required) and NC II caregivers for care homes, where Croatian is learned on the job.
The list is amended, not republished, and some entries carry county and season limits; an employer in Osijek may be tested for a role that is exempt in Split. We check the current list for your county before you brief, and we tell you which of your roles will be tested — usually a formality for these trades, but 15 days is 15 days.
The route is Croatia's combined residence-and-work permit: you file one application online through the joint HZZ/MUP platform, HZZ runs the labour-market test unless the occupation is on its exemption list and gives its opinion on your eligibility, MUP decides within 90 days, and the permit runs for the contract period — up to three years, depending on the route. Before anything is filed we check the 2026 employer conditions — €100,000 turnover over the last twelve months, at least one Croatian or EEA employee for the previous year, Croatian/EEA staff at 20 % of third-country headcount (10 % for exempt occupations), no arrears, adequate accommodation.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Vienna, which has jurisdiction for Croatia, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. The Philippine ban on direct hiring applies; the employer is always your company, directly — the Croatian permit is issued to you, not to an agency.
Everything here is subject to the Foreigners Act as amended (NN 40/2025, NN 55/2026), the HZZ exemption list in force and MUP practice.
Not a points-based one. Croatia's instrument is the HZZ exemption list: it removes the labour-market test and halves the domestic-staff ratio, and it covers most of the trades and service roles Filipinos fill.
Warehouse roles appear on the list in several counties; we confirm for yours. Where tested, HZZ referrals for night-shift warehouse work are rare.
Construction helpers are on the list in several counties; Croatia, unlike Flanders or Austria, has not excluded low-skilled roles from labour migration.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.