Beautiful, but very expensive. A Belarusian woman lived in Croatia for a year on a digital nomad visa
Her story is told by devby.io.
It all started with a dream. Or, more precisely, with a journey. In 2014, I went on a bus tour to Montenegro. On the way, we passed through several countries, and among them was Croatia.
I was captivated by the beauty of nature. It seemed like the country had everything — sea, mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers. And everything was very picturesque. And the colors! What unusual colors there are! Anyone who has been to Croatia knows how turquoise the sea is there. I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else.
That's when the thought settled in my mind to visit Croatia for a longer period, explore its sights, and enjoy its beauty.
I'll tell you how to get a visa, how much accommodation and living costs, which cities are best to choose and why, despite all my love for Croatia, I still returned home.
2021, COVID-19 in full swing. And I heard about a new type of visa — the digital nomad visa. Croatia was one of the first countries in Europe to introduce such a visa. Strangely, EPAM itself started talking about this opportunity, holding webinars. Probably, an office was planned there in the future, so they attracted employees to the country.
At that time, I was still working at EPAM as a laboratory head for tester training. The work was remote, but sometimes I had to come to the office.
I attended such a webinar in the summer of 2021 and got excited about moving. But my then-manager did not approve my relocation. Then my management changed, and they were more accommodating.
I collected the documents myself — the company did not help at all. At that time, conditions in Croatia were quite lenient:
- Certificate of no criminal record with an apostille
- Employment contract stating that the work is remote (EPAM had just issued an additional agreement, as we had all switched to remote work by then)
- Proof of salary — at that time it had to be a minimum of 2500 euros.
All documents had to be translated into Croatian (I used the services of an agency). The Croatian digital nomad visa is not an emigration visa, it is given only once. I received it for 12 months, but now it is issued for 18 months. You can read about the current program conditions on the website of the Croatian Ministry of Interior.
I came to Croatia on a Schengen visa and obtained the nomad visa locally (I waited several months). I didn't even need to open a sole proprietorship.
An apartment by the sea, but without heating
It was very important for me to live by the sea (I'm from Belarus, after all!), for it to be a relatively large city, and well-located — not far from other countries. The capital and largest city, Zagreb, didn't fit, because there's no sea there. Split was too touristy and far from the locations I was interested in. Ultimately, I settled on Rijeka — a port city, close to Slovenia and Italy, quite large by Croatian standards, with about 130,000 people living there.
To arrive, live in a hotel and look for an apartment — was logical, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on temporary accommodation. So, while still in Minsk, I contacted real estate agencies and asked them to help me find a rented apartment for a year. Only one out of five agencies responded. I arrived on Thursday evening, viewed the apartment on Friday, and moved into it on Monday.
It was important for me to live close to the center, to have furniture and a desk. And I wanted to stay within 500 euros. Another 500 euros was a deposit to the landlord, and 500 euros was taken by the agency for its services.
The only thing that didn't come true was a sea view, but it was a minute's walk away. A big drawback of Croatian housing, those who live in southern countries will understand me — there is no central heating. And my apartment was in an old building, the walls seemed thick, but it was cold in winter. And hot in summer. Electricity is expensive, hot water from a 30‑liter boiler. There isn't even an electric towel warmer in the bathroom. More precisely, there is one, but it's broken. This makes it even more frustrating.
Didn't feel like an immigrant
I was very lucky with my landlord. He is an elderly man, a businessman by life, who sold his bar, bought several apartments, and rented them out daily during the season. And he rented one of them to me for a long term. Moreover, we became friends with him and his wife; they invited me to restaurants, and showered me with farewell gifts.
And in general, I must say that Croats are very kind people. Always ready to help, to advise. Like southern people, they are in no hurry, they enjoy life. I also slowed down there, learned to drink coffee in a cafe for an hour or two, just watching people and the sea. The only downside — they smoke a lot, even in cafes. This was very unusual.
There were no problems with the language either. Firstly, 90% of the population there knows English — it's a tourist country, and films are shown there with subtitles, not dubbed.
Secondly, Croatian is a Slavic language. Quite similar to Belarusian. Croats really appreciate it when you speak their language and support foreigners. I regularly heard «Bravo» for my phrases in Croatian. And in a year of living there, I picked up phrases — «Hvala» (thank you), «Može kavu?» (is there coffee?). I even decided to learn Croatian at a youth center. Besides me, there was a girl from Thailand and Palestine in the group (they married locals). Of course, it was much easier for me than for them.
I knew from the start that I was going for a year, so I didn't feel like an immigrant. There weren't even the typical stages of adaptation for migrants.
Prices in Croatia — everything is expensive
I don't like to think about money, so I barely remember specific prices. Especially since at that time, Croatian kunas were still in circulation, not euros. In general, the country is not cheap. I remember being unpleasantly surprised by the price of seafood. Fish cost more than pork or chicken. And public transport is also quite expensive. But salaries are not very high, I often wondered how locals live.
By the way, in Rijeka the problem was specifically with cafes, it was difficult to find a place to eat a salad, I won't even mention soup.
However, there were several cafes in the city. «Kakao» — the best cafe with wonderful desserts, there's nothing like it elsewhere in the country. And restaurants with local food, seafood — these always have prices above average.
Sea, castles, nature — what to visit in Croatia
It's hard to pick one place in Croatia; you have to see everything in this country! But I'll try. I recommend the Istrian peninsula and its largest city — Pula. There you will find the third-largest Colosseum in the world. Also in Istria are very charming coastal towns: Rovinj, Poreč. On the southern coast — Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir, Split, and the excellent resort of Makarska. Of course, Dubrovnik is a must-visit, but it's far in the south of the country.
Be sure to visit Plitvice Lakes; you won't see such beauty anywhere else. It's simply magical.
I also liked Krapinske Toplice — it's a small resort town (not coastal) with healing water.
To stay or to leave?
Did I consider staying in Croatia? Of course, yes. Although the digital nomad visa there is not an emigration visa, I thought about asking EPAM for a full relocation. I even discussed it with my manager.
But I was told that my salary would only be increased by a maximum of 15%, and taxes in Croatia are about 40%. I would have lost a lot in earnings. In addition, in Minsk, I live in my own apartment, while in Croatia, I would have had to rent accommodation. So I decided to go back, partly for economic reasons.
There are not many IT companies in Croatia, so finding a job in the local market is also not easy.
But this year in Croatia allowed me to slow down, to ground myself. I learned to enjoy simple pleasures, for example, just drinking coffee. And I realized that I can make new friends and talk in new companies, that I am an interesting person who knows how to make friends.