The Act on the Recognition and Assessment of Foreign Educational Qualifications (Official Gazette 69/2022), which came into force on the 25^th June 2022, regulates the manner and procedures for the assessment of foreign educational qualifications for the purpose of accessing the labour market in those professions that are not included in the List of Regulated Professions in the Republic of Croatia and are conducted in accordance with special regulations, as well as the manner and procedures for the recognition of foreign educational qualifications and periods of study abroad for the purpose of continuing education in the Republic of Croatia.

The assessment of foreign educational qualifications for the purpose of accessing the Croatian labour market is conducted by the following agencies, depending on the type of foreign qualification that is being assessed:

• agency in charge of education and training for foreign educational qualifications that attest the completion of primary education and general, gymnasium and art secondary education
• agency in charge of vocational and adult education for foreign educational qualifications that attest the completion of vocational education programmes and programmes of post-secondary education that does not represent higher education.
• agency in charge of science and higher education for foreign educational qualifications that attest the completion of higher education.

Recognition of foreign higher education qualifications and periods of study for the purpose of continuing education (academic recognition and recognition of periods of study) is under the authority of universities, polytechnics and colleges.

Recognition of specializations and professional examinations is under the authority of relevant ministries and professional organizations.

Assessment of foreign higher education qualifications

Assessment of foreign higher education qualifications for the purpose of accessing the labour market in the Republic of Croatia is under the authority of the National ENIC/NARIC Office of the Agency for Science and Higher Education. When the new Act on the Recognition and Assessment of Foreign Educational Qualifications (Official Gazette 69/2022) came into force on the 25^th June 2022, it signalled a halt of the previous administrative procedure of the recognition of foreign higher education qualifications, and the introduction of the procedure of assessment of higher education qualifications that serves as a basis for the Agency for Science and Higher Education to issue an informational document – opinion on a foreign higher education qualification.

In the procedure of assessing a foreign higher education qualification, only the level of achieved knowledge, skills and competences is taken into account, and there is no comparison of study programmes.

It is important to mention that the decision to employ a candidate for a particular job depends on the employer, or rather on the previously defined employment requirements.

Since the 1^st July 2004, the Republic of Croatia has been conducting the procedure of the recognition of foreign higher education qualifications in accordance with the Act on the Recognition of Foreign Educational Qualifications (Official Gazette 158/2003, 198/2003, 138/2006 and 45/2011), and since the 25^th June 2022 it will continue to conduct it in accordance with the Act on the Recognition and Assessment of Foreign Educational Qualifications (Official Gazette 69/2022), which is based on the principles of the Lisbon Convention on Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications in Europe  from the 11^th April 1997, and the Act on Ascertaining of the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Official Gazette – International Treaties, no. 9/02 and 15/02). With the adoption of the 2004 Recognition Act, the previous Act on the Recognition of Foreign School Certificates and University Diplomas (Official Gazette, 57/96 and 21/00), on the basis of which the so-called nostrification process had been carried out, had ceased to be valid.

Basic terms

1) Foreign educational qualification refers to a set of integrated units of learning outcomes of a given level, volume, profile, type and quality. The qualification is attested by a certificate, diploma or other public documents issued by an accredited legal entity.

2) Recognition of a foreign educational qualification refers to the acknowledgement of the value of a foreign educational qualification issued by a competent authority for the purpose of accessing or continuing education.

3) Recognition of a period of study refers to the acknowledgement of units of learning outcomes acquired abroad prior to acquiring a foreign educational qualification for the purpose of continuing education in the Republic of Croatia.

4) Assessment of a foreign educational qualification refers to the process of determining the level, volume, profile and quality of a foreign educational qualification, as well as all the rights conferred by that qualification in its country of origin.

5) Automatic recognition of a foreign educational qualification means granting the qualification holder the right to access continued education at a Croatian higher education institution without going through a recognition procedure.

6) Automatic recognition of a period of study refers to the recognition of learning outcomes acquired during a study period abroad for the purpose of accessing continued education at a Croatian higher education institution without going through a recognition procedure.

7) Education and training institution is a primary and secondary school or an institution for adult education that has been approved for delivering primary and secondary education programmes in the Republic of Croatia.

8) Bodies in charge of recognition are the agency in charge of science and higher education, the agency in charge of vocational and adult education, the agency in charge of education and training, and higher education institutions.

9) Bodies in charge of assessment are the agency in charge of science and higher education, the agency in charge of vocational and adult education and the agency in charge of education and training (furthermore: competent agencies).

10) Opinion of a foreign educational qualification is a document issued by a competent agency on the basis of a conducted assessment of a foreign educational qualification.

11) Informational document on a foreign education qualification is a document issued by a competent agency upon the request of asylum seekers or persons under subsidiary or temporary protection who lack documentation to prove their foreign educational qualification.

12) Central applications procedure is a centralised procedure for applying to study programmes at higher education institutions and secondary education, conducted by the agency in charge of science and higher education.

13) Documents that attest a foreign educational qualification include certificates, diplomas and other documents attesting to a completed programme.

14) Office for academic recognition shall be established at every university, polytechnic and college for the purpose of conducting professional and administrative tasks related to the academic recognition of foreign higher education qualifications and periods of study, in accordance with general legal acts of a university, polytechnic or college. The Office’s organisation, purview and mode of operation shall be prescribed by the general legal acts of a university, polytechnic or college, in accordance with the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Recognition of Foreign Educational Qualifications.