Recognition of foreign professional qualifications

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Persons who obtained their professional qualifications abroad and wish to practise the medical-biochemical profession in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, must request the recognition of foreign professional qualifications. In line with Article 177 of the Health Protection Act (Official Gazette number 100/18) the procedure of the recognition of foreign professional qualifications, is conducted by the Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists, as the competent institution in the Republic of Croatia, according to:

- Act on the Regulated Professions and on the Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications (Official Gazette no. 82/15 and 70/19),

- Ordinance on the Criteria for the Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications (Official Gazette no. 89/13),

- General Administrative Procedure Act (Official Gazette no. 47/09).

With exception, in line with Article 48 of the Act on the Regulated Professions and on the Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications, the recognition procedure does not apply to the professional qualifications (diploma, certificate of passed professional (state licence) examination, passed specialist examination and subspecialist examination), obtained by medical biochemists before 8 October 1991 outside the territory of the Republic of Croatia, in the territory of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists conducts the recognition of foreign professional qualifications in line with general system of recognition (including the recognition of foreign professional qualifications obtained in a state which is not a member of the European Union (EU) i.e. in a state which is not a party to the European Economic Area Agreement (EEA) or the Swiss Confederation). To initiate the process for recognition of foreign professional qualifications under the general system of recognition (Instructions for filing an application for the recognition of a foreign professional qualification in line with the general system of recognition) at the Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists is required:

1) Fill in the application form for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications (Application form; Instructions for filling in the application form).
2) Collect the necessary documents and enclose their originals or certified copies, or, if necessary, also certified translations of the documents into the Croatian language, with the application form.
3) Pay the costs of the procedure in the amount of 132,72 EUR / 999,98 kn, i.e. for payments made from abroad the costs correspond to the countervalue of the applicable currency's middle exchange rate of the Croatian National Bank valid on the day of payment (Instructions for payment the costs of the procedure)
4) Deliver the application to the Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists (Instructions for delivering the application).

The Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists is obliged to make a decision on recognition of a foreign professional qualification and submit it to the candidate within three months from the date of receipt of the valid application at the latest. This period can be extended by up to one month if there are justified reasons. The above deadlines do not apply in case of implementation of supplementary measures referred to in Article 18 of the Act on the Regulated Professions and on the Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications.

If the request is incomplete, i.e. it contains a deficiency which makes it impossible to act upon the request, the Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists shall, within 15 days from the receipt of such request, invite the applicant to supplement it within 90 days, and if the applicant does not comply with the request, thrown the request.

The request for recognition of a foreign professional qualification is decided by a decision against which the applicant has the right to appeal to the ministry competent for health within 15 days from the receipt of the decision. The applicant is not entitled to appeal against the decision of the ministry competent for health, but may bring an administrative dispute before the competent administrative court.

In exceptional cases, the procedure of the recognition of an internship and a speciality performed abroad as well as the approval for taking the professional exam in accordance with the provisions of the Health Care Act (Official Gazette number 100/18) is carried out by the ministry responsible for health upon completion of the process of recognition of foreign professional qualifications with the Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists.

The applicant or an authorised person can request information about the procedure of the recognition of foreign professional qualifications, or about a particular case of the recognition of foreign professional qualifications, from

Hrvatska komora medicinskih biokemičara
(Croatian Chamber of Medical Biochemists)

Tajnik Komore
(Chamber Secretary)
Ivici Županu, dipl. pravnik,

by telephone: +385 (1) 457 29 27 or e-mail: ivica.zupan@hkmb.hr