Croatia Introduces Special Quotas For Students From Diaspora

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If you are of Croatian descent, live outside Croatia, and want to study in Croatia – act now and commence benefitting from special quotas.

Croatian government has, via its Central State Office for Croats Outside the Republic of Croatia, announced the ability of enrolment of students into higher and university studies through a special quota intended for members of the Croatian national minority in European countries and Croatian emigrants into undergraduate and integrated undergraduate and graduate studies of the University of Zagreb for Academic year 2018/2019. Link to website:  http://www.hrvatiizvanrh.hr/hr/novost/584/posebna-upisna-kvota-za-studij-na-sveucilistu-u-zagrebu

Special enrolment quotas relate to the two categories defined in Article 2 of the Croatian Relations Act with Croats outside the Republic of Croatia (OG 124/11, 16/12):

•  to members of the Croatian minority in European countries (Republic of Austria, Republic of Serbia, Republic of Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Romania, Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Italian Republic, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Republic of Kosovo and Republic of Bulgaria)
• to emigrant Croatians in overseas and European countries and their descendants.

Candidates who have completed four years of secondary education outside the Republic of Croatia are not obliged to take State Matura (matriculation) exams in the Republic of Croatia. The College or Higher Education (faculty / academy) can or may also assign these candidates to the obligation to take additional exams if required.

In allocating points, candidates who completed secondary education outside the Republic of Croatia instead of exams in the Croatian language at the State Matura of the Republic of Croatia achievement in the candidate’s first language during his/her prior education will be recognised unless stated otherwise by the higher education institution (faculty / academy).

To benefit from participating in this special quota for studies in Croatia the following are the steps or required process.

Necessary documentation:

1. Certificate of affiliation/belonging to the Croatian people issued by the Central State Office for Croats outside the Republic of Croatia (Trg hrvatskih velikana 6, 10000 Zagreb, WEB: http://www.hrvatiizizvanrh.hr/hr; EMAIL: upisne-kvote@hrvatiizvanrh.hr)

To receive a Certificate of Belonging to a Croatian People, a candidate can submit scanned documents in person, by mail or via e-mail and the originals are to be submitted upon receipt of the Certificate.

For the purpose of issuing the Certificate, the following documentation is to be enclosed/submitted:

a) Application form

b) A short biography and explanation of the reason/motivation for the application

c) A copy of valid travel document of the State of which he/she is a national

d) Proof of Residence outside the Republic of Croatia

e) Birth Certificate

f) Evidence of belonging to the Croatian people (one of the following public documents of a candidate or a parent or some other ancestor if it contains information about Croatian nationality: birth certificate or copy of the school student register or Index or work/employment booklet or military service booklet or a marriage certificate or a death certificate or a baptism certificate or a decision on the receipt of a Croatian citizenship in accordance with Article 16 or 11 of the Act or a written statement of the head of the DM / KU of the Republic of Croatia or of an association/club of Croatian community abroad. If the belonging to the Croatian people is proven via a document/s of an ancestor then one must also prove the relationship/kinship and submit that birth certificates of all ancestors to the one upon whom the proof of belonging rests).

Certified copies of the following documents:

2. Proof of citizenship under which a candidate applies (a certified copy of the passport for foreign nationals who do not own the Croatian OIB (PIN), all candidates who own OIB do not have to provide proof of citizenship)

3. Proof of completion of all secondary school grades (certificate of last four grades)

4. Final certificate of secondary education

5. Certificate of completed externally assessed exam (if the candidate has passed it)

6. Evidence of a change of surname (submitted by non-OIB candidates), if the candidate has changed his / her surname since the moment of issuance of the certificate (eg a certified copy of the marriage certificate or a birth certificate issued in which a note on the new surname notation assigned for subsequent entries)

7. Certification of passed state level matriculation exam in domicile state.

Every document issued in a foreign language must be submitted by a candidate with a translation certified by an authorized court interpreter. The exception, in the case of certificates in Serbian or Bosnian, which will be taken into account in the original, must only be certified by a notary public.

Final certificates of candidates who completed their secondary education outside the Republic of Croatia must undergo the procedure for recognition of foreign secondary education qualifications. The procedure for recognition of foreign secondary education qualifications for completed secondary education in general, high school and art programs for the continuation of education is handled by the Education Agency (http://www.azoo.hr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2702&Itemid=92) . The Vocational Education and Training Agency (http://www.pikaso.asoo.hr/children/recognition_procedure.html) is responsible for the recognition of foreign secondary education qualifications for secondary vocational education in vocational programs.

The procedure for recognising foreign secondary school qualifications is completely separate from the application process of study programs at higher education institutions and it is important to contact the above-mentioned institutions in a timely manner so that the entire procedure is completed in time. In the case of general, high school and artistic programs, a candidate approaches the Education Agency, or when it comes to secondary education in vocational programs, a candidate approaches the Agency for Vocational Education and Adult Education.

The candidate is expected to parallelly carry out all the procedures (the procedure of recognition of the foreign secondary school qualification and the application process of the study programs).

For all additional questions regarding faculty enrolment, it is best to contact directly the students’ faculty office. You can also contact the Central State Office for Croats outside the Republic of Croatia by e-mail (upisne-kvote@hrvatiizvanrh.hr) or by calling the number (+385 1 6444 676; +385 1 6444 669) for easier access to the enrolment procedure.

Good luck to all who pursue this path of studying in Croatia and I am certain you will benefit in many ways. Ina Vukic