Croatia became a member of the European Union

With effect from 1 July 2013 Croatian nationals will be able to move and live freely and unrestricted for the first 3 months following their arrival in the UK. After 3 months they will be entitled to continue residing legally in the UK provided they are exercising a Treaty right as a student, a self-employed person, or if self-sufficient (and not economically active).

They will not have an automatic right to reside as a worker or a jobseeker in the UK and will need to obtain work authorisation (permission to work) before starting any employment, unless they are exempt from this requirement.

Croatian nationals wanting to study in the UK will not need to be sponsored under Tier 4 of the Points Based System, but if they want to work part time whilst they are studying they will need to obtain an accession worker authorisation document unless they are exempt.