>14 months for ministry foreign affairs approval??

[paul87]

Quick question to those awaiting / recently having received ministry of foreign affairs approval please. I bought my house >14 months ago (that is to say, there was a solicitors final contract of sale, an exchange of money and an application by my solicitor to the MFA) – this was back in March 2004 for a stone house in Istria. But I still not have heard from the MFA – is this normal please ? Would you suggest an independent check that it is being processed ? Thank you. Paul

[Frederick]

Hi,

We've been waiting over 18 months now. We also have some friends who have been waiting over 2 years. it seems to take a long time, but in the end everyone apparently gets it. So, chin up and don't worry.

[mark2]

Our lawyer informs me that he has just received approval for a German client, after 2 1/2 years, the mfa have explained to him that the backlog is due to so many foreign buyers, they are gridlocked with cases.

[Culchie]

So does the 3 year rule for 0% CGT start ticking from when you have closed deal and took ownership of property ..... or when you have received your ministerial approval papers?

[irac]

Culchie my former colleague got caught that way on a land deal, having been told by a thoroughly thick "solicitor" that once the 2nd contract was signed it was okay. She sold 3 acres of land at a modest profit after the believed 3 years and was landed with a bill of 35% on it. It is only after final permission comes in, unless you pull a dodgy fast one!

[Caligula]

We've got permission from the minister of foreign affairs, after more then two years, but we are still waiting for the "real paper" from the surveying office in Makarska ... (3 years now)

[Nicola]

Can I change my purchase to the Co route in case I want to sell within 3 yrs?

[susie]

We, too, submitted our papers to Zagreb in May of last year, after discovering that our Croatian lawyer had sat on them for 5 months before remembering to send them! So 18 months down the line we are still waiting. I managed to find out what our application number was, and have contacted the Ministry direct. On the 4 occasions that I have rung the relevant person, I have been told that they are still on the desk of someone in the Ministry of Legal Affairs (where all documents go first), and that they are waiting to be signed by his boss before going through to the FA office. This has been the same reply for the last 6 weeks. I am quite certain that if I was to say - hey, how about some money - we could have them tomorrow!

All this is fine, if you've got time to wait, but if you're being threatened by a "charming" Croatian neighbour that they're going to report you to the authorities for doing work to the house before the permission has come through, it would be quite reassuring to try and push it forward a bit faster!

I think maybe if we'd known 2 years ago what we know now about the Croatian culture and the mentality of the majority of the people, we would never have invested in the country. It has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, but getting involved with anything other that visiting the country is a nightmare. Everything we have tried to do building our house has been a battle. Nobody ever communicates - no one rings you back, returns your e-mail, turns up when they say they will, or does what you ask them - life seems to be a game - surliness is the norm and good manners don't seem to exist. I know we can only imagine how hard things have been for them as a country, but they should realise that the future is fantastic, if they try and be a little more user-friendly. They need to SMILE and be helpful!

Back to the point .......anyone any ideas how to speed things up, other than going to Zagreb with a big wadge of money?! Is the 3-year time limit to sell the house, three years after you buy the title, or three years after you receive your permission to own?

[EMIZZZZAGREB]

Susie, Dobro Dosli Hrvatska, I'd like to say that things will get better, but it won't, somebody will want your money as soon as you get here.

I can give you details of a very good lawyer in Zagreb though, if you want to change lawyers.

[Karl]

susie said:

Back to the point .......anyone any ideas how to speed things up, other than going to Zagreb with a big wadge of money?! Is the 3-year time limit to sell the house, three years after you buy the title, or three years after you receive your permission to own?

Susie,
You have given me an idea and there may be a way to speed things up. As a general rule, anyone living on the coast or travelling to the Croatian coast to buy / renovate proeprty does not want to go via Zagreb to try and sort out paperwork issues at the various government ministry's.

As we are based in Zagreb and have a good team of locals dealing with officials all day long, we might (emphasis on the might!) be able to speed up applications by visiting their offices and discussing the situation face to face.

There would be a charge for under taking this work and I still need to work out what that would be and I need to firmly establish under what Authority we can act on your behalf.

I need to get an indication of how many people would be interested in a service of this nature so I can do some costings. Can people mail me directly at [e-mail]. I will post again in a few days and let you know what the response has been like and hopefully the cost for providing this service.

Regarding your other comments Susie, it can be hell getting people to commit to work over here. if you are having difficulties give me a call to discuss and we may be able to assist.

Regards

Karl

[susie]

emizzzzagreb said:

Susie, Dobro Dosli Hrvatska, I'd like to say that things will get better, but it won't, somebody will want your money as soon as you get here.

I can give you details of a very good lawyer in Zagreb though, if you want to change lawyers.

Thanks Emiz........I have logged that for the future?? In the meantime, I might take Karl up on his offer.

[susie]

Karl, Perhaps a notarised Power of Attorney for a trip to Zagreb. If you could post the cost, I'm sure there would be many people interested.

Do you know the answer to Culchies question above about CGT??

[IgorG]

INFORMATION ABOUT ACQUIRING REAL PROPERTY OWNERSHIP IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA FOR FOREIGN CITIZENS AND ENTERPRISES


According to Croatian Law on Property Ownership and other Real Rights (Art. 356 para 2; Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia Nos. 91/96, 68/98, 13 7/99, 22/00, 73/00, and 114/01), foreign citizens and enterprises who want to become owners of real estate in the Republic of Croatia other than by inheritance need to obtain consent from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia issued on the basis of a prior opinion of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Croatia.

The consent of the Minister of Foreign Affairs is issued in the form of an administrative act, following a special administrative procedure conducted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia; the procedure may be initiated by the applicant or through an attorney by sending a request in writing to the following address: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Department, Meduliæeva 34, 10000 Zagreb. The request (in the form of a brief letter) must contain the following enclosures:

Legal basis for the acquisition of the property (purchase agreement, gift agreement, support agreement etc.), in the original or a duly legalised copy;

Seller’s proof of title i.e. land registry certificate, in the original or a duly legalised copy, not older than six months;

Original certificate (not older than six months) issued by the authorities of the local administration responsible for urban planning (county departments), confirming that the property is within the construction zone envisaged by the zoning plan;

Proof of citizenship for the Buyer (legalised copy of a passport), or proof of the status of a foreign legal entity (certificate from the register of companies);

Proof of citizenship for the Seller (a copy of his ID or passport will do);

If an attorney is involved, it is necessary to submit the Power of Attorney, in the original or a duly legalised copy; and

Non-legalised copies of all the enclosed documents

In addition to these documents, it is also necessary to enclose the proof of payment for the administrative fee. Pursuant to Art. 21 of the Law on the Amendments to the Administrative Charges Act (NN No. 163/03), or more precisely, Rate 74a, the following amounts are charged:

HRK 50.00 for the application;
HRK 100.00 for deciding on property acquisition, and
HRK 20.00 for any subsequent supplement to the application (in case of missing documents).
Note: Administrative fees up to HRK 100.00 are paid in the form of appropriate stamp duty, while the amounts exceeding HRK 100.00 must be paid by means of a general payment order to the account of the National Budget of the Republic of Croatia No. 1001005-1863000160, reference No. 24 entered in the first adjacent field, and 5002 in the second; when the payment is effected by a Croatian citizen, the JMBG identification number should be added in the second field, and when the payment is effected by a foreign national number 721 should be added in the second field. The applicant or his/her attorney must enclose the payment order filled out in this manner (or stamp duty) with all other documents required.

In the administrative procedure conducted before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to decide on the application it shall be determined whether there is reciprocity (mutual relationship) between the Republic of Croatia and the state whose citizen the applicant is. This particular requirement is met if in the state whose citizen the applicant is Croatian citizens are recognised the right to acquire property. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs collects and examines foreign laws concerning the requirements and the acquisition of ownership by foreign citizens in those states, and applies and interprets them in the procedure it conducts.

Note: There are areas in the Republic of Croatia in which foreign citizens may not acquire ownership of real property, like the excluded areas (Art. 358 para 1 of the Law on Property Ownership and other Real Rights), agricultural land (Art. 1 para 3 of the Agricultural Land Act), protected natural areas (Art. 40 para 3 of the Nature Protection Act), forests and forest land (Art. 1 para 3 of the Forests Act).


Following the completion of the administrative procedure upon the application, in case the consent has been granted, the foreign citizen shall be entitled to apply for the registration of ownership in land register.