The “scientific visa” was introduced in 2005, as one of the initiatives to achieve that goal, by creating a special procedure for the entry of third country nationals for the purpose of scientific research. The aim of the “scientific visa” is in fact the achievement of Lisbon strategy’s specific objectives, such as the increase of researchers’ mobility (both international and intersectoral), increasing the number of researchers, increasing the investments in science and research up to 3% of GDP and creating attractive working conditions for researchers. These objectives were picked-up and reinforced in the European Union’s new strategy “Europe 2020”.

As one of the European countries which have recognised the importance of researchers’ mobility for the economic growth and development, the Republic of Croatia continuously works on facilitating the entry of foreign researchers and their inclusion in scientific projects in Croatia, as well as improving the conditions for Croatian researchers to conduct projects within European Union’s programmes. Furthermore, the Aliens Act introduced a new category of residence – temporary residence for the purpose of scientific research, which greatly facilitates the procedure of hosting foreign researchers since they are not restricted by work permit quotas any more.

How does a foreign researcher come to Croatia?
The prerequisites for the status of temporary residence for the purpose of scientific research are: the approval for the research organisation to host a researcher, which is bestowed by a special Committee within the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (MSES); and a hosting agreement, concluded between the research organisation and the foreign researcher, which obligates the researcher to accomplish scientific research, and the research organisation to host the researcher for this purpose.
According to these regulations, foreign researchers whose entry and residence in the Republic of Croatia have been approved have equal rights to those of their Croatian colleagues, including: recognition of qualifications in accordance with special legislation, adequate working conditions, social security and access to the market of goods and services.

The Croatian “scientific visa” in practice
The new regulations have greatly facilitated researchers’ mobility and international cooperation in Croatian science. Since the beginning of the application of this legislation in 2009, the procedure was used by 11 scientific organisations, and according to the number of approved hosting agreements the researchers’ mobility is most developed at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (9) and the Faculty of Science at the University of Zagreb (8).
Tamara Nikšić, of the Faculty of Science in Zagreb, who has hosted several foreign colleagues, is satisfied with the procedure and says: “My hosting experiences are only positive since my administrative duties consist of filling out an online form which is then signed by the Dean and forwarded to MSES by our International Relations Office.” Jelena Ružić, Head of Administrative and Financial Services at the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences where they have hosted 10 foreign researchers in the past 4 years for longer time periods and by going through the entire procedure of acquiring residence permits, agrees that this procedure has been significantly simplified: “This process was [up until 2-3 years ago] extremely complicated and strenuous, with lots of administrative obstacles (...). Defining the hosting agreement and evaluating the hosting requests at MSES, as well as directing further proceedings towards diplomatic missions abroad while precisely listing the necessary documentation and the timely appraisal of Croatian diplomatic mission staff, has greatly alleviated the process”.
In the past two years, Croatian research organisations have welcomed 35 foreign researchers, mostly from the European Union (16), USA (4), Bosnia and Herzegovina (4) and China (4). The simplified entry of foreign researchers has also created better conditions for international cooperation and the execution of international research projects, which contributes to a better positioning of Croatian researchers in the international research community and promotes their own outgoing mobility as well.
A big part in the facilitation of hosting of foreign researchers is played by the EURAXESS Service Centre at the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes, which is confirmed by both foreign researchers and their hosts.

What the future brings
Adjusting national legislation to the European “scientific visa” was not an easy task, and the results described above are the product of successful collaboration of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. The key role in bringing those institutions together as well as in developing and implementing some of the initiatives was played by the EURAXESS Department of the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes. Furthermore, since foreign researchers themselves, and their hosts, interact with the EURAXESS Service Centre directly, they can as end-users have an influence on the improvement of the system and its processes.
In order to simplify this procedure further the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, together with the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes, has published the Action plan for researchers’ mobility 2011-2011. This Action plan will continue the activities listed already in the Action plan for researchers’ mobility 2009-2010, and it is based on the Europe 2020 Flagship initiative: Innovation Union and the European Partnership for Researchers.
Tijmen Pronk, a Dutch researcher with a PhD in Slavic Studies, who has gone through the entire procedure and is now fully employed at the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics in Zagreb, sends out the following message to the Croatian legislative bodies: “Keep up the good work!” (*)

For more information:

The Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports
EURAXESS > Regulating residence of foreign researchers
Europe 2020 > Innovation Union
Directive on the "scientific visa" (Council Directive 2005/71/EC) [PDF]

(*) in a previous interview, for the category "Researchers Say"

Source: http://www.euraxess.hr/sitegenius/article.php?id=725