LynnyTB

I am a freelance editor (aged 45), currently spending a little of my time at 'home' near Cambridge, UK, but most of my time with my boyfriend of just over a year in Croatia. He is a Croatian national (aged 57) and I would like to spend as much time with him as possible as, obviously, I love him, but I love the country too and am enjoying discovering how beautiful it is (mainly by bike and in our old camper van) :-) I have just checked out the visa requirements and discovered that I can only stay in the country as a 'tourist' for 90 days in each 6-month period. By chance, I stayed within that limit for the first year, but as I will have almost used that allowance up already from June to September 2012, I am now panicking. I can't bear the thought that I won't be able to go back as much as I have got used to and would like to. I would love to hear other British people's experiences of how they made the move to Croatia and how hard it was to obtain a temporary resident's visa. I do not have work there and I am not a student (although I would like to enrol in Croatian classes). I am however, self-employed with a job I can do anywhere and a proven solid, regular income for nearly 20 years. I also have private health insurance and no criminal record. Will such factors help my case? Basically, I just want to be with the man I love in a country I love, and am gutted to think that the lack of a visa might prevent this if my application is refused. Is this at all likely? Thank you in advance! :-)