CROATIAN CITIZENSHIP

The Croatian Citizenship Act (Official Gazette 53/91, 70/91, 28/92, 113/93, 4/94, 1300/11, 110/15, 102/19, 138/21) proscribes obtaining Croatian citizenship.
Please be informed that all information on acquiring Croatian citizenship (which is a condition to submit the application and obtain a Croatian Passport) is available on web site of the authority that is in charge of this matter: https://mup.gov.hr/aliens-281621/citizenship/281629.
We advise all applicants to read instructions bellow in full and follow explained 4 steps. Instructions are available only in English language due to easier understanding of the rules and Croatian legal terminology. Firstly, one has to independently decide under which Article of the Citizenship Act he/ she believes he/she is eligible. Secondly, a person has to independently obtain necessary documents depending on the eligibility. Thirdly, one has to fill in and print out the correct form. Fourthly, one has to request an appointment through https://konzularniportal.mvep.hr/?lang=en at the Embassy in London (applicant has to be resident in the UK) and apply in person at the Embassy. The embassies’ official reviews the documents at the Embassy only at the appointment, not beforehand. Embassy cannot determine or advise under which article a person will be applying for Croatian citizenship.
1. PLEASE CHECK IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE APPLICATION
THERE ARE FIVE MAIN CATEGORIES OF ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:
a. For children under 18 years old - please visit https://mup.gov.hr/aliens-281621/citizenship/281629 ) and website of the Embassy for instructions on registering a child in Croatia https://mvep.gov.hr/consular-information-107317/registering-a-child-in-croatia-180041/180041 - general rule is that one parent had to be Croatian national in the moment of the child’s birth. If a parent wasn’t Croatian national in the moment of the birth of a child, different procedure applies depending how and when parents applied for the Croatian citizenship (usually a child’s application should be done via same route as the parent).

b. Descendants of Croatian nationals from the age of 18 to 21 who had at least one parent who was Croatian national in the moment of their birth - please visit https://mup.gov.hr/aliens-281621/citizenship/281629 ) and website of the Embassy for instructions on registering a young adult in Croatia https://mvep.gov.hr/consular-information-107317/registering-a-child-in-croatia-180041/180041 - general rule is that one parent had to be Croatian national in the moment of applicant’s birth and that an applicant is not yet 21 years old.  
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Make sure that proof of citizenship of a Croatian parent - Croatian document: Domovnica or Croatian passport or Croatian ID has the same name and surname as stated on the British (or other country) long version of a birth certificate. If a Croatian parent changed their name or surname in the UK, he/she needs to apply for change of the personal details in Croatian registry before their adult child is applying for citizenship. Also, if a parent got married in the UK(or elsewhere), please make sure the parent has registered their marriage in Croatian Registry - info on procedure on registering a marriage is available on https://mvep.gov.hr/consular-information-107317/marriage-180039/180039
If parents are not married for citizenship applicants from the age of 18-21, a father has to give a statement that he is recognising a child. 

c. Descendants of Croatian emigrants born in Croatia (within Croatian borders as today) and their spouses and children (Article 11) - (proving lineage with birth certificates to Croatian ancestor and providing official evidence on how and when they emigrated from Croatia provided that emigration occurred before October 8th 1991) 
 
d. Applicants born outside of Croatia (e.g. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro) who belong to Croatian ethnicity (Article 16) (proving that they and their parents declared Croatian ethnicity in official documents)
Note:
Spouses of Croatian nationals who already are Croatian nationals by birth can only obtain citizenship if they live in Croatia for a certain period of time with residence permit.
Croatia does not grant citizenship based on investment or ownership of a property or real-estate in Croatia.
 e. Determining of Croatian citizenship -
An application for determining Croatian citizenship can be submitted by persons whose information is not entered into the National Registry of the Republic of Croatia, but who acquired this status pursuant to the regulations which were valid until the entry into force of the Croatian Citizenship Act.  Whether the legal requirements for subsequent entry of information into the registers of citizens have been met or not is determined in accordance with the regulations valid at the time the applicant was born.


2. PROVIDE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS IN HARD COPY = ORIGINAL AS FOLLOWS:

•Valid foreign passport as poof of identity (the Embassy does not retain the document) and certified copy of a passport (certified copy of the first page with photo and personal details which does not need to be legalized or translated) - basic requirement for all type of applications
•Application form - explained in step 3.- basic requirement for all type of applications
•Birth certificate - long version with name and surname of parents, which needs to be legalized and translated into Croatian language explained below under headline: “IMPORTANT NOTICE on legalizing documents!!!” - basic requirement for all type of applications
•Marriage certificate, legalized and translated into Croatian language (those applicants who are married) - explained below under headline: “IMPORTANT NOTICE on legalizing documents!”- basic requirement for all type of applications
• Criminal record history certificate not older than 6 months from the country person is living in for the past 6 months - legalized and translated into Croatian language - explained below under headline: “IMPORTANT NOTICE on legalizing documents!”- requirement for all type of applications
• CV and biography written in Croatian language as a short essay explaining reasons why you are applying for citizenship (e.g. descendants of Croatian immigrants have to explain when and how and where their ancestors emigrated from Croatia, e.g .member of ethnicity have to explain how they are preserving Croatian language, and promoting tradition and values);  For children - The parent who is a Croatian Citizen needs to write the CV for the underage children - basic requirement for applicants under Article 11 and 16.


•Family Tree with marked direct line from the initial immigrant/s Croatian ancestor to you. You must include all birth and marriage certificates (legalized and translated into Croatian) of your ancestors in the marked line. Make sure the names and surnames of all descendants are aligned in the documentation or that there is a proof of a name change if it occurred. Applicants who apply under Article 11 apart from proving a person is descendant of a Croatian immigrant she/he must present evidence how the ancestors emigrated from Croatia provided that they emigrated before October 8th 1991 (e.g. ship logs or old passport with UK visa stamp or UK naturalization certificate with apostille and translation into Croatian by official interpreter) - essential requirement for applicants under Article 11.

•Documented evidence of your Croatian ethnicity- official document showing you have declared your Croatian ethnicity (important for those who apply as member of Croatian ethnicity) and your Croatian ancestors (e.g. UK Census extract, School transcripts with information on ethnicity, work paper which show that you have been declaring your Croatian ethnicity and/or any other official document which stated persons Croatian ethnicity- e.g. old birth or marriage certificates from Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia. Please be mindful of the difference between the concept of citizenship and ethnicity as the term doesn’t have the same meaning - essential requirement for applicants under Article 16.
•Written recommendation (in Croatian language) of a Croatian community, association or a club describing the ways you have been promoting Croatia abroad or preserving Croatian heritage - requirement for applicants under Article 16, optional for other applicants.
GENERAL RULES OF PROCEDURE APPLICABLE TO ALL APPLICATIONS:
Please note that burden of collecting and providing documents is on the applicant alone and the Embassy cannot obtain documents on applicant’s behalf. It is expected for an applicant to obtain all necessary documents independently from the respected institutions/authorities. Croatian Embassy does not provide service of obtaining Croatian documents of your ancestors and we advise you to try to seek assistance from family members or Croatian lawyer or travel to Croatia to request the document directly from the Croatian Registry. If a person does not have necessary documents and is not willing to or able to obtain them, he/she is not eligible to apply and cannot acquire citizenship (arguments such as: I do not hold that document or I lost the document is unfortunately not considered as a sufficient reason for not fulfilling the requirement). 
Documents can only be reviewed in the moment of submitting the application and not in advance. One is able to request an appointment for the purpose of the consultations solely.
All documents must be original (or certified copies exceptionally). You may submit additional plan copy of the whole set of documents to ensure quicker processing by the Embassy.
Each adult applicant must submit their own set of documents as all applications are considered separately based on the principle:
ONE ADULT APPLICANT = APPLICATION FORM = ONE SET OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS.
Original foreign legalized and translated documents will be sent to the Ministry of interior in original, who is deciding on your application, and the Ministry of Interior holds them in their archive and they are not to be returned to the applicant. Croatian documents are exempt from this rule and they may be submitted in original and a copy. The only document that will be returned to you immediately upon submitting your application is your valid passport (hence, the reason you are presenting us certified copy of it).
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON LEGALIZING DOCUMENTS APPLICABLE TO ALL FOREIGN DOCUMENTS!!!
All foreign official documents (Birth certificate- long version, Marriage certificate, Criminal record history/police certificate and other) must be legalized and translated into Croatian Language. In order to use the British documents in Croatia, documents issued by the British authorities (Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, and Police certificate) has to be legalized at the Legalization Office with an Apostille stamp - paper version (please visit: https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised  ) and translated into Croatian by an official interpreter in the UK (a list of Croatian interpreters in the UK is available in the Consular Section https://mvep.gov.hr/consular-information-107317/107317 ) or by a certified court interpreter in Croatia.
General information on the legalization of documents process is available at: https://mvep.gov.hr/consular-information-107317/legalisation-of-documents-notary-service-180038/180038
In order to use documents from other countries (like USA, Australia, New Zealand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Argentina or Chile) one has to obtain information on legalization process from the respected authorities of the country where the document were issued and the Embassy is not able to assist. Translation of the legalized documents from countries other than UK has to be done by authorized interpreter (Croatian Embassy in the UK cannot advise on the choice of the interpreter from other country).
3. FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION FORM
• Download the application form:
Category a) and b):  application form available at the Embassy in the moment of submitting application
 
Categories c) and d):
application form for an adult (Article 11 and 16): 
https://mup.gov.hr/UserDocsImages//dokumenti/2022/2022/obrasci_drzavljanstvo//Zahtjev%20za%20stjecanje%20hrvatskog%20dr%C5%BEavljanstva%20priro%C4%91enjem%20punoljetne%20osobe_nadopuna_2022.pdf

Application form for an adult and a child (Article 11 and 16):
https://mup.gov.hr/UserDocsImages//dokumenti/2022/2022/obrasci_drzavljanstvo//Zahtjev%20za%20stjecanje%20hrvatskog%20dr%C5%BEavljanstva%20priro%C4%91enjem%20punoljetne%20osobe%20i%20djetetadjece_nadopuna_2022.pdf
Category e)
https://mup.gov.hr/UserDocsImages//2020/Obrasci/Dr%C5%BEavljanstvo//Zahtjev%20za%20utvr%C4%91ivanje%20hrvatskog%20dr%C5%BEavljanstva.pdf
Each application form at the end contains a short summary of the documents that need to be enclosed.
• Print it and fill out by a nonerasable pen in CAPITAL LETTERS. All answers must be in Croatian language and please use European format for dates (DD.MM.YYYY.)
• Please note that term ethnicity and citizenship is not consider to be the same terms and therefore the “Narodnost” section: it is a term that describes ethnical origin or ethnicity. Therefore, one has to fill out their ethnicity in the “Narodnost” section of the Form.

4. APPLY IN PERSON AT THE CONSULAR SECTION OF THE EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA (by appointment per one adult only)
LOCATION: 21 Conway Street, London, W1T 6BN
The nearest tube stations are Warren Street (Victoria Line) and Great Portland Street (Circle line, Hammersmith & City line, Metropolitan line)
WORKING HOURS - by appointment only through https://konzularniportal.mvep.hr/?lang=en
Closed on Croatian and UK Public Holidays.
Each adult has to book their own appointment separately as the applications of adults are decided on individually and each individual application has to include full set of documents as listed above. Only minors (under 18) may be included in application of a parent and they do not need a separate application.
Please provide additional plain copy of the whole set of documents for each application.
FEE (non-refundable): 162,61 GBP payable with a card only at the premises of The Embassy
Email: conlon@mvep.hr   Tel: 0207 387 1144 (Mon-Fri 9-10 am)
General Information: https://mvep.gov.hr/consular-information-107317/consular-section/107318
Embassy’s web page     https://mvep.gov.hr/en
Croatian HOLIDAYS:   https://neradni-dani.com/national-public-holidays-croatia.php

Warm regards,