Obtaining Croatian citizenship is proscribed by The Croatian Citizenship Act (Official Gazette 53/91,70/91, 28/92, 113/93, 4/94, 1300/11, 110/15)
For more detailed information on the matter of acquiring Croatian citizenship please visit: https://mvep.gov.hr/en/consular-information/citizenship/
Hereby you can find simplified information on the procedure to obtain the Croatian citizenship.
- Please check if you are eligible for the application
There are two major group of eligible applicants:
- Croatian emigrants, born in Croatia (within Croatian borders as today) and their descendants (Article 11.).
- People born outside of Croatia (e.g. Bosnia and Herzegovina) who belong to Croatian ethnicity (Article16.).
Note: Spouses of Croatian nationals can only obtain citizenship if they live in Croatia. Croatia does not grant citizenship based on investment or ownership of a property or real-estate in Croatia.
- Provide necessary document
- Valid foreign passport
- Application form (explained in step 3.)
- Birth certificate, legalized and translated into Croatian language;
- Marriage certificate, legalized and translated into Croatian language (those who are married);
- Criminal record history certificate not older than 6 months from all the countries that you lived in;
IMPORTANT NOTICE on legalizing documents!!!
All foreign official documents must be legalized and translated into Croatian Language if one needs to use them in Croatia.
In order to use an Irish document in Croatia most of the which are issued by the Irish authorities (e.g. Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth, Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage c, Certified Copy of an Entry of death, Power of attorney) and translated into Croatian by an official interpreter in Ireland or by a certified court interpreter in Croatia. General information on the legalization of documents process is available at: https://mvep.gov.hr/hr/konzularne-informacije/legalizacija-isprava/.
In order to use documents from other countries (like Australia, New Zealand or USA) you will have to obtain information on legalization process for the respected authorities of the country where the document was issued.
- CV or biography written in Croatian language as a short essay explaining reasons why are you applying for citizenship (e.g. preserving Croatian tradition and values, studying, or doing business in Croatia);
- Family Tree with marked direct line from the initial immigrant/s from Croatian ancestor to you including all available birth and marriage certificates of your ancestors in the marked line;
- 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;
- Documented evidence of your Croatian ethnicity (especially important for those who apply as member of Croatian ethnicity) and your Croatian ancestors (eg. School transcripts, work paper which show that you have been declaring your Croatian ethnicity and/or any other official document which stated persons Croatian ethnicity- eg. old birth or marriage certificates from Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia. Generally, the more documents an applicant can provide on the matter of Croatian ethnicity it is more likely the process would be quicker.
- Filling out the Application Form
- Download the application form: https://www.mup.hr/UserDocsImages/Dokumenti/drzavljanstvo/obrazac1_stjecanje_prirodjenje_punoljetni.pdf
- 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 nationality and citizenship is not consider to be the same terms and therefore in the section of nationality it is meant as a term that describes ethnical origin or ethnicity and therefore one is expected to fill out their ethnicity in the “Narodnost” section of the Form.
- Apply in person at the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia
