Eligible foreign nationals (persons who do not have Croatian citizenship) can submit an application for Croatian citizenship and acquire it by naturalization if they meet the requirements laid down by
the Croatian Citizenship Act. Applications for acquiring Croatian citizenship by naturalization must be submitted in person. Exceptionally, in case of persons with disabilities, applications can be submitted by their legal representative or an authorized person. If the applicant has been granted temporary or permanent stay in the Republic of Croatia, applications for acquiring Croatian citizenship by naturalization are not submitted at diplomatic missions, but directly to the police authorities in Croatia. or consular post of the Republic of Croatia.
The procedure for acquiring Croatian citizenship is carried out by the Ministry of the Interior at its headquarters in Croatia. It is a lengthy procedure. However, each application is unique and processing times may vary. Foreign nationals become Croatian citizens on the day of the delivery of a positive decision. Once the applicant receives a positive decision, he/she will be inscribed into the Register of Citizens at the competent registry office and will eventually be able to apply for a Croatian passport.
The following documents must be enclosed in addition to
the application form for acquiring Croatian citizenship and its questionnaire: 1) CV and Motivational Letter describing in detail who, when and why emigrated from the Republic of Croatia and how is the applicant related to that person (written in Croatian language); 2) Extract from the Birth Register (Birth Certificate); 3) Extract from the Marriage Register (Marriage Certificate) if the applicant is married; 4) Proof of foreign citizenship (e.g. passport, ID, certificate); 5) Police clearance certificate issued by a competent foreign authority of the applicant’s country of citizenship and the country of his or her permanent residence, an original or a duly certified copy, issued within the last 6 months; 6) Certified copy of a valid identity document (certification should be done at the Embassy).
If the application is also submitted for underage children, the child’s extract from the birth register must also be enclosed, together with the proof of child’s citizenship and a written consent of the other parent (other parent must sign the appropriate application form). The Act on Amendments to the Croatian Citizenship Act (Official Gazette, No.: 102/19) lays down exceptions when the application may be submitted by only one parent.
Depending on the grounds for acquiring Croatian citizenship, other documents need to be submitted as well.
Those belonging to the Croatian people (Art. 16) must provide documents which prove their previous declaration of nationality in legal transactions – e.g. an original or a certified copy of employment records, military records, certificates, student’s course and grade books, extract from the birth register, extract from the marriage register, and other. Other proof of belonging to the Croatian people includes providing evidence of protecting the rights and promoting the interests of the Croatian people as well as evidence of active participation in Croatian cultural, science and sports organizations abroad. Those whose parents belong to the Croatian people may enclose proof of their parents’ declaration of nationality with the application.
Emigrants (Art. 11) must enclose documents proving their (or their ancestors’) emigration from the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Descendants of emigrants should also prove that they are related to the emigrant.
If the emigrants or their ancestors emigrated from the territory of former countries to which the territory of the present Republic of Croatia belonged at the time of their emigration, they need to prove the time of their emigration and their belonging to the Croatian people.
All documents must be translated into Croatian language. Mrs. Zinka Medak, an appointed court translator for Croatian and English language in South Africa may be contacted for assistance at +27 (0)84 331 8915.
Foreign public documents which are enclosed with the signed application form for acquiring Croatian citizenship (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate, police clearances etc.) must previously be legalized, unless otherwise specified by bilateral and multilateral international agreements. Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents has simplified the legalization procedure among the contracting parties, requiring the public document to be certified only once by a competent authority of the country on whose territory it was issued. If there is no bilateral or multilateral agreement between the Republic of Croatia and another country, which would abolish or facilitate legalization, and the other country is not a signatory to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, public documents that are issued abroad can be used in the Republic of Croatia only if they have been legalized in accordance with the laws of the issuing country and if they have been legalized by apostille at the Croatian diplomatic mission or consular post in that country (accompanied by translation into the Croatian language), or if they have been legalized by apostille at the diplomatic mission of that country in the Republic of Croatia and at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, after being legalized in accordance with the laws of the issuing country. If the Republic of Croatia does not have a diplomatic mission or a consular post in the country that issued the document and that country does not have a diplomatic mission or consular post in the Republic of Croatia, legalization is done in a third country in which both countries have a diplomatic mission or consular post. This is done in the following way: after the document has been certified by the competent authorities of the issuing country, it is legalized by apostille at the country’s diplomatic mission or consular post in a third country, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the third country and finally, the diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Croatia in that third country.
NB: Public documents issued in the Republic of South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana, Burundi, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi and Namibia, which shall be used in Croatia, do not require full legalization, but Apostilles. Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Pretoria does not take part in the legalization of public documents issued in those countries. Please refer to
www.hcch.net to determine the competent authority that issues Apostilles in those countries.
