Acquiring Croatian citizenship
The Croatian Citizenship Act (Official Gazette no. 53/91, 70/91, 28/92, 113/93-Constitutional Court decision, 4/94 and 130/11) regulates Croatian citizenship, the prerequisites for its acquisition and its termination.
The Croatian citizenship is acquired on the grounds of:
- origin
- being born in the Republic of Croatia
- naturalization
- international treaties
Persons who have acquired Croatian citizenship on grounds of origin or being born in the Republic of Croatia are registered into the Register of citizens when they are registered into the Birth register. Request for registering in the Register of citizens can also be submitted at a diplomatic mission or consular office of the Republic of Croatia abroad.
The procedure of acquiring Croatian citizenship on grounds of origin or being born in the Republic of Croatia is handled by the competent state administration offices i.e. city office of the City of Zagreb.
Request for acquiring Croatian citizenship on grounds of naturalization should be submitted at the competent police authority i.e. police station. Physically challenged persons can submit the request via their legal representative or attorney.
Request for acquiring Croatian citizenship on grounds of naturalization can also be submitted at diplomatic missions or consular offices of the Republic of Croatia abroad.
The procedure of acquiring Croatian citizenship on grounds of naturalization or international treaties is handled by the Ministry of Interior.
You can find instructions and application forms for acquiring Croatian citizenship on this website and/or on the website of the Ministry of Interior (www.mup.hr)
Acquiring Croatian citizenship (curriculum vitae)
The curriculum vitae submitted along with the application should contain:
- personal data
- education
- employment
- residence or address abroad
- marital status
- information about children
- information about parents
- information about next of kin who have acquired Croatian citizenship
The applicant should state the reasons for applying for citizenship, their relation towards the legal order, customs and acceptance of Croatian culture; depending on the legal basis for submitting the application, where his ancestors were domiciled before leaving, when and why they left the Republic of Croatia, when and with what documents they settled abroad, the ways in which they showed they belonged to the Croatian people; participation in sports, cultural and other societies promoting Croatia’s interests abroad (Article 11 and 16).
When submitting the request, the applicant must give a statement for the record on the legal basis for applying for citizenship as well as all the circumstances relevant for issuing a decision on grating the citizenship not stated in the curriculum vitae.