You can apply for the Croatian citizenship by descent if at least one of your ancestors was born in the territory that is now the Republic of Croatia. Your ancestor must have emigrated from Croatia before 8 October 1991, with the intent of permanently living abroad.

There is no generational limit for claiming the Croatian citizenship - children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and so forth, of people born in Croatia can apply for the Croatian citizenship by descent.

You can acquire the Croatian citizenship via your maternal and/or paternal lineage, and you don't need to have the surname of your Croatian ancestor in order to apply for the citizenship.

The Croatia Citizenship Act allows the Croatian citizens to hold the citizenship of another country, so you can request the Croatian citizenship without the need of renouncing your previous citizenship.

Each country has its own citizenship laws based on its own policy, so it’s necessary to confirm if your country allows you to hold dual citizenship of Croatia.

Independently of the other citizenships you have, if you're a Croatian citizen, you must use your Croatian passport to enter and leave Croatia.

The time required to arrange and finalize the documentation for your Croatian citizenship application can vary from one month to one year, depending on how much information you already have about your Croatian ancestor. It also depends on how much time it takes to prepare all the other required documents, among other factors.

After applying, the official processing time given by the Ministry of the Interior in Croatia to provide a decision on a Croatian citizenship application by descent is between 3 to 5 years.

However, our clients usually receive their Croatian citizenship between 3 to 18 months after applying, due to the fact that we ensure our clients have a complete, correct and compelling citizenship application, which will be evaluated by the Ministry.

Your spouse can also become a Croatian citizen through marriage, but only after you receive the Croatian citizenship yourself. There is no minimum marriage duration required, and your spouse can apply even if he or she doesn’t have any Croatian ancestors.

If your children are under 18 years-old, they will be included in your Croatian citizenship application and will receive the citizenship automatically once you become a Croatian national by descent.

If your children are 18 years-old or above, they will need to submit their own Croatian citizenship application. We always recommend that members of the same family apply together for the Croatian citizenship whenever possible.

During the 20th century, Croatia was part of five States: the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 – 1918), the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918 – 1941), the Independent State of Croatia (1941 – 1945), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945 – 1991), and the Republic of Croatia (1991 – present).

In order for you to claim the Croatian citizenship by descent, your ancestor must have been born in the territory that today belongs to the Republic of Croatia, independently of which State Croatia was part of when your ancestor was born. Besides that, your ancestor must have emigrated from Croatia before 8 October 1991 with intention of living abroad permanently.

Due to the intricate story of Croatia during the last century, many of the Croatian immigrants were registered as Austrians, Hungarians, Yugoslavs, or even Italians in their new country. However, the citizenship that your ancestor held when he emigrated to the new country is not relevant to your Croatian citizenship application - the basic requirement is that your ancestor was born in the territory that is now Croatia.

Especially before the II World War, there were several ethnic minorities groups in Croatia. Some of these groups include:

Czechs – in the Bilogora region

Germans (Danube Swabians) – in the Slavonia region

Hungarians – in the Slavonia region

Italians – in the Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia regions

Jews – in Zagreb, Osijek and Varaždin

The Croatian Citizenship Act states that descendants of people born in the territory that is today the Republic of Croatia can claim the Croatian citizenship by descent. This means that the nationality of your ancestor is not pertinent for your Croatian citizenship application.

If your ancestor was born in Croatia, you’re eligible to the Croatian citizenship by descent.

If your ancestor was born outside the territory that today belongs to the Republic of Croatia and your ancestor has Croatian nationality, you may claim the Croatian citizenship based on the Article 16 of the Croatian Citizenship Act.

The Article 16 states that descendants of people who are Croatians by nationality can claim the Croatian citizenship by descent. This Article mainly refers to the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but may apply to any person born outside Croatia who is a Croat by nationality.

You must apply for the Croatian citizenship at the Embassy or Consulate of Croatia in the country where you currently live. You can apply for the citizenship directly in Croatia only if you live in the country. Unfortunately, it’s not allowed to request the Croatian citizenship if you’re visiting Croatia as a tourist.

The processing time to become a Croatian citizen by descent is basically the same if you apply directly in Croatia or through the Embassy of Croatia in any other country, since all citizenship requests are sent for evaluation to the Ministry of the Interior in Zagreb.

The main advantages of being a Croatian citizen are:

- Live and work legally in Croatia and in the European Union

- Visit the European Union, Australia, Japan and Canada without a visa

- Benefit from free healthcare in Croatia and in the European Union

- Benefit from free education in Croatia and in the European Union

You will be able to enjoy business opportunities in Croatia and throughout the entire European Union, and this will allow you and your family to enjoy the high European social and economic standards.

Moreover, you will be guaranteeing you and your family the birth right to the Croatian citizenship. The Croatian citizenship will be passed on to the future generations, preserving the Croatian heritage in your family.

You don’t need to know the Croatian language in order to apply for the Croatian citizenship by descent. The language and culture test is no longer required since 1 January 2020.

Our team will deal with all aspects of your Croatian citizenship application in which it’s necessary to know the Croatian language.

You will only pay taxes in Croatia if you live in Croatia and/or have income originating from Croatia. If you're a Croatian citizen living abroad, you will not be required to pay taxes in Croatia.

The military service is not mandatory in Croatia for both women and men. However, a Croatian citizen can choose to serve the Croatian Army even if she or he lives abroad. In this case, the person will have to move to Croatia in order to serve the Army.

Once you become a Croatian citizen, you will also be a citizen of the European Union. You will be legally entitled to undertake full-time work in Croatia and in any other European Union country. You won’t need to obtain any type of business or work-related visa to do this and can remain in the country with no restriction.

The United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union since January 2020; however, it will not require a work visa for Croatian citizens.

Switzerland is not part of the European Union and in 2017 it introduced a quota for Croatian citizens to live and work in Switzerland. This quota will be in place until at least 2023.