According to Croatian Law, a person born abroad, if one of his/her parents is a Croatian citizen at the time of his/her birth, acquires Croatian citizenship if he/she is registered as a Croatian citizen by the age of 21 at a diplomatic mission or consular office of the Republic of Croatia abroad or at the Birth Registry office in the Republic of Croatia.
Furthermore, a person over 21 years of age, born abroad, whose one parent is a Croatian citizen at the time of his/her birth, acquires Croatian citizenship if he/she submits an application for registration as a Croatian citizen by 1.1.2022., providing that the Ministry of the Interior Affairs has previously determined that there are no obstacles to acquiring Croatian citizenship.
The first above mentioned case represents so called subsequent entry of the fact of birth occurred abroad in the Birth Registry. The application for a minor child is submitted by a parent who is a Croatian citizen, in person or through an Attorney, at the competent office of Birth Registry.
A person who has reached the age of 18 and is younger than 21, will submit the application in person or represented by an attorney at the competent office of Birth Registry.
To register the above facts, it is necessary to submit birth registry excerpt from the competent authority of the country of birth of the child. After the entry of the child in the Birth Registry, competent authority will make an entry in the Book of the Croatian Citizens and with this registration the child shall acquire Croatian citizenship. A person who has acquired Croatian citizenship in this procedure is considered as the Croatian citizen from the day of birth. Please note that before initiating this procedure, it is necessary to update the data in the various registries for the parents (e.g. to record any change of personal name that occurred abroad, to register a marriage and divorce that occurred abroad before and after the birth of the child).
In the second case, the request for entry in the register of Croatian citizens must be submitted by a person over the age of 21 in a diplomatic mission or consular office of the Republic of Croatia abroad. This request cannot be made at the registry office in the Republic of Croatia and must be submitted exclusively in person. On this basis, the applicant for the acquisition of Croatian citizenship must prove that he respects the legal order of the Republic of Croatia, that he has paid all public dues and that there are no security obstacles to his acquisition of the Croatian citizenship. Before initiating this procedure, it is also necessary to record changes of the personal data of the parents in Croatian registry offices. Please note that requests on this basis can be submitted only until 1.1.2022.