Simplified Acquisition of Croatian citizenship

The list below provides the most significant changes made under the Act on the Amendments to the Croatian Citizenship Act in order to simplify the acquisition of Croatian citizenship

At its 131st session held in December 2018, the Croatian Government adopted the Bill on Amendments to the Croatian Citizenship Act and referred it to the Croatian Parliament for adoption.
The initiated amendments to the Croatian Citizenship Act have been in force since 1 January 2020.
 
The most significant changes under the Act are:
 
 1. Enabling the acquisition of Croatian citizenship by origin of persons born abroad, one of whose parents is a Croatian citizen at the time of their birth because the age limit for entry into the Croatian citizen register has been increased to include persons of up to 21 years of age, which gives them an opportunity to apply on their own for entry into the Croatian citizen register if their parents failed to do so by the time they had reached the age of majority. Under the same conditions, it is also possible to acquire Croatian citizenship by origin for persons over 21 years of age (born after the entry into force of the currently applicable Croatian Citizenship Act, i.e. after 8 October 1991) if within two years from the entry into force of this Act, they submit a request for entry into the Croatian citizen register;

2. Liberalization of conditions for acquiring Croatian citizenship by naturalization for emigrants and their descendants because the generational restriction in a straight line is omitted (so far there has been a restriction to the 3rd degree of kinship), and at the same time the obligations of possessing knowledge of Croatian language and Latin script, Croatian culture and social arrangements are eliminated;

3. Simplification of the presentation of evidence for members of the Croatian people who do not have evidence of personal declaration of affiliation with the Croatian people, if this fact has been unequivocally established for their parents;

4. Simplifying the acquisition of Croatian citizenship by naturalization for minor children whose parents acquired Croatian citizenship on the basis of emigration from the Republic of Croatia or on the basis of affiliation with the Croatian people (until now, such a child had to live in the Republic of Croatia to acquire Croatian citizenship by naturalization);

5. The person who has acquired Croatian citizenship by naturalization shall take the solemn oath.

You can also submit your application for Croatian citizenship through the competent diplomatic mission or consular office of the Republic of Croatia.