May the 10th, 2022 - Some people have been renouncing their Croatian citizenship, and we've had a far better look into precisely who has done that owing to the census taken back in 2021.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to the latest census which was conducted last year by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the Republic of Croatia has a resident population of 3,888,529 million people. As for those who renounced Croatian citizenship in 2021, 154 people were released from citizenship, and four more people simply renounced their citizenship.

In the first four months of this year, twice as many people renounced their citizenship, according to a report from N1. In the period from January the 1st, 2022 to May the 1st, 2022, 86 people were released from Croatian citizenship, while eight people renounced it, as was confirmed the Ministry of the Interior (MUP). According to the law, adult Croatian citizens who reside abroad and also have foreign citizenship may renounce their citizenship if they so wish, as they won't be made stateless by doing so.

The most common reasons for applying for the renunciation of Croatian citizenship are personal reasons, employment and education, said the Ministry of the Interior.

In order for a Croatian citizen to renounce their citizenship, a statement from the person who will then voluntarily lose (renounce) their Croatian citizenship on the day of giving the statement is sufficient. It is very important to note that in this case, an adult cannot regain Croatian citizenship after renunciation.

The Ministry of the Interior also clarified how much this process costs. If the application for termination of Croatian citizenship is submitted in the Republic of Croatia, an administrative fee is charged according to tariff number 9, paragraph 1 of the Decree on the Tariff of Administrative Fees (Official Gazette 92/21, 93/21 and 95/21) in the amount of from 2,520.00 kuna.

An administrative fee according to tariff number 43 of the Decree on the Tariff of Administrative Fees in the amount of 3,150.00 kuna is charged for an application for termination of Croatian citizenship submitted to a diplomatic or consular mission of the Republic of Croatia abroad. This tax covers all administrative and consular actions in the procedure of termination of Croatian citizenship, as stated by the Ministry of the Interior.

For more, check out our politics section.

January the 3rd, 2022 - Simplified Croatian citizenship acquisition is possible for certain categories of people, and the deadline before which those more simple rules can be exercised has been extended due to the coronavirus pandemic and the difficulties imposed in accessing certain documents and services.

Croatian citizenship can be obtained in numerous different ways. While the country primarily bases its citizenship rules on Jus sanguinis, a principle of nationality law in which a child acquires the citizenship of their parent or parents, Jus soli, birthright citizenship, also applies in some cases. One can also naturalise after a certain amount of time living legally in the country, and one can obtain a passport if they're of special interest to Croatia.

In short, there are many routes to Croatian citizenship, and if you've read any of my earlier (many) articles on residence and citizenship, you'll know that there's really no need for me to go over it all again. Instead, I'll link them. If you want to become a Croatian citizen through marriage to someone who already is one, click here. If you want to naturalise after eight years of lawful uninterrupted residence, click here. If you think the Interior Ministry might think you're of special interest to the country, click here. If your parent or parents are Croatian citizens, or were so at the time of your birth, click here.

Now, to the point - simplified Croatian citizenship acquisition. How does one go about applying in this way? Firstly, you need to have been born after 1991, and one of your parents needs to have been a Croatian citizen at the time of your arrival on planet Earth, also known as your birth. Let's break it down into pieces which are more easy to digest, with thanks to gov.hr.

At its 131st session which was held back 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 the 1st of January, 2020. Just a couple of months before the global pandemic struck, which is why the initial deadline within which citizenship could be applied for in this manner has been extended. Read on.

The most significant changes under the Act are as follows:

The new simplified Croatian citizenship acquisition rules enable the acquisition of Croatian citizenship by persons born abroad (based on ethnicity).

In this case, one of their parents needs to have been registered as 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 register of Croatian citizens if their parents failed to do that for them by the time they had reached the age of 18.

Under the same conditions, it is also now possible to acquire Croatian citizenship by origin for persons over 21 years of age (those born after the entry into force of the currently applicable Croatian Citizenship Act, ie after the 8th of 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.

The liberalisation of the conditions for acquiring Croatian citizenship by naturalisation for emigrants and their descendants. So far, there has been a restriction to the third degree of kinship, which is no longer the case. At the same time, the obligations of possessing knowledge of Croatian language and Latin script, Croatian culture and social arrangements have been totally eliminated.

The simplification of the presentation of evidence for members of the Croatian people who don't have evidence of a personal declaration of their affiliation with the Croatian people, if this fact has been unequivocally established for their parents.

Simplified Croatian citizenship acquisition rules for those applying to naturalise, 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, which is no longer the case).

A person who has acquired Croatian citizenship by naturalisation will now need to take a solemn oath, pledging their allegiance to Croatia, and such persons can also submit their application for Croatian citizenship through a competent diplomatic mission or consular office of the Republic of Croatia in their countries of residence/origin.

For more on Croatian citizenship, check out the links I provided earlier on in this article.

ZAGREB, 8 Dec, 2021 - The Croatian parliament on Wednesday confirmed a year-long extension of the deadline for the submission of applications for Croatian citizenship under the current law since the coronavirus pandemic has made it more difficult for everyone to apply.

Under the current law, the deadline to apply for Croatian citizenship expires on 1 January 2022, but since the pandemic has made it difficult for many to apply, the law has been amended to extend the deadline.

Under the current law, adopted in 2019, the awarding of Croatian citizenship based on nationality can also refer to persons older than 21 born abroad, on the condition that at the time of their birth at least one of their parents was a Croatian national.

The same applies to persons born between 8 January 1977 and 8 October 1991 whose parents had Croatian citizenship at the time of their birth but who have different citizenship entered in their citizenship data.

In 2020 a total of 1,923 applications for Croatian citizenship were submitted, and in the first 11 months of 2021 another 2,980 were submitted, mostly in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The parliament today also adopted, by a majority vote, a law on renewable energy sources and high-efficiency cogeneration to promote the use of renewable energy sources.

Under the law, Croatia will promote the use of renewables in the heating and air conditioning sector by trying to raise the share of renewable energy by 1.1 percentage points as the annual average calculated for the period until 2025.

The law sets a national goal of making renewable energy account for at least 36.6% of energy consumption in 2030.

For more on lifestyle, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

August the 8th, 2019 - I'm back with another article on acquiring Croatian citizenship. So far, we've covered naturalisation as a foreigner who isn't married or in a registered life partnership with a Croatian national, naturalisation for a foreigner who is married or in a registered life partnership with a Croatian national, and Croatian citizenship by descent. We've also covered all the ways a person can obtain legal residence in Croatia. Now, let's delve into a very grey area indeed...

Croatian citizenship through being of ''interest to the Republic of Croatia'' is a way of acquiring citizenship that isn't talked about very often, if at all. In fact, while it has to be made public as a lawful path to citizenship, it's something the Ministry of the Interior like very much to keep to themselves. It's reserved for extremely specific cases, and the outcomes of such requests are decided upon by the minister and the ministry over which they preside.

Usually, this method of acquiring the citizenship of any country is an extremely vague, grey area that nobody knows much about, and there's a very good reason for that - in these cases, the discretion of the authorities is absolutely paramount.

People who go down this route can bypass many of the requirements expected of ''mere mortals'' when acquiring Croatian citizenship, and in many cases this route is reserved for foreign athletes who represent a country in the sporting world, actors who would represent precisely this ''special interest'' to a country if they became a citizen of that country, and so on. You get the picture.

Rest assured, there is so little actually made available by any channel about this method of acquiring Croatian citizenship, that this article is going to be much shorter than those I have written previously. Let's see, however, what we do know about this strange little way of becoming a citizen.

What is made clear is that the process of acquiring Croatian citizenship through being of special interest to the Republic of Croatia is conducted in a very similar manner to the process of naturalisation.

Here are the requirements you need to be able to fulfil in order to acquire Croatian citizenship by naturalisation when not married to a Croatian citizen, and when not acquiring Croatian citizenship through being of special interest to the Republic of Croatia:

1.) A foreigner naturalising without being married to a Croatian citizen must not have had their working capacity taken away from them. What this actually means remains unclear and is likely left up to discretion, like many things.

2.) A foreigner naturalising without being married to a Croatian citizen technically needs to provide release from their other citizenship in order to gain Croatian citizenship. There are catches to this rule which don't always make that the case, which I have explained in more detail, with a copy of that particular piece of law here.

3.) If you're a foreigner naturalising without being married to a Croatian citizen, you must have permanent residence and have lived in Croatia for a lawful, uninterrupted period of eight years at the time of submitting the application for citizenship.

4.) If you're a foreigner naturalising as a Croatian citizen and you're not already married to a Croatian citizen, then you need to prove your knowledge of the Croatian language, the Latin script, culture and the way society is arranged.

The appropriate piece of legislation that deals with this is Article 8, taken from the current Law on Croatian Citizenship, of which the above four bullet points are translations.

I haven't translated the section of the law below the above-listed bullet points which explains how one can avoid needing to provide release from their foreign citizenship (which is explained in detail here), because it doesn't apply to this method of gaining citizenship. You'll also note that persons over the age of 60 are exempt from needing to take a test in language, culture, and societal arrangement.

If you are applying to naturalise and are considered to be of special interest to the Republic of Croatia, which is something decided on by the presiding minister and his ministry before you submit your paperwork, then you do not need to fulfil points 1 - 4 of this law. This means that:

1). You do not need to make sure your working capacity hasn't been taken away from you

2). You do not need to request or provide release from your foreign citizenship

3.) You do not need to hold permanent residence at the time of submitting the application, nor do you need to have held uninterrupted, lawful residence in Croatia for a continuous period of 8 years

4.) You do not need to prove your knowledge of the Croatian language and the Latin script, nor do you need to prove your knowledge of Croatian culture and the way society is arranged

Your partner (if married or in a registered life partnership) can also acquire Croatian citizenship, without having to fulfil points 1 - 4, if you are able to acquire Croatian citizenship in this way. What you still do need to prove is that you respect the legal system and the customs of Croatia, and this will need to be able to be seen from your behaviour.

Below is the translation of the appropriate piece of legislation (Article 12) which attests to the above four bullet points, in italic font:

A foreigner whose admittance into Croatian citizenship would be of interest to the Republic of Croatia can acquire Croatian citizenship by naturalisation even if they do not fulfil the requirements from article 8, paragraph 1, points 1-4 of this law.

The married partner of this person who has acquired Croatian citizenship from paragraph 1 of this article can also acquire Croatian citizenship, even if they do not fulfil the requirements from article 8, paragraph one, points 1-4 of this law.

As stated, being of interest to the Republic of a Croatia is a legal area about which there couldn't be less information. This is because it is judged with such discretion and technically bypasses a lot of legislation put in place for ''normal'' methods of acquiring citizenship, and the common process for regular naturalisation. 

If you're interested in more on Croatian citizenship and legal residency in Croatia, make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page. I will continue to update these articles (which I have provided links to within this article) on residence and citizenship as and when law changes come in, so it might be worth bookmarking them for future reference.

August the 6th, 2019 - I've recently been writing articles on the different methods of acquiring Croatian citizenship. There are numerous ways set out by the Law on Croatian Citizenship. The two we've covered so far are how a foreigner can naturalise as a Croatian citizen without being married to a Croat, and how a foreigner can naturalise as a Croatian citizen when married to a Croat. What about Croatian citizenship by descent?

In addition, I also wrote an extensive article last year on all of the ways a foreigner can obtain legal residence in Croatia, from kratkotrajni boravak (short term stay) to privremeni boravak (temporary residence) all the way to the much desired stalni boravak (permanent residence).

Just to preface this article, which will delve into how one can acquire Croatian citizenship by birth/origin/descent, which is sometimes referred to legally as ''determining Croatian citizenship'', I'd like to state that I will continually update these articles on residence and citizenship as and when new changes to the law come into force, in order to try to keep you as up to date as possible.

When it comes to Croatian citizenship by descent, it's worthwhile knowing that Croatia's citizenship law is based mainly on Jus sanguinis (right of blood). This means that if you have Croatian blood and can prove it, you can technically acquire Croatian citizenship. But hold on, it isn't as simple as it sounds.

Croatia also has rules for Jus soli (birth in Croatia), but they're less straightforward than those of Jus sanguinis are, and I'll explain them in another article. That being said, and going back to my warning of it not being as simple as it sounds, there are countless cases of people who should technically be entitled to Croatian citizenship by descent having to jump through years of hurdles, and never getting anywhere. Some are lucky, some aren't.

As I said in previous articles, everyone's situation can play out differently, if I wrote about each one, my fingers would drop off. I will write what the procedure should be, in line with the current laws. Personal experiences may differ depending on respective situations, as will the documents you may need to provide.

Unlike cases of naturalisation, be it via marriage or not, if you believe you are entitled to Croatian citizenship by birth/origin/descent, you can immediately begin that process as soon as your documents are in order and you don't need to wait for a certain period of time to pass before you can submit an application. I'll explain what these documents should be later.

Determining Croatian citizenship means precisely what it alludes to: that your job is to get approval from the state, who will determine that you have been a Croatian citizen since birth and be admitted into Croatian citizenship legally.

You can acquire Croatian citizenship by descent (Jus sanguinis) under Article 4 of the Law on Croatian Citizenship and can therefore seek determination that you have been a citizen of Croatia since birth if:

1.)  Both of your parents were Croatian citizens at the time of your birth

2.) One of your parents was a Croatian citizen at the time of your birth, and you were born on the territory of the Republic of Croatia

3.) One of your parents was a Croatian citizen at the time of your birth and your other parent was either stateless or their citizenship was not known, and you were born outside of Croatian territory

In addition to the above three points, you can acquire Croatian citizenship by descent if you were born in another country to one parent who held Croatian citizenship at the time of your birth, and you were registered as a Croatian citizen before you reached the age of 18 (legal adulthood), either in Croatia or abroad. This can also apply if you move to Croatia, or if you wouldn't be automatically entitled to the citizenship of any other country otherwise.

If you register after the age of 18 in the above-mentioned circumstance, you will likely have more of a task on your hands, despite the fact that legal moves have been made to attempt to make this easier. Like with many things in Croatia, it looks good on paper, but the reality can be somewhat different.

If you think the above applies to you, then read on to hear what you need to do, and how, according to MVEP which quotes the Law on Croatian Citizenship I linked above. Once again, I'd like to emphasise the fact that the requirements listed below do not necessarily apply to every single case, in fact many are hardly ever asked for anymore. I have stated numerous times throughout these articles that each individual case is often treated differently. Regardless of that, I want to be as clear as possible that you could be asked for any number, or all, of the documents listed below.

If you have had it confirmed that you have indeed been a Croatian citizen since birth, more specifically by origin or birth on the territory of Croatia, you will be entered in the register of births, and therefore admitted into Croatian citizenship. Your application for entry in these official records can be submitted either in person to MUP when in Croatia, or in person through a diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Croatia located abroad.

The determination of Croatian citizenship by descent on this legal basis is performed by competent state administration offices, more specifically the City Office of the City of Zagreb.

Here's what you'll need to provide and do:

Your application for the acquisition of Croatian citizenship by descent should be, as previously stated, submitted in person at an administrative police department or station, unless you have a disability which prevents you from doing so, and if that applies to you then you can submit your application through a legal representative or an authorised representative, but you must make this clear with MUP first.

If you live abroad or have no intention of coming to Croatia to hand in your application for the acquisition of Croatian citizenship by origin, you are free to submit it through a diplomatic mission or consular post of the Republic of Croatia in your country/abroad. Your application will then be dealt with and decided upon/determined by the Croatian Ministry of the Interior.

1.) You must include your CV, and this should include all of your relevant personal information, your qualifications, your employment status, your residence either in Croatia or abroad if you don't live here, your marriage/relationship status, all relevant information about your children should you have any, information about your parents (regardless of whether or not they are alive or have passed away), and information on the closest relatives you have who hold Croatian citizenship.

2.) You will need a certified copy of your birth certificate

3.) A valid official (government issued) identity document containing a clear photo of you

4.) Proof that you have not been entered into the Croatian birth register which you should have been entered into at the time of your birth, in line with the laws which were then in force

5.) Proof or the domovnica of one or both of your parents that they have been entered into the birth register of Croatian citizens

6.) You might be asked to clearly state your own reasons for wanting Croatian citizenship by descent, and depending on the legal basis of your application, your attitude to the legal order, customs and your acceptance of the Croatian culture, however, this may not be asked of you.

7.) You might be asked to provide information on where your Croatian ancestors resided before moving away, when they did so, and for what reasons they moved, as well as the time they left Croatia. You might also be asked to state what documents they used when they immigrated abroad, and what their way of expressing their allegiance/belonging to the Croatian people throughout their lives were. This can include participation in sport, cultural and other Croatian societies abroad which promoted the interests of the Republic of Croatia abroad (this is according to Article 11 and Article 16 of the appropriate law, but as stated, this isn't necessarily asked for).

If you are admitted into Croatian citizenship by descent, you do not need to provide release from any other foreign citizenship.

Many people who have undergone this process have claimed that doing so here in Croatia was quicker for them than doing it abroad, as many have made numerous attempts abroad or in their own countries and have stated how slow the procedure was, leading many to simply give up on it after being sent on a wild goose chase.

Some have had a lot of luck and managed to claim their Croatian citizenship with minimal effort and next to no issues either here in Croatia or abroad, others have been plagued by problems and have waited for years for any sort of response. Some who are perfectly entitled to citizenship by birth/origin/descent are still waiting. 

The Central State Office for Croats Abroad have pushed for amendments to the Law on Croatian Citizenship to make things easier for the descendents of Croats (diaspora) who moved abroad. As/when/if these proposed amendments come into force, we'll be sure to update this article.

As with everything official in Croatia, particularly when dealing with residence and citizenship, it can unfortunately depend on who is dealing with your case. There are sadly people working in state administration who simply like to make things more difficult for you than they should be, and although that is a difficult fact to confront and one that might shock those unfamiliar with how things sometimes work in Croatia, it's an unfortunate reality in certain situations.

It is all to easy to say ''it shouldn't be that way'', but the fact of the matter is that it sometimes is, and it's better to be prepared for that possibility than not to be when dealing with matters such as these.

Amendments to the Croatian Citizenship Act coming in 2020:

The Croatian Parliament has amended the Croatian Citizenship Act, and these alterations will come into force on January the 1st, 2020. 

The amendment states that the right to Croatian citizenship by a parent has been extended past the age of 21, which has been and will continue to be the age limit until the beginning of 2020. 

Citizenship by descent (origin) will now be made available to individuals born outside of the Republic of Croatia who are over the age of 21. The individual in question must have one parent who was a Croatian citizen at the time of their birth if they submit an application for entry into the register (of births) of Croatian citizens within the following two years.

The Ministry of the Interior (MUP) would have to determine there being no legal obstacles standing in the way of the process for acquisition in this case.

THE AFOREMENTIONED LAW IS NOW IN FORCE. Please click HERE for more details.

If you'd like to learn more about obtaining Croatian citizenship or legal residence, make sure to give our dedicated lifestyle page a follow. As I have stated in previous articles on citizenship and residence, I intend to update them as and when law changes come into effect, so it might be worth bookmarking them for future reference.

August the 5th, 2019 - Last year, I wrote about all the ways one can gain legal Croatian residence. From short term residence (kratkotrajni boravak) to temporary residence (privremeni boravak), all the way to the deeply desired golden egg known as permanent residence (stalni boravak). The paths to citizenship vary, so how does one obtain Croatian citizenship via marriage?

There are many methods, and if you're from a European Union country, getting from point A to point B and C is usually fairly simple. If you're not from the European Economic Area, your path to securing residence following your 90 days of free stay in Croatia can depend on many factors and usually aren't as straightforward as they are for EEA citizens. Click here if you'd like to delve into that quagmire which I continually update as law changes come into effect. Oh, and pour yourself a large drink.

Recently, I wrote a guide on how you go from temporary resident to becoming a Croatian citizen as an unmarried foreigner through a process known as naturalisation. Click here to read that, and get another drink in order.

On that same citizenship note, I thought I'd continue through the paths that can lead a foreigner to Croatian citizenship, all of which are laid down by the Law on Croatian Citizenship. Let's tackle another method of getting your hands on that little blue passport - through marriage to a Croatian citizen.

If you're a foreign national and you're married to a Croatian citizen, you're entitled to residence in Croatia, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn't automatically give you the right to become a citizen of this country. It's amazing how many people still believe this to be true. Maybe it comes from the old ''you're only doing it for the Green Card'' chestnut from across the Atlantic in the USA, but no, an immediate right to a passport is not something that exists. Not in America, and certainly not here.

So, how do you obtain Croatian citizenship? Read on.

If you're married to a Croatian citizen, and if you're a permanent resident of Croatia yourself, then you can apply for naturalisation without having to meet several of the requirements asked of unmarried naturalisation applicants. Still, it must be able to be seen from your behaviour that you respect the law, culture, and the way Croatian society is arranged. You must be of no threat to public order or national security. And yes, you will likely be asked for a multitude of documents depending on your situation.

Here are the requirements for naturalisation for a foreign national not married or in a registered life partnership with a Croatian citizen that you, as a foreigner who is married or in a registered life partnership do not have to fulfil:

1.) A foreigner naturalising without being married to a Croatian citizen must not have had their working capacity taken away from them. What this actually means remains unclear and is likely left up to discretion, like many things. If you're naturalising as a foreigner married to a Croatian citizen, you do not need to fulfil this requirement.

2.) A foreigner naturalising without being married to a Croatian citizen technically needs to provide release from their other citizenship in order to gain Croatian citizenship. There are catches to this rule which don't always make that the case, which I have explained in more detail, with a copy of that particular piece of law here. If you're a foreigner naturalising and you're married to a Croatian citizen, you do not have to provide proof of release from your other citizenship in any case.

3.) If you're a foreigner naturalising without being married to a Croatian citizen, you must have permanent residence and have lived in Croatia for a lawful, uninterrupted period of eight years at the time of submitting the application for citizenship. If you're a foreigner married to a Croatian citizen, you still must have approved permanent residence (acquired after five years of lawful, uninterrupted residence in Croatia, although there are exceptions to that rule which I have listed here), but your period of time living in Croatia does not need to amount to eight years.

4.) If you're a foreigner naturalising as a Croatian citizen and you're not already married to a Croatian citizen, then you need to prove your knowledge of the Croatian language, the Latin script, culture and the way society is arranged. The details of that are explained here. If you're a foreigner naturalising and you are married to a Croatian citizen, you technically don't have to prove this. 

However, there are still multiple cases of foreigners seeking citizenship who are married to Croatian citizens being asked to prove this. As with many other things with Croatian law, it can often be how an official or an administrative clerk decides to interpret things. You could ask at one MUP building and be told yes, and then ask at another the same day and be told no.

As stated, this is the appropriate part of the Law on Croatian Citizenship for unmarried foreigners following the naturalisation process. I have chosen to translate only the requirements and not the exceptions to some of these rules (you can read about those exceptions here), as this is merely to explain the requirements you do not have to fulfil as a person who is married to a Croatian citizen.

A foreigner who has submitted an application for Croatian citizenship can acquire Croatian citizenship by naturalisation if they meet the following requirements: 

1.) That they are over the age of 18 and have not had their ability to work (working capacity) taken from them

2.) That they have proof of release from their foreign citizenship or if they provide proof that they will be released from their foreign citizenship if they are allowed to acquire Croatian citizenship

3.) That they have lived in the Republic of Croatia with a registered residence for 8 uninterrupted years up until the point of submitting the application, and that they have the status of permanent residence as a foreigner

4.) That they know the Croatian language and the Latin script, the Croatian culture and the way society is arranged

5.) That it can be concluded from their behaviour that they respect the legal system and the customs of the Republic of Croatia

Okay, got that? Good. Now let's look at the piece of legislation for those of you who are applying for naturalisation but are married or in a registered life partnership with a Croatian citizen. As I did above, I'll provide the English translation in italic font.

A foreigner who is married to a Croatian citizen and who has approved permanent residence and lives on the territory of the Republic of Croatia can acquire Croatian citizenship by naturalisation even if they do not fulfil the requirements from article 8, paragraph 1, the points from 1-4 of this law.

Points 1-4 of the Law on Croatian citizenship which you do not have to fulfil if you're married to a Croatian citizen are listed above. As you can see, proving your knowledge of the Croatian language, Latin script and the Croatian culture and the way society is arranged is not obligatory, despite the fact that some spouses of Croatian citizens claim to have been asked to prove it by MUP.

As with everything official in this country, you must submit your application in person to MUP (an administrative police station), and the documents you must provide along with your application to naturalise when married to a Croatian citizen are as follows:

Your curriculum vitae (CV)

An extract from the birth register and an extract from the marriage register issued within the last 6 months (the said documents need not be submitted if your birth and marriage have been entered in the national registers of the Republic of Croatia)

A certificate proving your citizenship status

A police clearance certificate issued by a competent foreign authority of your country of citizenship and the country of your permanent residence (which at this point would be Croatia), issued within the last 6 months

A certified copy of a valid (government issued) identity document (such as a passport) containing a visible photo of you

As I explained in my previous article about naturalisation as an unmarried foreigner, other documents may be required of you depending on your personal circumstances as many cases regarding residence and citizenship in Croatia are conducted on a highly individual basis. This is something that has both good and bad sides to it. If you can use it to your advantage, do so.

You will be informed of the outcome of your request in due time, in official written form. If your application is accepted, you'll be asked to come and pay the necessary fees when collecting MUP's decision and informed of what to do next. You'll also be invited to come and pay the necessary fees when coming to collect a rejection from MUP. In both cases, you need to go to MUP in person.

If you'd like to know more about residence and citizenship in Croatia, make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page. Our articles on residence and citizenship will be updated as and when laws change, so it might be worth bookmarking the links I have provided within this article for future use.

August the 4th, 2019 - Before I begin - I can already hear the confused questions of Croats asking why anyone would want to naturalise as a citizen of Croatia. Well, it might shock you to hear that many people do seek a Croatian passport for various reasons, and no, it isn't just to be able to fly to Ireland with.

Many foreigners are rocking up on these rugged shores and their numbers have increased ever since Croatia joined the European Union back in July 2013. In those few years of freedom of movement having been adopted by Croatia in order to obtain full EU membership, foreigners from across the rest of Europe, from the UK to Greece, have come to try their luck in this little country. Not to leave out non-Europeans of course, as many people from outside of our continent have also made the move, some of them coming from distant lands like New Zealand and Australia.

I once wrote a long (very long, sorry) article on how one goes about obtaining residence in Croatia. There are many ways, the laws change more quickly than even those trying to enforce them can keep up with, and there are many administrative clerks at MUP who have all the warmth of an arctic breeze trying to ''help'' you along the way. Sounds fun, doesn't it? You bet.

I'd like to preface the rest of this article by stating that I am very aware that many foreigners (particularly non EEA citizens) who have gone through, or are currently going through the residency process have had varying experiences. Some of them, for whatever reason, have been drastically different. If I spent all of my time writing about individual experiences with this, I'd get nowhere fast. Therefore I'm going to be as brief as I can when listing the general provisions which should get you residency, all of which of course have exceptions, as this is primarily about naturalisation. Let's continue.

TEMPORARY RESIDENCE (PRIVREMENI BORAVAK)

Let's say you've successfully completed the first hurdle and you're officially a temporary resident, you've got your OIB, you've got your ID and you've still got a smile on your face.

If you're from the EEA, you've now likely got five years of freedom from having to face the living dead at MUP printed on a card, and if you're not from the EEA, you've got another year before you need to re-enter the twilight zone and try your luck at approval for another year.

Excellent - Level 1 complete!

PERMANENT RESIDENCE (STALNI BORAVAK)

You're from the EEA, you've racked up your continuous five years of residence on Croatian territory, and now you're automatically a permanent resident of Croatia under European Union law. You've gone to MUP following the expiration of your temporary residence, and you've registered your permanent residence. The powers that be have deemed that you have indeed been there for five years (absences of six months per year don't matter if you're from the EU), you're not a criminal, and your permanent residence in Croatia has been confirmed. Time for a large rakija.

You're a third country national, you have dodged the endless reams of red tape and managed to bag five continuous years of residency in Croatia and you've applied for permanent residence. You waited for a much longer time than an EEA citizen with gritted teeth, but the news finally came that the overlords at MUP have granted your request and the sigh of relief which escapes your lips is enough to cause propuh. Hats off to you, you're not from the EU and therefore you've likely not had it very easy. Time for an even larger rakija. Or two. 

Cheers to you as that's Level 2 complete!

CROATIAN CITIZENSHIP (HRVATSKO DRŽAVLJANSTVO):

Now, some would have you believe that this is the golden egg that nobody can get to unless they have a Croatian parent or are married to a Croat. While it's true that you'll likely (not always) need to jump through many a hoop in order to get your hands on that little blue passport, it isn't mission impossible. 

Once you have approved permanent residence, you have almost all the rights of a Croatian citizen anyway. You're an equal to a Croatian citizen in every sense (or should be), you just can't vote. Certain crimes may see your residence revoked, but assuming you're not a criminal, the only way your permanent residence can be revoked is if you have been outside of Croatia for a continuous period of two years, or if you've suddenly decided to take up terrorism or something of that nature.

Once you have that little card that says you're a permanent resident, you can choose to stop there and avoid the potential issues that come with naturalising as a Croatian citizen and going the full nine yards, as they say. But, if you want to have absolutely no worries about your rights ever again and be able to vote, you'll need to naturalise. 

Croatian citizenship can be obtained on various different legal grounds, from marriage to the very grey area of being ''of special interest'' to the Republic of Croatia. In this article, I'm going to be focusing solely on naturalisation as a foreigner, without marriage to a Croat. Let's look at that in more detail.

Naturalising as a Croatian citizen after having lived in Croatia for a continuous, lawful period of no less than eight years, and holding valid permanent residence at the time of application:

If you're a foreign national and you've been living in Croatia lawfully and continuously for eight years, and you're not married to a Croatian citizen, then this one applies to you.

Permanent residency is the key here. You need to have it in order to apply. You cannot have been here on and off for eight years being in ''residence limbo'', you can't have been out of legal status at any point during that time, and your residence in Croatia has to be deemed by the authorities to amount to eight years. 

You need to be 18 or over and be able to work, you need to have the above-mentioned registered eight years of lawful, continuous residence in Croatia, you need to show proof of your knowledge of the Croatian language and the Latin script, Croatian culture, and the way Croatian society is arranged, and it must be able to be seen from your behaviour that you respect the law and customs of Croatia and aren't a threat to national security or public order.

If you're over 60 years of age, then you don't need to prove your knowledge of the Croatian language, the Latin script, or the culture and society.

If you tick all of those boxes, then you can apply. As with everything else official in Croatia, you'll need to submit your application in person with the police or at a diplomatic mission of the Republic of Croatia. The application form can be downloaded here.

The following documents should be enclosed with the application:

Your curriculum vitae (CV)

An extract from the birth register (and an extract from the marriage register if you're legally married), issued within the last six months (the said documents need not be submitted if your birth and marriage have been entered in the national registers of Croatia)

Proof of your current citizenship

A police clearance certificate issued by the competent foreign authority of your country of citizenship and the country of your permanent residence (which by this point would be Croatia), issued within the last six months

A certified copy of an official (government issued) valid identity document (such as a passport) containing a visible photo of you

Proof of knowledge of the Croatian language and the Latin script, as well as proof of knowledge of Croatian culture and society (this is done by filling out a questionnaire on the culture and societal structure of Croatia, independently and without consultation in front of the official you're submitting the application to, and knowledge of Croatian and the Latin script is proven by providing appropriate evidence, such as the filling out of the application form in Croatian)

Proof of release from foreign citizenship

Cases are often dealt with on a very individual basis when it comes to MUP. This has both good sides and bad sides to it, so it depends entirely on your situation if other documents are needed from you during the process.

If you're also submitting these documents for your children (if they're under the age of 18), you'll need an extract from the birth register and proof of your child's citizenship, too.

While some people get lucky with timing, typically this process drags on and on, and then on a bit more. Don't let the process get you down. You'll be informed of the outcome of your request in official, written form eventually.

There's one rather disappointing catch here that you'll have noticed at the end of the list of requirements. If you're applying for naturalisation and you're not married or in a registered life partnership with a Croatian citizen, and you cannot gain Croatian citizenship by descent/ethnicity, then you technically need to provide release from your current citizenship. If you're asked to do this, you can be given what's known as a ''guarantee'' of Croatian citizenship as soon as release is given, valid for two years. However, there's another catch there, too. 

Here's the first catch: If you're stateless, or you will automatically lose your citizenship upon being admitted to Croatian citizenship, for example, if your country of citizenship doesn't allow dual citizenship, then you don't need to provide proof of release, or proof of having requested release.

Here's the second, little known, but much more interesting catch: Croatian law is full of grey areas and this is the perfect example of not all being as it seems. While you do technically need to provide release from your current citizenship in order to be admitted to Croatian citizenship when applying to naturalise, a little known loophole is that if your country of origin doesn't allow you to do that, or makes it unreasonably difficult by demanding things you cannot fulfil, then a statement from you that you will renounce that citizenship upon being granted Croatian citizenship is enough.

Need proof of that? Here is the updated Law on Croatian Citizenship for those of you who can read Croatian. Have a quick scroll down to Article 8. Here is the English translation:

‘’The requirements from point 2, paragraph 1 of this article will be deemed fulfilled if the request [for citizenship] is submitted by a person who is stateless or who will lose the citizenship of the country of which they are a citizen according to the laws of that country, by obtaining Croatian citizenship.

If the foreign country doesn’t allow release [from foreign citizenship] or puts up requirements that cannot be met, a statement from the person who has submitted the request that they will renounce their foreign citizenship upon acquiring Croatian citizenship is enough.’’

What is considered to be an unreasonable demand that you can't fulfil is a bit of a grey area and I wouldn't like to profess to know what that means in detail. But, the proof is in the pudding, as they say in the UK. Release from your other citizenship isn't actually always necessary, these cases are usually treated in a highly individual manner, and there is a way around everything, even in the Cursed Land of Bureaucracy.

While I am perfectly aware (painfully is perhaps a better word) that many will have tried and likely failed at this process and that for residency, the situation can be very different from one person to the next, I can't write about every single instance and bump in the road without this turning into a personalised novel.

As with almost everything with MUP, everything can depend on who you deal with and what side of the bed they got out of that morning. Still, the above are the general provisions, written with the most leeway as I can think of. If you want to try your hand at naturalisation after eight years, let us know how it goes! I will continue to update this article as and when law changes come into effect.

If you'd like to know more about acquiring Croatian citizenship, gaining legal residence and living in Croatia, give our dedicated lifestyle page a follow.