Documents and evidence · The complete list

Documents required for
Croatian citizenship by descent

Every descent file contains the same core: your own personal documents, a birth certificate for every generation between you and your Croatian ancestor, proof that the ancestor emigrated, and a criminal record certificate. Foreign public documents need an apostille and a certified Croatian translation, including a translation of the apostille itself. Croatian-issued documents need neither.

Legal basisZakon o hrvatskom državljanstvu, consolidated text NN 138/21; forms per the Pravilnik published as NN 134/2020. The law and the Ministry’s core requirements are uniform worldwide. Formatting rules, recency windows, fees and accepted translators are set by your consulate and vary. Consulate-specific details below are stated as at the Los Angeles list of 20 June 2025 and MVEP guidance of January 2025. Reviewed 20 September 2026.

01 / The universal core

Your own documents. Every adult applicant brings these.

Confirm the final list with the Croatian embassy or consulate that has jurisdiction over where you live. Los Angeles puts it bluntly on its own list: use our list, not a list provided by anyone else.

Table: the nine documents every adult applicant submits, whether each needs an apostille and a Croatian translation, and how fresh it has to be.
#	Document	Apostille	Translation	How fresh
1	Obrazac 1, 2 or 3: the application form, in Croatian	No	n/a	—
2	Valid passport, plus clear photocopies of the photo page	No	No	Must be valid
3	Your birth certificate, long form	Yes	Yes	Varies by post
4	Marriage certificate, long form, if married	Yes	Yes	Varies by post
5	Divorce decree plus both marriage certificates, if previously married	Yes	Yes	—
6	Criminal record certificate from your country of citizenship and your country of residence	Yes	Yes	Under 6 months, everywhere
7	CV (životopis) in Croatian	No	—	—
8	Motivational letter (motivacijsko pismo) in Croatian	No	—	—
9	Proof of address: driving licence, utility bill or bank statement	No	No	Current

The criminal record certificate is the one genuinely uniform deadline

Under six months, at every post, measured to the date of submission rather than the date you booked the appointment. That distinction matters when appointments are booked a year out. Los Angeles goes further and advises aiming for five months, because the Ministry may come back and request a fresh one. Treat four to five months as the target.

Dual and multiple nationals need more than one

The requirement is a certificate from the country of citizenship and the country of residence. Someone holding three passports and living in a fourth country may need several, and the acceptable format for each has to be checked with the Croatian post covering that country.

Table: the correct name of the police certificate in the main diaspora countries. Ordering the wrong one is a common and expensive mistake.
Country	The right document	Watch out for
United States	FBI Identity History Summary	Not a California DOJ or livescan check; Los Angeles does not accept those in its place
Australia	National Police Certificate from the AFP	—
United Kingdom	Police Certificate from ACRO	Paper apostille only, around 25 working days
Canada	Canadian criminal record check	In practice the RCMP certified fingerprint check
Argentina	Certificado de Antecedentes Penales	From the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia, not a provincial police certificate
South Africa	Police Clearance Certificate, form SAPS 91(a)	—
New Zealand	Ministry of Justice criminal record check	NZ Police vetting is a different service and is not the right document

Every country’s police check, apostille authority and long-form record, with its source and date, is on the applying-from guides.

02 / The ancestry chain

The part that decides whether a file can be built at all.

You need an unbroken documented chain from yourself back to the Croatian-born ancestor. One missing generation stops the file. That is what limits claims, not how far back the ancestor is.

A birth certificate for every generation
Apostilled and translated if issued outside Croatia; the original Croatian extract if issued in Croatia. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs states it directly: where the applicant is a grandchild or more removed, continuity must be proven by the birth certificates of all intermediary relatives.
A marriage certificate wherever a woman changed her surname
Without it the surname trail breaks and the chain cannot be read. Your parents’ marriage certificate is required in all cases at the Consulate General in Los Angeles, regardless of surname.
The death certificate of the emigrating ancestor
Mandatory at Los Angeles, with apostille and translation, and the date of issuance does not matter there. Other posts vary. Check yours.

There is no generation limit. The three-degree cap was removed with effect from 1 January 2020. What changed, and what limits a claim instead. Where a woman in the chain changed her surname, or an ancestor appears under three spellings, the file has to explain it: how each kind of name mismatch is fixed.

Long form, not short form. Los Angeles states it plainly: if you have a choice between a short form and a long form, order the long form. The short form frequently omits exactly the fields Croatia needs, including the parents’ names and a specific city of birth. The name differs by country.

Table: what the long-form birth certificate is called in each country.
Country	What the long form is called
USA	“Long form” or a certified copy showing the parents’ names; the name varies by state
Canada	Certified Copy of the Birth Registration, or Statement of Live Birth
UK	Full certificate from the GRO, not the short certificate
South Africa	Unabridged certificate, not the abridged
Brazil	Certidão de inteiro teor, rather than certidão em breve relato
Germany	Geburtsurkunde or beglaubigter Registerausdruck; a multilingual extract is available
Australia / NZ	Standard state, territory or DIA certificate showing the parents’ details

03 / Proof of emigration

The document on the basis of which the ancestor left.

For an Article 11 file. The rule is not that Ancestry is banned. It is that the copy must come certified from the archive that holds the record.

Article 11: the arrival record

In the United States that is usually the ship manifest or passenger arrival record, certified by the National Archives and Records Administration. In Canada, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs asks specifically for the Canadian Landing immigrant document (IMM 1000), not an archival manifest. Ancestry, FamilySearch and MyHeritage remain the right tools for finding which record to order.

Where to order it, country by country, and what to do when no record survives

Article 16: evidence of a different kind

Documents in which an ancestor declared Croatian nationality, certificates from Croatian associations, folklore groups, sports clubs or churches abroad, and evidence of promoting Croatian interests. The embassy in London additionally requires a written recommendation in Croatian from a Croatian organisation for Article 16 applications.

The Article 16 guide

04 / Check this before ordering anything

The shortcut: when a parent already holds citizenship.

The entire ancestry chain collapses to one generation. It saves thousands of euros in vital records, apostilles and translations.

What Los Angeles says

Where one of your parents holds Croatian citizenship, you need a photocopy of their passport and domovnica, plus that parent’s Croatian birth certificate, and you “would not need anything from other ancestors.” If the parent was born outside present-day Croatia, you need a certified copy of their birth certificate with apostille and Croatian translation instead.

If that parent was already a citizen when you were born, you may not need a naturalisation at all: the Article 5 registration route and its age-21 deadline.

One caveat specific to Los Angeles.

The same list also says that “no matter what” the parents’ marriage certificate with apostille is required. The consulate has not reconciled those two statements. Ask them directly and bring it if in any doubt. It is one certificate, and arriving without it can cost you the appointment.

05 / The forms

Obrazac 1, 2 or 3. Set by the Pravilnik published as NN 134/2020.

A common error worth correcting: Obrazac 2 is not “the form for minors”. It is the adult-with-children form. The children-only form is Obrazac 3.

Table: the three application forms and who uses each.
Form	Purpose
Obrazac 1	An adult applying alone
Obrazac 2	An adult applying together with a child or children
Obrazac 3	A child or children only

Obrazac 1 asks you to circle one of seven legal bases, then works through roughly 34 personal and family questions, then questions 35 to 41: a settlement-intention questionnaire for applicants on the emigrant basis, asking about plans to relocate, timing, motivation, sector and language ability. The form itself states that these answers will not influence approval or the speed of the procedure. Answer honestly. Saying you do not plan to move to Croatia does not hurt you.

Do not sign the form in advance. You sign it in front of consular staff at the appointment. Leave anything you cannot answer blank and ask on the day.
Do not staple the application form.
The forms exist in Croatian only. There is no official English version, and Los Angeles states that it does not help with translation.
Download from the Ministry of Internal Affairs forms page, but check first whether your own consulate hosts its own current copy. Some do.

06 / Apostille and translation

The two mechanics that cause the most rejected files and the most wasted money.

Apostille first, then send document and apostille to the translator together. Translating first means paying the translator twice.

Foreign public documents need an apostille
All the countries with a significant Croatian diaspora are Hague Convention parties, so full consular legalisation is not required. Croatian-issued documents need no apostille for use in Croatia.
Everything not in Croatian is translated, including the apostille
A certified translator, and the apostille seal as well as the document. This became a hard requirement from 1 January 2025 and is now the single most common source of a wasted translation bill: people translate the certificate, leave the apostille untranslated, and send the file back to the translator.
Who may translate varies by post
The United States accepts a certified translator in the US and points to the ATA directory. Canada accepts a Canadian certified translator and points to ATIO. Chile does not accept a Chilean traductor público at all. A Croatian stalni sudski tumač, a permanent court interpreter, satisfies every post.

Which authority apostilles what in each country, which translators each post accepts, and the possible German exemption: the full apostille and translation guide, country by country.

07 / Recency

How fresh do documents have to be? There is no single worldwide rule.

This is genuine variation between posts, not a discrepancy someone will resolve for you. The criminal record must be under six months everywhere. For birth and marriage certificates, order them close to your appointment and you are safe under either rule.

Table: document recency windows by post, as published at the Los Angeles list of 20 June 2025, MVEP guidance of January 2025, and the Canberra and Santiago posts.
Document	Rule	Where
Criminal record certificate	Not older than 6 months	Worldwide, uniform
Birth certificate	1.5 years	Los Angeles
Birth certificate	6 months	MVEP general guidance; Santiago
Marriage certificate	1.5 years	Los Angeles
Marriage certificate	Not older than 6 months	MVEP general guidance
Death certificate	Date of issuance does not matter	Los Angeles
Croatian-issued documents	No date limit	Los Angeles
The apostille itself	Under 6 months	Canberra

Canberra requires the apostille itself to be under six months old, not just the underlying certificate. As far as we know that is unique to that post, and it catches people who apostilled early. Plan the apostille step late, not first.

Los Angeles says there is no date limit on Croatian documents, but the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs’ general page requires a marriage extract not older than six months without carving out Croatian ones. Do not assume a Croatian marriage certificate never expires at your post. Ask.

08 / Croatian-side documents

Getting a Croatian extract from abroad.

If an ancestor was born, married or died in Croatia, you need the Croatian extract. It needs no apostille and no translation. But “original” means a certified photocopy from the matični ured that issued it, not a plain photocopy.

Through your consulate
Every post offers this. Complete a request form, show valid identification, and submit it to the post with jurisdiction over you. The fee varies: CAD 60 per document in Canada, by cheque or money order only, per MVEP’s January 2025 guidance.
Writing directly to the matični ured
Registry offices are listed by county on the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration site. Inside Croatia, no administrative fee is charged for issuing registry extracts.
e-Građani / e-Matične knjige: not for you yet
The electronic system delivers extracts by email, but in practice it requires a Croatian electronic credential, which presupposes an OIB and an existing record in Croatian systems. An applicant who is not yet a citizen almost certainly cannot use it. Do not start here.

Who may request one: the person the record concerns, immediate family, an adoptive parent, a guardian, or anyone with a legal interest. A descendant claiming citizenship qualifies. If you cannot locate a record, Los Angeles invites you to email the consulate with the name, place of birth and date of birth of the person, and to say whether you hold a photocopy. A photocopy is enough to find the record even though it is not enough to submit. How to find the village and the record in the first place.

Order more than one. Los Angeles states that the original Croatian birth certificate will not be returned to you. If the family wants a keepsake, get a second copy.

09 / Presentation

Two piles per adult, and a fixed stapling order.

Los Angeles publishes the most detailed presentation rules of any post. They are worth following anywhere, because every post appreciates the same discipline.

PILE 1

The originals, including the originals of all translations.

PILE 2

A photocopy of every single sheet of paper in Pile 1, including the apostilles and the translations, not just the documents.

A spouse applying at the same time brings their own two piles, containing originals of their own personal documents plus photocopies of every sheet relating to the Croatian applicant’s lineage. Both of you need a certified, apostilled and translated marriage certificate. One copy between you is not enough.

Stapling order for each translated document, top to bottom
1
Translator’s cover letter
With stamps and signatures
2
Croatian translation
Of document and apostille
3
Apostille
As issued, never unstapled
4
Original document
In its original language

No paperclips, plastic folders, binders or sticky notes
Never undo a roped or stapled set from a professional translator
If an apostille arrived stapled behind its document, leave it as is
Staple original documents with original translations
A motivational letter running over one page gets stapled, Croatian on top, English underneath
Do not staple the application form
Present everything in the consulate’s numbered order

10 / Filing

In person, at the post that covers where you live.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs states that submitting an application can only be done in person: not by mail, not by proxy. There is no online filing; the consular portal handles information and appointment booking only.

One statutory exception that general guidance omits: Article 24(4) of the Act expressly allows a person with a disability to file through a legal representative or authorised proxy. If that applies to you, raise it with your post directly.

Jurisdiction is assigned by state, province or region, and the post’s own rules decide what you order and what it costs. Find the post that covers you, and what it publishes. What happens at the appointment and after it is in the process guide.

11 / The order to do it in

Sequencing matters more than any individual document.

The classic mistake: getting the FBI check first, spending eight months on genealogy, and arriving with an expired certificate.

01
Research first
Establish the village, the emigration date and every name in the chain. Free.
02
Order Croatian-side documents early
Longest lead time, no administrative fee inside Croatia, and at some posts no expiry pressure at all.
03
Order the chain certificates
From the destination country. Also no tight clock at most posts.
04
Book the consular appointment
Waits can be long, and this date anchors everything else.
05
Working backwards from the appointment, order the documents with tight clocks
The criminal record check and your own birth and marriage certificates.
06
Apostille everything
Budgeting for the slowest route in your country. The UK’s ACRO certificate cannot use the e-Apostille and takes around 25 working days on paper. Germany requires applying for the apostille before ordering the police certificate.
07
Translate everything, including the apostilles
Document first, then apostille, then both to the translator together.
08
Assemble the piles
In your post’s order, ready to hand over.

12 / Frequently asked questions

The questions the document list raises.

Short answers. Where a post decides the answer, the post is named.

Q1Does every document need an apostille?

No. Birth, marriage and death certificates, criminal record checks and name change decrees do. Croatian-issued documents do not. Los Angeles expressly exempts the ship manifest and proof of address.

The published list of what needs one is not exhaustive: the same consulate separately requires an apostille for a notary’s signature on an absent parent’s sworn statement. When in doubt, ask rather than skip.

Q2Does the apostille itself need translating?

Yes, into Croatian, together with the document it is attached to. Since 1 January 2025 this is a hard requirement, and it is the most common expensive mistake in the process.

Q3Do Croatian documents need translating?

No. Croatian registry extracts are already in Croatian and need no apostille either. What “original” means is a certified photocopy from the office that issued the document, not a plain photocopy.

Q4Can I use a translation from any certified translator?

It depends on your post. The US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Argentina accept local certified translators. Chile requires a sworn interpreter authorised by the Republic of Croatia. A Croatian stalni sudski tumač is accepted everywhere.

Q5How old can my birth certificate be?

Los Angeles allows 1.5 years on its list of 20 June 2025; the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs’ general guidance and some posts say six months. Order it close to your appointment and the question goes away.

Q6Do minor children need a CV and a criminal record check?

No. Los Angeles states that for minor children the only items needed are the birth certificates and passports matching the names on those birth certificates. It does recommend an apostilled FBI check from age 16, so confirm with the post if a 16 or 17-year-old is involved.

Q7What if I only have a photocopy of my great-grandfather’s birth certificate?

That is enough to locate the record. Email your consulate with the name, place of birth and date of birth, say you hold a photocopy, and order a certified copy from the registry office.

Q8What if a certificate simply does not exist?

Croatian Catholic parish registers often survive where civil records do not, and the destination country’s records frequently name an emigrant’s parents and birthplace. Where a record is genuinely destroyed, a court-issued replacement may be possible, but that is a legal route rather than an ordering exercise.

13 / Next step

Most document problems are cheaper to solve before you start ordering than after.

If your chain has a gap, a name that changed, an adoption, or an ancestor whose birthplace you are not certain about, that is worth an hour with someone who has seen it before rather than six months of ordering the wrong things. The free eligibility check comes first. A Case Review is €150 and ends with a document checklist written for your line, credited in full if you go ahead. If more than one of you is applying, say so: relatives claiming through the same ancestor are quoted as one family package, at a lower price per person.

Start the free eligibility check Book a case review

Not legal advice · Requirements vary by consulate · Confirm the final list with your post

Croatian Roots

Citizenship-by-descent casework, Zagreb

Reviewed by Luka Miletić, Founder, Croatian Roots. Last reviewed 20.09.2026.

SOURCES

General information about Croatian law, not legal advice, and not a prediction of any outcome. Requirements vary by consular post and change without notice. Every application is decided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.

14 / Related guides

Documents required for Croatian citizenship by descent

Your own documents. Every adult applicant brings these.

The criminal record certificate is the one genuinely uniform deadline

Dual and multiple nationals need more than one

The part that decides whether a file can be built at all.

A birth certificate for every generation

A marriage certificate wherever a woman changed her surname

The death certificate of the emigrating ancestor

The document on the basis of which the ancestor left.

Article 11: the arrival record

Article 16: evidence of a different kind

The shortcut: when a parent already holds citizenship.

Obrazac 1, 2 or 3. Set by the Pravilnik published as NN 134/2020.

The two mechanics that cause the most rejected files and the most wasted money.

Foreign public documents need an apostille

Everything not in Croatian is translated, including the apostille

Who may translate varies by post

How fresh do documents have to be? There is no single worldwide rule.

Getting a Croatian extract from abroad.

Through your consulate

Writing directly to the matični ured

e-Građani / e-Matične knjige: not for you yet

Two piles per adult, and a fixed stapling order.

In person, at the post that covers where you live.

Sequencing matters more than any individual document.

Research first

Order Croatian-side documents early

Order the chain certificates

Book the consular appointment

Working backwards from the appointment, order the documents with tight clocks

Apostille everything

Translate everything, including the apostilles

Assemble the piles

The questions the document list raises.

Most document problems are cheaper to solve before you start ordering than after.

Keep reading.

Documents required for
Croatian citizenship by descent