June the 28th, 2023 – A weird one, I know. Most of my articles detail the many ways in which you can obtain a little blue passport or a piece of card allowing you to stay here indefinitely, but you can also terminate your Croatian citizenship.
Why would someone want to terminate their Croatian citizenship?
That’s a good question, and the answer to that doesn’t merely lie in a very dramatic response to disliking HDZ and running off to Ireland. If you’ve been guaranteed the citizenship of another country in which you live or which would be of more use to you in your personal circumstances, and that country doesn’t allow dual citizenship in your situation, then you can terminate your citizenship by law here.
Croatia cannot make any individual stateless
According to the Interior Ministry (MUP), an application for the termination of citizenship can be submitted by Croatian citizens if, in addition to holding Croatian citizenship, they also hold foreign citizenship or a foreign country guarantees to grant them admission to their citizenship on the condition that they terminate Croatian citizenship.
As a fully fledged member of the EU, Croatia cannot make any individual who holds its citizenship stateless. This means that it cannot remove the citizenship of any person unless they already hold the nationality of another recognised nation. In the second case, it cannot do so unless they will be admitted to the register of citizens of another country upon losing their Croatian citizenship.
The application to terminate your citizenship must be made in person
Much like with everything else administrative in this country, you’ll need to start this process in person at the administrative police station at which your residence is registered. You can use a legal representative if you’re disabled or if some exceptional circumstances have arisen. You can also submit your application to terminate your citizenship at a diplomatic/consular post abroad.
Your Croatian nationality can be terminated if you completely fulfil the requirements laid out in the current law. We’ll get into those below.
The documents you’ll require
The proper application form (obtainable at MUP)
Your government issued ID or a certified copy of it
An extract from the register of births
Your CV
Proof of you holding foreign citizenship or proof that you’ll be admitted to the register of citizens (be granted citizenship) of another recognised country upon termination of your Croatian citizenship. This must also include a certified translation into the Croatian language.
You’ll need to provide the powers that be a statement as to why you’re seeking to terminate your Croatian citizenship
It costs a pretty penny to cut ties with Croatia
You need to pay to renounce your Croatian citizenship – just under 335 euros, to be more precise.
