Croatian Citizenship through my Great Granparents

[cgrapids]

My great grandparents were born in territory that is now Croatia in 1885.  I believe what compromises Croatia now was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the time, as the Kingdom of Croats and Slovenes.  I have procured my great grandfather's birth certficate from the Split County Archives, and it is very difficult to read the scribbled handwriting on it.

I called the Croatian consulate in Chicago and I was told that I would need proof of Croatian "nationality" not just the Domevnica - proof of his citizenship.  It clearly states that my great grandfather is a Roman Catholic, and his last name is clearly Croatian.  I do not see Hrvatska written anywhere on his Birth Certificate.   The consulate has said they cannot verify if the ministry of interior would accept this or not, but that I should submit my application and see what happens. My great grandfather's petition for US Citizenship, and his manifest to the US indicate he is a Croatian; but I am not sure if these when apostilled and translated would have any bearing on their determination of his nationality.

I've scanned comments here, and I was wondering if anyone has any insight on this situation.  Thank you in advance for your help!

[Ribaric]

Hi Mr Grand Rapids,

I've just been part of the process where a customer in a similar position to you has now received his Croatian citizenship. It was quite amazing that we managed to get registered for tax, confirmation of citizenship and then an ID card - all within 2 hours. The secret to his success was a court decision (resenje) that he was able to register as Croatian on the grounds of his Croatian father. All you can do is gather together all the documentary evidence you can and make an application to the courts. This will takes A G E S but you'll either get a 'yes' or a 'no'... eventually. Their response will provide you with what you want or indicate how you may continue.

[Ribaric]

Sorry, don't apply to a court, apply to MUP.

[cjc]

Hi! I don't know if you have already submitted your application yet, but I applied through two of my great-grandparents almost 5 years ago. I had one birth certificate and one baptismal record in my application. Neither of them had their ethnicity written on it and my application was accepted. Their daughter (my grandmother) was born in the USA and her sister told the coroner after she died that her ethnicity was Croatian. So, I submitted her death certificate to show that it was written on an official document that she considered herself to be Croatian. I didn't submit my application in the United States. I was living in Europe at the time and submitted it at the embassy where I was living. They never even mentioned the requirement that I needed an ethnicity on a my great-grandparents' baptismal record and birth certificate. Technically, the citizenship law says nothing about ethnicity under article 11 of the law. It only says that you need a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent born on the territory of Croatia to apply. It seems the American embassy and consulates have made up this rule! My one piece of advice after you get past the submission process is that you call the interior ministry to check on your application after six months or a year. They only speak Croatian but I have read stories online of people that submitted applications and the consulate/embassy didn't send it in. It took a little over two years for them to process my application. It takes forever, but it was definitely worth the wait. Getting to stand in the EU-passport queue at airports in Europe is amazing! Good luck!

[jerry]

Hi all,

I'm just discovering the possibility of Croatian citizenship via ancestry. I'm certain my great-grandmother was born in Kamanje in Croatia in 1886 (and possibly my great-grandfather if we can find the records). Is is still possible under current rules to apply for Croatian citizenship via a great-grandparent being born in Croatia?

Thanks,

Jerry