Croatian citizenship

[croam]

thanks for the info guys. ok so yeah i guess you can get in trouble but there's no way the US embassy would be Powerless if i entered on a US passport. I'm still a US citizen and as long as i enter with a US passport I know for a fact that the US embassy must help me. I also know that they may or may not have to help me if I enter on a Croatian passport. I guess US and Croatia law differ a bit but I don't see this being a big problem.

ZOOEY: How do you know they can cross check? Why haven't they busted my old man then? I've never even noticed a computer in the passport control booth.

[gmh]

It's rare that they ever do more than glance and stamp.
I flew in here with a laptop, ipod, video camera, and digital still camera. Nobody even questioned me about it.
The British embassy site suggesst that you Demand to be treated as a British person if you have dual nationality and find yourslef in trouble in croatia. Perhaps that might work, with a little cash.

[z00ey]

well, if you are willing to take croatian citizenship, and are ready to break croatian border laws knowingly and willingly (cause you believe that you wouldn't be caught!), that just goes to show your deep love and affection towards croatia

i have been crosschecked many times, interpol type, traffic violation type, military service type of crosscheck. these are actions that the border police do every now and then, on a routine basis (of course, they check a profile of people - ie they checked me for military service when i was 26 and 27 years old, i got checked for traffic violation on the austrian border several times when driving a croatian registerd car, and when i grew a beard which was not on my passport photo, they checked me with interpol)

it's easy for gav to change passports, he looks ozzy or british no croatian customs guy would even think he could have a cro passport

[croam]

"well, if you are willing to take croatian citizenship, and are ready to break croatian border laws knowingly and willingly (cause you believe that you wouldn't be caught!), that just goes to show your deep love and affection towards croatia"

Zooey...don't question people's love for croatia whom you don't know. My family has loved croatia through its many governments. Croatia is not the government...it is the people and land.

Your acting like we're doing this to engage in human or drug trafficking. We just don't like to get harrassed.

Your statement is idiotic at best.

[gmh]

Croam, most of the time you are quite reasonable. Now you are being a dimwit.
Zooey is giving you first hand experience that they do occasionaly do name checks on people they think may be croatian, or of any other bother. You can and will be punished. Not even american citizens are above the law in croatia. I would say that a Croatian passport would be more a hinderance to you than a help.
Zooey, how do you know that I don't look croatian? The longer I stay here, the more Balkan I get.

[z00ey]

if you don't like to be harrassed then just stay with your us citizenship and nobody will harrass you... croatian passport will definitely bring harrassment on you, saw it many times

gmh, i saw u on tv u don't look croatian believe me

[gmh]

znam

[croam]

i only had a problem with the questioning my love of croatia because I don't want to be harrassed. everything else was appreciated...but that was a jab where i come from so one jab deserves another. no hard feelings.

update: my dad travel's with his US passport to Croatia then offers them both at the border and they take the Croatian passport.

[Valleycat]

Ok, from reading all this. . . Is there any advantage to becoming a Croatian citizen? I was thinking of it because of getting the citizen card. .. they are always asking for that number. When I bought a car, wanted to make changes with the telephone service, etc. . . they seem to treat you different??

Also, if and when they become part of the EU will the advantages/disadvanges change???

I know. . who has a crystal bal out there. . . maybe someone who is also a citizen of a EU country could aswer this question.

[gmh]

I'm not sure which 'citizen card' you're talking about, but I just got my residency permit, and they said that if I paid 30 euro I could get the plastic ID card that everyone else has. I assume that's the one you're thinking of, as my wife doesn't have any other. I'm not sure if I'll get a JMBG number with that, but I'll find out.
Personaly I can't see much advantage to gaining croatian citizenship, other than the fact that it will save you the hassle of renuing your residency permit. I guess you could technicaly become president, or at least a member of parliament, but in reality I doubt that would ever happen.

[pipastro]

I actually travel with 3 passports. The main one being my UK one. I have a Cro passport but I almost never use it as the British one is best - visa free to almost anywhere.

I travel every month and I only show my UK passport. They asked sometimes and I show the Cro one, and there is never any problem. It has happened more than 10 times and never has there been a paoblem. Without asking though I never take it out.

So whats the benefit of NOT declaring your Cro passport? Well, customs for one. If you show youre cro then he clobbers you for tax and laughs at you being so strupid. They also often search your bags and generally hang expecting a bribe to stop harassing you. I took the bus from Trieste to Zagreb and we got stuck at the Cro border for 4 hours while they searched everything. If you just use your foreign passport they say welcome to Cro and wave you through.

So Croam, I am not sure if I should help you, as you are rude and send insulting and threatening messages plagued by bias and narrow minded oppinion). But for everyone else:

The legality of having 2 passports. It means that you have 2 nationalities. It therefore does not matter if you declare or not, once in Cro you are Cro, whatever passport. This is common in international and citizenship law. That also means that you will be tried as a local if you comitt any violations or crimes.

So to resolve the issue - why would you want a Cro passport? IN 2006 laws restricting foreign ownership etc will be terminated, so it will be restriction free. That means for any non-cros, its much better not to have citizenship. Also if you do have Cro citizenship you will have to pay cro TAX - thats income, savings, assets etc. After you pay all the stupid taxes youll have nothing, so dont even go there!

Hope this helps and God Save The Queen

[mark2]

it'll take more than god to save the Queen AND the UK at the minute.

[gmh]

pipistro, you said you travel with 3 passports.
What's the 3rd? I've never met anyone with 3 passports before.
Just curious.
I have 2, and I was informed that you are breaking the law if you do not declair the fact that you have multiple passports.
Anyone else heard of this requirement?

[leptir]

croam said:

"
They know every cavity has been checked and cleared for takeoff before I leave America.

A year ago I left from LAX to Amsterdam with a 2 year expired passport that nobody noticed they just smiled and stamped my passport. Benefits of being a girl!!

[mark2]

I know of one person with Croatian, UK and Australian passports, all legal. They are dependent on the length of stay in the country. Although new EU and World laws are coming in to counteract Biometric passports.