Country guide · Croatia

Croatian citizenship by marriage: the Article 10 spouse route

Citizenship-by-Descent.com·Last reviewed November 2026

Educational information only — not legal advice. Always verify with the relevant authority, consulate or registry office.

If you’re married to a Croatian citizen, Croatia doesn’t give you citizenship for the marriage alone. You must first move to Croatia and get permanent stay, which for a spouse normally takes four years. After that, you can apply with no language test, no minimum residence and no need to give up your current citizenship. There is a quicker path for one group: if your spouse is an emigrant or descends from one, you can apply from abroad under Article 11.

This is a separate route from citizenship by descent. If you have Croatian roots yourself, start with the Croatian citizenship by descent guide.

The rules at a glance

  • Law: Article 10 of the Croatian Citizenship Act (Zakon o hrvatskom državljanstvu).
  • Who: a foreigner married to a Croatian citizen, or in a life partnership with one.
  • Must have: approved permanent stay (stalni boravak) and actually live in Croatia.
  • Permanent stay for a spouse: after 4 years of continuous temporary stay for family reunification.
  • Language and culture test: none.
  • Minimum length of marriage: none set in the law.
  • Fee: EUR 139.36.
  • Dual citizenship: allowed. Croatia doesn’t ask you to give up your current citizenship.

Who qualifies under Article 10

Article 10 says a foreigner who is married to a Croatian citizen, has been granted permanent stay and lives in Croatia can naturalise even without meeting points 1 to 4 of Article 8. Those four points are the normal conditions for everyone else:

  1. being at least 18;
  2. being released from your other citizenship, or showing you will be;
  3. eight years’ continuous registered residence in Croatia with permanent stay; and
  4. knowing Croatian, the Latin script, Croatian culture and the social order.

Point 5 still applies to you: you must respect Croatia’s legal order, have paid public debts that are due, and raise no security concerns. Even when every condition is met, Article 26 lets the Ministry of the Interior refuse an application for reasons of Croatia’s interest.

Your spouse must already be a Croatian citizen. If they are a citizen of another country with Croatian roots who hasn’t claimed citizenship yet, Article 10 doesn’t apply until they have, but Article 11 may (see below).

The wording has changed. The 1991 Act asked only for approved “permanent settlement”. Since 1 January 2012 Article 10 requires approved permanent stay and living in Croatia. Later amendments, including the big 2019 reform, left it alone.

Step one: permanent stay in Croatia

For a spouse from outside the EU this is the long part. Under the Aliens Act (Zakon o strancima), the Ministry of the Interior can grant temporary stay for family reunification to a close family member of a Croatian citizen, and a spouse is a close family member. You must also meet the general conditions for temporary stay.

Article 156 of the Aliens Act then grants permanent stay to the family member or life partner of a Croatian citizen who has held temporary stay for family reunification or life partnership, or autonomous stay, for four continuous years right before applying. The rules for that period:

  • you can’t have been away from Croatia for more than 8 months in total, or more than 4 months at once. The Ministry’s English page still shows an older limit of 6 months in total, so plan around the stricter figure;
  • the limit rises to 24 months in total or 12 at once if you were posted to work in another EEA country or Switzerland, or work abroad as a seafarer, pilot or international driver;
  • you must still hold temporary stay when the decision is made; and
  • you need a valid passport and must not be a threat to public order, security or public health.

You apply for permanent stay at the police administration or station where you live. The fee is EUR 83.62 for the decision, plus EUR 31.85 for the biometric residence card in the regular procedure (EUR 59.73 if expedited).

Croatia also has EU long-term residence (dugotrajni boravak) after five years, which is a different status. Article 10 names permanent stay, and we found no official statement that long-term residence counts instead. If that is the status you hold, ask the police administration before you apply.

Step two: the citizenship application

Once you have permanent stay, you apply in person at the police administration or police station for the place where you have permanent stay, on form 1, basis C1 (marriage) or C2 (life partnership). The Ministry of the Interior in Zagreb decides.

The government portal and the Ministry list these documents:

  • the application form, with a CV and a motivation letter;
  • a certified copy of a valid passport or foreigner’s ID with a clear photo;
  • proof of your citizenship, such as a certified copy of your current passport;
  • your birth certificate, apostilled and translated into Croatian;
  • a marriage register extract no older than 6 months. For a marriage-based application, the marriage must already be entered in the Croatian marriage register. Once it is, the Ministry says you don’t have to submit the extract yourself;
  • for life partners, an extract from the life partnership register;
  • a criminal record certificate from your country of citizenship and the country where you have permanent residence, issued within the last 6 months, with a Croatian translation. For the US, for example, that means an FBI check; and
  • your consent for the authorities to check your foreign documents.

Where you get an apostille depends on the country that issued the document. US documents, for example, need one from the state that issued them, or from the State Department for an FBI check. Our apostille guide and certified translation guide cover both.

No test. The government portal says only applicants on the residence route must prove Croatian and knowledge of the culture, by a written questionnaire in front of an officer. Spouses under Article 10 skip it. Our language requirements guide compares other countries.

The oath and the decision. Everyone who naturalises gives a solemn oath to respect the Constitution, the laws, and Croatia’s culture and customs. You become Croatian on the day the positive decision is delivered to you, and you’re then entered in the register of citizens.

Children. If only one parent naturalises, a minor child becomes Croatian with them if the child lives in Croatia and has permanent stay. A child of a Croatian citizen parent may already be Croatian by descent, so check that first.

Cost and timing

  • EUR 139.36 administrative fee. The Ministry says it’s charged for a positive decision; the government portal says you pay it when you collect the decision. A copy of the decision costs EUR 13.94.
  • EUR 83.62 + EUR 31.85 earlier on, for permanent stay and the residence card.
  • Your own costs: apostilles, certified translations and police certificates.
  • Timing: four years of temporary stay first. The Citizenship Act sets no deadline for the decision, and we found no official waiting time for spouse cases. The portal says you can ask about your case by letter or email.

The faster route: married to an emigrant or descendant

Article 11(2) covers a foreigner married to an emigrant (someone who left Croatia before 8 October 1991 intending to live abroad permanently) or to one of their descendants. It exempts you from points 2 to 4: release, residence and language. Unlike Article 10, it doesn’t require permanent stay or living in Croatia, though you must still be at least 18 (point 1).

In practice that is the route for many couples living abroad. The Croatian missions in the US, for example, accept applications from spouses of emigrants’ descendants, in person only, with a consular fee paid when you file, and give a waiting time of about 18 to 24 months. Other Croatian missions publish their own guidance, so check the one for where you live. Your file has to show your spouse’s line back to the emigrant. Our Article 11 guide explains the emigrant rules and the documents.

One more variant: under Article 12, the spouse of someone who became Croatian because it was in Croatia’s interest can apply after one year of living in Croatia with approved stay.

Same-sex couples

Croatia doesn’t allow same-sex marriage, but it has životno partnerstvo (life partnership). Article 10 itself mentions only marriage, but Article 77 of the Life Partnership Act says a life partner of a Croatian citizen acquires citizenship under the same conditions as a spouse. The application form and the government portal list life partnership as its own basis, and the Aliens Act gives life partners the same four-year path to permanent stay.

If you married outside the EEA, Article 75 of the same Act treats a same-sex marriage or partnership registered outside the EEA between a Croatian citizen and a non-EEA citizen as a life partnership. The document list asks for an extract from the life partnership register, so ask the police administration how your marriage should be recorded before you file.

Can you keep your current citizenship?

Article 10 exempts you from the release requirement, so Croatia doesn’t ask you to give up your current citizenship. That isn’t true of every route: ordinary naturalisation under Article 8 does require it. Whether you keep your other citizenship also depends on that country’s law: some countries end citizenship when you voluntarily take another, so check yours. Our Croatian dual citizenship guide sets out who has to renounce, and citizenship by marriage in Europe compares other countries.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get Croatian citizenship just by marrying a Croatian?

No. Marriage alone isn’t enough. Under Article 10 you also need approved permanent stay in Croatia and you must live there. For the spouse of a Croatian citizen, permanent stay normally comes after four years of continuous temporary stay for family reunification. The exception is if your spouse is an emigrant or an emigrant’s descendant: then Article 11 lets you apply from abroad.

Can I apply from abroad?

Not under Article 10, which requires permanent stay and living in Croatia. You can apply from abroad under Article 11 if your spouse emigrated from Croatia before 8 October 1991 or descends from someone who did. You file in person at a Croatian embassy or consulate; in the US, for example, that means the embassy in Washington or a consulate general in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.

Do I have to pass a Croatian language test?

No. Article 10 exempts you from the requirement to know Croatian, the Latin script, Croatian culture and the social order. The government portal says only people applying on the basis of residence must prove it. You will still deal with Croatian paperwork, and a CV and motivation letter go with the application.

Do I have to give up my current citizenship?

No. Article 10 also exempts you from the release requirement, so Croatia doesn’t ask you to give up your current citizenship. Whether you keep your other citizenship also depends on that country’s law: some countries end citizenship when you voluntarily take another, so check yours. The US, for example, doesn’t take your citizenship away for naturalising in Croatia.

How much does it cost?

The citizenship fee in Croatia is EUR 139.36, charged when the decision is issued. Before that, permanent stay costs EUR 83.62 for the decision plus EUR 31.85 for the residence card in the regular procedure. If you apply abroad under Article 11, you pay a consular fee instead when you submit.

How long does it take?

The Citizenship Act sets no deadline, and we found no official waiting time for spouse cases filed in Croatia. Add the four years of temporary stay before you can get permanent stay. For applications filed through the Croatian missions in the US, for example, the embassy gives around 18 to 24 months.

Does a same-sex partnership count?

Yes. Croatia doesn’t have same-sex marriage, but it has life partnership. The Life Partnership Act says a life partner of a Croatian citizen acquires citizenship under the same conditions as a spouse, and the application form has a separate box for it. A same-sex marriage registered outside the EU between a Croat and a non-EU citizen is treated as a life partnership.

We married outside Croatia. What do we do first?

Have your Croatian spouse enter the marriage in the Croatian marriage register, through a Croatian embassy or consulate or a registry office in Croatia. The government portal says a marriage-based application needs the marriage entered there, and the Ministry of the Interior uses that record for your residence permit too.

Official sources

Checked against these sources on 11 November 2026. zakon.hr is a consolidated text, not the official gazette. Fees change; confirm with the police administration or your Croatian embassy or consulate before you apply.