r/CRbydescent

U.S. Citizen & U.K. Resident applying for Article 11 Citizenship in the London embassy. Have a consulate appointment booked for December.

I’ve mostly been asking for advice/guidance from my cousin who applied at the L.A. consulate last year, but she didn’t remember having to provide a certified copy of her passport. It’s listed as one of the first requirements on the embassy website and I’m honestly not even sure what it is.

Does anyone know anything about this and whether it’s something I need to request from some American government entity or if it’s just having a notary certify a photocopy of my passport? Let me know - thanks!

My partners grandfather is Croatian and emigrated before the 90’s to Australia. I believe he is eligible through Article 11.

I’m looking for guidance with how to start this process. Neither of us reads Croatian so finding the forms is tricky especially when you cant read them.

His grandfather is now deceased and we have no contact with his late wife so I am unable to ask for his birth certificate/baptismal records/emigration papers.

Can someone who has been through the Australian process hold my hand a little bit to start off the process. I would massively appreciate it!

Hi all. I have a doozie and hoping that someone here has some advice or maybe even experience for me.

I am not sure what route is more realistic.

So both my mother and I were refugees from 90's wars in Yugoslavia. I was born in Bosnia but my mom was born in Croatia in 1944. She's recently passed away. I have her birth certificate from Croatia as well as the copy of the Catholic baptismal record from Croatia. Now. Family moved from Croatia to Bosnia after WW2 and lived there until the 90's. Now. My mom was then again a refugee in Croatia (~1996-1997. I have the refugee paperwork from Varazdin where she spent time during this period) before eventually moving to the USA where she passed. I ended up in Canada (not via Croatia) in 1993.

My grandma was Croat but born in Bosnia. My grandpa was Serbian from Bosnia. My father is Bosnian. I was baptized in Croatian church in Bosnia but (oh boy) under a different name, as my mother changed my name when I was 1yo. So my baptism record is under my original name. lol.

What is the realistic path here?

Hello!

I have (finally - it's taken over a year...) managed to get a slot at the London consulate in February, and having been through this process before a few years ago and been denied because I was missing one document (that I didn't know I needed..) I am gathering all my documents and checks etc once again. As much as I would love to be able to DIY this, it has been a long process and already cost me more than enough, that I can't afford not to be successful a second time.

Does anyone have recs for a UK based advisor or lawyer who can help ensure that I have everything in order, all translated correctly etc... slight added complication that I am also a US citizen, so i need all of the US documents too... but those I can manage on my own. I just don't want to be missing anything this time around!

Thank you!

So I have my red ribbon form with the attached manifest. What the heck do I asked be translated? It came with a copy of my search request and data I entered, but not attached

Two of my great-grandparents are Croatian, and my husband and I are applying through Article 11 at the LA consulate. They emailed me a detailed list of the required documents for my appointment, and in the paragraph about applications for a spouse of a Croatian descendant, they mention this (see bolded sentence):

If a spouse of a Croatian descendant is applying as well at the same time, the spouse will need two piles as well:  Pile 1 will include originals of #1-7 and # 14 below (and yes, both the main applicant and the spouse will need to have a certified copy of a marriage certificate with Apostille seal and translation of both). In Pile 1, the spouse will need black and white photocopies of each sheet of paper related to lineage of the Croatian applicant (i.e., photocopies of the document, the Apostille seal for non-Croatian issued docs, and black and white photocopies of all parts of the translation). Pile 2 for the spouse will contain a black and white photocopy of each sheet of paper in Pile 1.

Does this mean my husband does NOT need original copies of my ancestral documents? Are black and white photocopies of the document + apostille + translation really sufficient for his pile? It seems too easy to be true. I want to make sure I'm interpreting this correctly before my appointment and before I start collecting documents, as this will affect my order quantity.

Thanks all!

I recently did a free assessment with a Croatian citizenship lawyer. I sent them my entire family tree and all the documents I’ve found myself. I already knew I appeared to qualify based on my own research, but I wanted the assessment to confirm that I was on the right track.
They confirmed that I do qualify, but their full-service quote is $12k

I know they do a lot of work and I don’t mind paying for professional help because, to me, getting Croatian citizenship is worth it. I was just honestly expecting something more like $7–8k, so $12k caught me off guard.

For those who have gone through Croatian citizenship by descent recently, what did you pay? Is $12k the going rate? Has anyone used a lawyer or service that was significantly cheaper? Has anyone done the whole process themselves?

I’m going to shop around a little before deciding, so I’d really appreciate any recommendations for lawyers/services you’ve personally used and what you paid. Just trying to get a feel for the going rate and make sure I’m not overpaying. 😅
**(**For reference, I’m in the U.S. and would be applying through the LA consulate.)

Thank you!

Hello,

I recently got my OIB. The consulate said the next step was to send a check and apply for a domovnica. Wondering what people are experiencing for wait times for those?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I am collecting documents and I am becoming concerned about document errors/inconsistencies. Many, I think, are easily explained. Like; names being Americanized, married vs given name, Sr and Jr designations, and no one has a given middle name but many of us added our Confirmation names as middle names without a legal name change.

The ones that I cannot explain, nor do I have proof of what happened make me wonder if they will even review our applications. Our county will not change marriage records without a court order, and birth record change requests are not often approved for people who have passed.

I have some with the last name spelled incorrectly with various spellings across multiple docs (ends with *nik but should be *novich / ends *csics but should be *cic).  

The biggest concern are that the date of births on eight docs are not correct. Many seem made up completely. For my anchor ancestor, she was born in 1887 but various records have the year as 1893, 1891, or 1881. The month and date is also incorrect for her. For the naturalization record, there are four siblings. Three of their birth dates are correct. The one I need has a typo on the year from the handwritten to the typed version (I should be able to prove this with the NARA docs). But the month and date is 29 March and she was actually born on 17 July. It is no where close. And there is no logical explanation I can give.

I have 33 errors/inconsistencies total. 24 of them are on docs for “in line” people. Should I give up? Or are these things I can overcome?

Thank you for any advice.

Hi everyone! I am a non-Croatian spouse of a Croatian descendent. His parents immigrated to Canada in 1967 and are Canadian citizens (unsure if they also kept their Croatian citizenship as well, but we'll find out). My husband, myself, and our kids (age 8 and 3) are all Canadian citizens. I have a couple of questions off the bat.

1. Can I, as the spouse, apply at the same time as he (along with our kids) does? Or do I have to wait until his/theirs is finished and approved before I am able to apply?

2. Do our kids also need to write letters of motivation? Or just him and I?

3. Have you found the third party lawyers/immigration services to be worth the cost for smaller family units? I could definitely see their value if working on a large family group, or having to go through multiple generations of documents. But in our case we'll be just two forms, and only one generation removed. Unsure if the value would be there, but I don't even know how much they cost.

4. We live in Alberta - can anyone who's gone through the process confirm if we would travel to Ottawa for the application? I've seen reference to a Croatian consulate in Vancouver but I can't seem to find any hard evidence that we could apply there.

5. After the application in person, what has been the approximate waiting time to be approved? After that, how long does it take to apply for/receive passports?

Thank you in advance!

Hey all, I’m starting my applyication under Article 11 and have one issue I’m trying to get clarity on.

My mother was born in Borut, Istria in 1941, when it was part of Italy. I now have her official Croatian birth record confirming she and her parents lived there, but the registry office could not find her in the Croatian citizenship register.

The family left Borut around 1944, ended up as refugees in Trieste due to “war danger”, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1955. I have Arolsen refugee records documenting this, along with U.S. immigration/naturalization records and the complete lineage. The records identify the family as Italian.

My questions:

1. Does her not being in the Croatian citizenship register create a problem for an Article 11 application?
2. Does the family being documented as Italian matter if they were born and lived in what is now Croatia?
3. Would using her father as the emigrant ancestor potentially make the case stronger since he was an adult resident of Borut?
4. Should I be looking for zavičajnost/domovinstvo records for the family?
5. How does the Borut to Trieste to U.S. refugee/emigration history affect Article 11 eligibility?

I’m trying to figure this out before I spend a bunch of money apostilling and translating everything. I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with a similar Istrian/Italian Article 11 case.

Thank you!

Does anyone know whether consulate offices will allow the inclusion of supplementary documents along with the required (e.g., birth records, immigration records, marriage records) documentation? My wife's mother and grandmother were the members of various Croatian organizations, and my mother-in-law's obituary explained how she was proud of her Croatian heritage and spoke Croatian. My wife was also baptized at a Croatian parish here in the US, so I thought these records may be good corroborating evidence, but I am not sure if the consular officer will allow us to include them. Any insights?

When I was early in my application journey, I found posts like this helpful, so I'm sharing my story.

My wife and her sister are 3rd generation Americans and decided to apply for citizenship in Croatia. I have no Croatian heritage but have visited with my wife and love the country. We have a child. The 4 of us (2 sisters, me, and child) decided to apply together in late 2025.

After research using Reddit and other online resources, we determined we could get everything we needed except for the Croatian birth certificates of the great grandparents, and we also felt like having an expert review our applications was worthwhile for us, so we engaged Expat In Croatia. They hooked us up with immigration lawyer Ivona Stazić for a total package fee of €4100.

In December 2025 we ordered official copies of the documents we needed and by January 2026 most of them had arrived, so on the advice of our lawyer we contacted the New York Consulate to ask for an appointment. There were no appointments available for at least 6 months at that time so they advised us to reach back out in May, but that copies of things like birth certificates would be honored as long as they were issued within 6 months of January 2026 (allowing us to stop the clock on aging documents from December, which was nice).

The documents we had to get were:

• FBI Background checks for 3 adults. $18 each to order through the online portal and get fingerprints at our local USPS - results were back in about 1 day. $20 each to get apostille from US Secretary of State office - returned in about 3-4 weeks. $240 total for certified translations of the apostilles and the background checks. We waited until April to get these so they wouldn't risk expiration dates.
• Birth certificates for the 3 adults and 1 child. About $20 each for the certified copies. Apostille ranged from $2 in New Mexico to $5 in South Carolina. $555 total for certified translations (the cost ranged from $120 to $170 due to different formatting from each state, as well as the differing complexity of the apostille certificates, which also have to be translated).
• Passports for 3 adults and 1 child (we already had these). $130 each.
• Marriage certificates for each sister and a spare copy for me. Marriage certs ranged from $7 in PA to $43 in AZ. Add apostille and certified translation for $125 and $135.
• Birth and marriage certificates for the sisters' mother. $19 and $7 respectively. Apostille was $2 and $15. Certified translation was $140 and $155.
• Birth and marriage certificates for the sisters' grandmother. $19 each, $2 each for apostille, $170 and $90 for certified translation.
• Birth, death, and immigration certificates for the great-grandfather. Birth certificate was included in our EIC package from Croatia. Death certificate was $19 to get, $2 for apostille, and $185 for certified translation.
  • We couldn't find an adequate immigration or naturalization certificate, but our lawyer advised us that a census record showing him living and working in the US would suffice. We ordered a certified copy of the 1940 census from the national archives in the middle of January and it finally arrived in late April, so if you're getting something from NARA, plan ahead. Cost was $20 with the official seal already affixed. $120 for certified translation.

We took everything listed above to the public library and spent maybe $40 making copies of every certificate, every apostille, and every certified translation so that we could have two copies of each thing, as required.

• We produced statements of purpose and CVs for the 3 adults in English, which were edited and translated by the lawyer. We printed 2 copies in Croatian and kept 1 in English for reference.
• We produced a family tree showing the relatives connecting us to Croatia. We printed 2 copies each.
• The lawyer filled out and mailed the Obrazac form for us handwritten in Croatian. We made a spare copy of this.

I scheduled an email to auto-send to the New York consulate at 1AM on May 1 and they responded with exactly 1 available appointment for the rest of the year on June 8. We booked flights (JetBlue) and hotel (Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central - only a block from the consulate) to New York for that weekend. This set us back another roughly $1000 for flights and $1200 for two hotel rooms over 5 total combined nights. Keep in mind it is significantly cheaper and about as fast to take the train from JFK to Grand Central compared to Uber. We saved about $100 doing that, which was worth it, even with a toddler in tow.

Side note: JetBlue lost our bag and we had to buy about $150 worth of clothes and other supplies at a store in Manhattan but we got reimbursed for that.

The day of the appointment we went to the building. There is a lobby with a guy at a desk who will point you to the elevator if you ask him, but he didn't seem super bothered if we just walked by. When you get off the elevator on the right floor, you're in an industrial looking hallway and one door has the Croatian emblem on it. There is a doorbell to ring and a speaker where they ask if you have an appointment. If you're there on time they let you in, if you're there early they tell you to come back later. My wife and I went in with our daughter for our appointment while sister-in-law was told to come back later. Inside there is a lockbox for your phone and then we went into a tiny interview room with just enough room for 2 chairs and a glass pane for the guy from the consulate to talk to us through. There was also some nice artwork of Dubrovnik and Split.

The guy asked my wife first for her CV, statement, and Obrazac. Then he got her passport and background check. Then he got her family tree and had her talk him through her connection to Croatia. Then he asked for supporting documentation for each person in order. During all of this I sat on the ground with my toddler to keep her entertained, so I might have missed some of their conversation. When it was my turn, we traded places. he took my CV, statement, Obrazac, passport, and background check. Then he asked for my copy of our marriage certificate and said, "okay from here out everything else is the same, you can just hand it to me" and then a hearty "Hvala" and that was done. Finally, he asked for the application fee, $242 per adult, which has to be paid with a USPS Money order. I ran over to Grand Central Station (about 2 blocks) to get those and then brought them back.

Total cost:

• €4100 for the EIC package and lawyer
  • Them getting our immigrant ancestor's birth certificate was invaluable and the advice was very helpful, but everything else we probably could have figured out for ourselves. Ivona was super sweet so ask for her if you do go this route.
• Approximately $3190 for all of the paperwork and postage
  • Your mileage may vary depending on the state and how many generations removed you are. New Mexico was the best experience, Illinois was probably the worst, Arizona was expensive. SC and PA in the middle. Federal documents were SLOW (thanks DOGE).
• Approximately $2300 for travel and accommodation
  • We probably could have gotten away with cheaper options if we weren't worried about having a nice place for a toddler to sleep that was very close by, and obviously if you live in NYC this isn't really applicable to you. I would recommend the hotel for the location and amenities though.
• $726 for three adult application fees
  • This is fixed by the consulate.

Hi all!

I am currently at the stage of writing out my family tree. I may be over thinking this, but I don’t have much information about my great-grandparents (immigrated from Croatia to the US 1915-1914) and most of my family doesn’t have a lot of information about them either.

I can put together information from birth certificates, marriages, newspaper clippings etc, it’s just not something the family has retained information wise. Like not a lot of family lore there that’s factual.

I am curious because it seems like some family trees are incredibly detailed - and I won’t have that information. Should I hire a Croatian researcher (I am curious anyways) or is bare bones - acceptable?

I just realized I started writing this but never posted. Wanted to share my experience applying at the Pittsburgh Consular Days.

WHO APPLIED
Me (descendent) and my spouse

PATH
Paternal great-grandfather

DOCUMENTS AND COST
*Apostille required
Cost = Document cost/Apostille cost

Me:
*My birth certificate (U.S, PA) - $30/$15
*Father’s birth certificate (U.S, PA) - $30 /$15
*Grandfather’s birth certificate (U.S, PA) - $30 /$15
*Great-grandfather’s birth certificate (HR) - € 14
*Marriage license (Jamaica) - $42/$80
*FBI background - $18 report, $50 fingerprints/$20
Obrazac 1
CV
Motivation letter
Family tree

Spouse:
*Their birth certificate (U.S, DC) - $23//$15
*My Father’s birth certificate (U.S, PA) - $30 /$15
*My Grandfather’s birth certificate (U.S, PA) - $0 forgot to order 2 but a copy of the doc and apostille sufficed
*My Great-grandfather’s birth certificate (HR) - €14
*Marriage license (Jamaica) - $42/$80
*FBI background - $18 report, $50 fingerprints/$20
Obrazac 1
CV
Motivation letter
Family tree
NOTE: At the appt they asked if we had a copy of my birth certificate for his package. We did not but he said that was okay. In hindsight, I would have included a copy.

Paperwork cost = $726
Translations = $467 (includes 2-day shipping)
USPS Mail for apostilles (approx): $50
Application fee for 2 = $489
—————————————————-
Total (for 2 adults) = $1,703

TIMING
I started gathering documents in July 2025. After hearing how busy the embassies were getting, I called the DC embassy to schedule an appointment in August. However, they said they were too busy and to call back January 22. I didn’t know how long my ancestor’s birth certificate would take so I ordered that in Sept 2025. Luckily, I had enough info to request it from the State Archives in Karlovac (info@da-ka.hr). I emailed them using Google Translate on Aug 11. They responded on Aug 20 saying they located it along with an invoice for 2 copies and info for the international wire payment. I paid immediately and received the documents in the mail mid-late Sept.

I gathered the rest of my documents (except the FBI background check).

I called back 1/22 and told them I wanted to apply in Pittsburgh. They asked how many people and I said 2 - they offered me 5/14 on their consular day.

Now that I had an appointment, my spouse and I completed our background checks (results in 1 day) and went to the post office for fingerprints. We applied via the FBI background check website and it was incredibly easy. I don’t think there is a need to use a special service unless you have a unique case.

I made a post on this sub asking for translator recommendations and used one that many have recommended throughout various posts. She is based out of Croatia and I contacted her in March. She responded within a day with a quote and I agreed. Uploaded scans of my documents to Google Drive and shared the link. In April, she uploaded copies to Google Drive for me to review and then sent the hard copies via DHL expedited mail. I had them in hand 1 month before the appointment. The cost above includes 2-day shipping.

APPOINTMENT
Luckily we did not have to incur travel costs. The consulate is at the Croatian Fraternal Union. We went in the main door and informed the front desk that we had an appointment. We sat on a bench in the lobby and they came and got us exactly on time.

The appointment was very straight forward. My spouse and I went in together. There were 2 men in there - one was the main interviewer and the other helped make copies of everything. They started with me since I am the descendent. I gave them my passport and driver’s license and they made copies of both. Then he asked for my application. I didn’t put my middle name on the app so he had me write it next to my first name. They reviewed the Obrazac and we were able to hand write small changes (like adding the middle name). NOTE: I used Google Translate to create an English version of the Obrazac to help me fill it out. I used a free trial version of Adobe to convert the Croatian version into an editable Word version and typed my responses with size 9 font. The translator did the same for the translation.

One area of confusion I often see here is about proof that your ancestor did not return to Croatia - I provided their death certificate (they told me this would be sufficient when I called to make the appointment). The interviewer even commented saying this is the best proof and all they need. But again, consulates have different rules so check with yours for requirements.

I also only had one official/apostilled copy of my great grandfather’s death certificate (slip up and then it was too late to order another). I submitted a copy in my husband’s passage. They made me write a note in the Obrazac in Croatian about this. I used Google Translate and he reviewed the translation before I wrote it.

And that was it. He said all our documents were in good order and it will take about 18-24 months to hear back. And that we would be contacted by email.

And that’s it! The appointment lasted ~15 minutes. Thanks to everyone on this sub for their assistance - I was so nervous at first and didn’t think I could do this alone, without a lawyer. However, I have a pretty straight forward case and this sub is a treasure trove of info.

Hello!

I'm a little confused about this, because I've been reading different things. I thought that my own US birth certificate had to be within 18 months, but there was more flexibility with other US documents. I'm applying through my great-grandfather, and I may have jumped the gun with ordering birth certificates for my father and grandfather since the LA consulate is booked out through the year and I don't even know if I'll be able to get an appointment in 2027 (though I'll try my best).

Do ALL US birth certificates have to be issued within 18 months of application submission?

Thank you!

Getting my ducks in a row for my upcoming appointment in November and down to last couple details. I have two Croatian great grandparents who married in Croatia and emigrated to US in 1913. They settled in CA where my great grandfather worked as a type setter at the Yugoslavian newspaper for many years. They had two children including my grandmother. When my grandmother was still in school her parents divorced. This resulted in a legal name change for her and my great grandmother.

I have all the US documents I need in hand with apostilles and translations. I have an archivist helping me get certified birth certificates in Croatia right now for both grandparents which is a non issue but it turns out getting their marriage certificate is an ordeal that my consultant says will take several hours to cover time spent locating and recovering. since this wasn’t in contract I am on the fence about getting this.

Anyone have success or get hung up on Croatian certified marriage records? can I show lineage through my great grandfather even though he is persona non grata in my family? The birth certificate for my grandmother has my great grandmother listed with her info but they claimed countries other than Croatia for their place of birth (maybe due to bad rap from start of WW1?) Their info is correct on their citizenship petition and port of entry the place of birth is correct.

Curious if anyone has run into this situation or has advice.

cheers from Seattle.

Has anyone applying through DC been able to submit photocopies of apostilled translated original lineage docs for spouse if applying with at same time? I've seen mixed messages.. I swear when I set up the appointment, they said that if applying together copies of my ancestral lineage documents would be fine and only originals my spouse needed for self Birth certificate, marriage certificate, FBI background check -but now I'm second-guessing myself!

Hello everyone,
My name is Oleh Brenko.
Several years ago, a Croatian newspaper published the story of my father, who managed to reconnect with our Croatian relatives after many years.
https://www.istrianet.org/istria/people/memories/brenko-eng.htm
Unfortunately, over time those contacts were lost again.
I am trying to continue my father’s work and reconnect with our family.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much!
— Oleh Brenko