Guide by city — how to apply from your location
Practical tips for citizens of different Serbian cities on how to organize the application process.
From Serbia, an application for Croatian citizenship or a passport is submitted at one of two Croatian consular offices. Extracts, certifications and translations are obtained locally — in the city where you live or where the documents were issued. Good organisation therefore comes down to one thing: prepare everything at home and arrive at the consular office with a complete file.
The two Croatian offices in Serbia
- Consular Section of the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade — Kneza Miloša 82, 1st floor. Hours for clients: Monday–Thursday, 9:00–13:00.
- Croatian Consulate General in Subotica — Maksima Gorkog 6. Hours for clients: Monday–Friday, 9:00–13:00.
These details come from the pages of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (mvep.gov.hr). Opening hours change, so check them before you go.
The official pages do not publish how the two offices divide their areas by place of residence. Before booking, e-mail the office you intend to use and ask whether it accepts an application from your address. Appointments in Belgrade are booked on the Croatian Consular Portal (konzularniportal.mvep.hr); for Subotica, the Consulate General’s page describes booking by phone — see the Subotica guide for details.
When choosing, bear in mind that you return to the same office: according to the Croatian Ministry of the Interior’s instructions, the decision is handed over at the office where the application was submitted, and under the Travel Documents Act (Article 23) a finished passport is collected at the office where the passport application was made. If you travel from another city, plan each visit so that you do not have to repeat it.
What to prepare locally and what is done in person
Locally or remotely:
- civil registry extracts — at the registry office or through the eIzvod service on the eUprava portal (euprava.gov.rs);
- criminal record certificate — issued by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior; check on eUprava whether you can apply electronically;
- apostille — issued by the basic court (osnovni sud) for the area where the authority that issued the document has its seat. For public documents from Serbia used in Croatia, an apostille is as a rule not required: legalisation was abolished by the Treaty on Legal Assistance between Croatia and Serbia (NN-MU 6/98, Art. 19), as the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP) also states. Before you pay for any certification, confirm with the consular office that they ask for nothing more for your document;
- translation — by a court-appointed translator for Croatian. The Croatian Ministry of the Interior expressly requires a Croatian translation only for the criminal record certificate; for other documents, confirm with the consular office before paying for translations;
- domovnica (certificate of Croatian citizenship) — issued by a registry office in Croatia; ways of obtaining it are described on the Domovnica page;
- questions to the consular office — by e-mail.
In person: a citizenship application is submitted in person (Croatian Citizenship Act, Article 24; an exception exists for persons with disabilities, who may apply through a legal representative or authorised proxy). A passport application is also submitted in person.
Choose your city above for advice on local institutions and planning your trip. The full procedure is on the Process page.
Note: this is an unofficial information guide, not a consulate website and not the consular portal. Opening hours and procedures change — always check current information with the consular office.