Booking a citizenship appointment at a Croatian embassy or consulate

Your Croatian citizenship application does not go in the post or through a website. You take it, in person, to a Croatian embassy or consulate. Getting that appointment, at the right office, with the right papers, is a step of its own. Here is how it works from Australia and New Zealand.

In person, by appointment

The Croatian foreign ministry's page for applicants in Australia says applications must be submitted in person at a Croatian diplomatic mission or consular post in Australia, and that you can make an appointment by email or telephone with the appropriate office. The consular fee is paid when you lodge, it is reviewed every year, and it is not refunded whatever the outcome.

Which office serves you

The ministry assigns offices by where you live:

The ministry's listing also shows consular days: the Sydney consulate in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, Melbourne in Adelaide and Hobart, and Perth in Carnarvon. Ask your office whether one is coming up near you.

New Zealand

The ministry's listing puts New Zealand within the consular area of the embassy in Canberra. The embassy holds consular days in New Zealand: in July 2026 it held them in Auckland and Wellington, accepting citizenship applications and first-time passport applications by appointment, booked by emailing a registration form to the embassy. New Zealand enquiries go to crocons.auckland@mvep.hr. Ask about the next consular days before you plan travel to Canberra.

Every office's address, phone, email and opening hours are on our embassy and consulates page.

When to book

Book when your file is close to complete, not before you have started. Our guide allows one to three months to confirm an appointment, and the consulate wants certificates and police checks issued no more than six months before you lodge. Booking too late wastes time; booking too early risks documents going stale while you wait. The processing times page shows how this step fits the rest.

What to bring

Originals of everything, with apostilles and translations. For an adult applying under Article 11, the ministry's list for Australia includes:

• your current passport;
• a biography or motivation letter in Croatian, or translated with the English enclosed;
• your birth certificate, apostilled, translated and no older than six months;
• marriage certificates where they apply, on the same terms;
• a police check, on the same terms, and one from your country of birth if you were not born in Australia;
• your ancestor's Croatian birth record and proof of their emigration;
• the birth certificates linking each generation;
• the completed application form and the consular fee.

If children under 18 are included, bring each child's birth certificate and the other parent's written consent. Our document checklist prints all of this as a tick list.

On the day

Arrive on time with your documents in order. Opening hours for clients are shorter than office hours: the Sydney consulate, for example, sees clients Monday to Thursday from 9.30 to 13.30. The ministry may ask for more documents after you lodge, so keep copies of everything.

Note: If your contact or personal details change while your application is being processed, the ministry asks you to tell the consulate.

After you lodge

Your file goes to the Ministry of the Interior. For a complete application lodged in Australia, the Croatian foreign ministry estimates 12 to 24 months. When it is approved, the consulate lets you know, and the next steps are your Domovnica and passport. Our step-by-step guide follows it through.

If you live far from your office

Not everyone lives near Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne or Perth. Consular days help: the ministry's listing shows the Sydney consulate holding them in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, Melbourne in Adelaide and Hobart, and Perth in Carnarvon. The honorary consulates in Adelaide and Cairns open by prior appointment, but citizenship applications from South Australia are lodged through Melbourne, and from Queensland through Sydney. If travel is unavoidable, book it only once your appointment is confirmed.

Preparing your folder

A tidy folder makes the appointment quicker for everyone. One way to arrange it:

1. Your passport and the completed application form.
2. Your biography, in Croatian or with its translation and the English original.
3. Your own certificates, each with its apostille and translation behind it.
4. Your ancestor's Croatian records and the emigration evidence.
5. The certificates linking each generation, oldest first.
6. Your police checks.
7. Any children's documents and consents.

Keep a full set of copies at home in the same order.

A note on email etiquette

When you write to book, keep the message short and specific. Give your full name as it appears on your passport, your phone number, the state you live in, that you wish to lodge an application for Croatian citizenship and, briefly, the basis of your claim, for example "as the granddaughter of an emigrant under Article 11". Say whether family members will apply with you. Offices handle many requests, so a clear first message saves a round of questions, and keeping the reply with your documents means you always know the date, time and what was confirmed.

The short version

Find your office by state, book by email or phone once your file is nearly complete, bring originals with apostilles and translations, and pay the consular fee on the day. If you would rather arrive knowing every document has been checked, our Premium service reviews the whole file before your appointment.