I help descendants of Croatian and Dalmatian emigrants in New Zealand and Australia claim Croatian citizenship by descent.
Which rule applies depends on your family's story. If a parent was a Croatian citizen when you were born, that may be a direct route, though whether you were registered before turning 21 matters a great deal. For earlier generations, the main path is Article 11, which lets descendants of Croatians who emigrated before 8 October 1991 apply through that family line, with no limit on how many generations back. There's also a separate route for people who can show they belong to the Croatian people. Here's what the process looks like.
Read the full guide for New Zealand applicants, including the document order, the fees, and the six month rule that catches people out.
I map what you know about your ancestor's story and check it against the eligibility rules for your situation.
I work out which records prove your ancestor's Croatian origin and emigration, where they are held, and how to request them. Deep archival research is coordinated with a specialist.
Certificates are apostilled first, then translated into Croatian, then assembled into the application package. Some documents are only accepted if they're under six months old, so the order and the timing matter.
Applications are lodged in person. In Australia, at the Croatian consulate or embassy for your state. In New Zealand, at the embassy's consular days in Auckland and Wellington, or in Canberra. I'll tell you which applies to you and what you need to book.
These four steps happen on every case. How much of them I handle for you depends on which package you choose below.
Start small and low-risk, or go all in on the full story of your family's journey.
Prices shown in the currency selected above. Non-euro figures use the most recent European Central Bank reference rate, rounded. Invoices are issued in euro.
All packages provide administrative support: working out which route applies, identifying and requesting records, paperwork, and coordination. Third-party costs are not included and are paid separately: government and consular fees, document fees, apostilles, certified translations, specialist archival research, and courier charges.
Adriatic Roots is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Where legal advice is required, I can connect you with an independent licensed Croatian lawyer and you'd work with them directly. Adriatic Roots is not affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior or with any Croatian consulate, and cannot influence a decision on your application.
I'm Maggi, and I'm Croatian. I've spent a lot of time in New Zealand and Australia, six trips so far. Somewhere along the way I got interested in the Croatian families who left for this part of the world, and in how much their descendants still care about that history.
Croatia is in the EU and in Schengen now. For a lot of those families, the right to a Croatian passport is sitting there unclaimed, and what stands in the way is paperwork.
Could you handle that paperwork yourself? Yes, plenty of people do. The difficult part is working out which route applies, which records you need and how to obtain them, and dealing with Croatian institutions from abroad. That's the part I handle. I'm here where the records and the offices are, Croatian is my first language, and I know how the institutions that hold these records work. I help you avoid the wrong turns and get to the right answer faster.
My writing on Croatian citizenship by descent has been published in Hrvatski Vjesnik, Australia’s oldest Croatian newspaper.
A couple of sentences is enough to start: what you know about your Croatian ancestor, and where they settled.
Short version: I only use what you share to help with your case, I don't sell or trade it, and you can ask me to delete it at any time.
What I collect. When you use the eligibility quiz or the contact form, I collect what you choose to share: your name, email address, and anything you tell me about your family's history, including approximate dates, relationships, and any documentation you mention. The quiz itself runs in your browser and doesn't send anything anywhere unless you choose to send your answers to me.
Why I collect it. I use this information only to assess your situation and respond to you. I don't use it for advertising, and I don't sell or trade it to anyone. Because family heritage is a more sensitive kind of information, the contact form asks for your explicit, separate consent before sending it to me.
Where it goes. The contact form is processed through Formspree, a third-party form service, before it reaches my inbox. If we start working together and I refer you to a licensed Croatian lawyer or another specialist, I'll only share your details with them once you've agreed to that referral.
How long I keep it. I keep your information for as long as it's useful for responding to your inquiry or providing services, and delete it sooner if you ask me to.
Your rights. Wherever you're based, you can ask me at any time what information I have about you, ask me to correct it, or ask me to delete it. Use the contact form above and I'll take care of it.
Cookies and tracking. This site doesn't currently use tracking cookies, analytics, or advertising pixels. If that changes, I'll update this page. The site makes only two external requests, and neither happens unless you act. If you switch the price display to NZD or AUD, your browser fetches the current European Central Bank reference rate from a public rate service (frankfurter.dev); no information about you is sent. If you submit the contact form, it goes to Formspree, as described above.
Last updated August 2026.