Dual Citizenship between BiH and the Republic of Croatia

1. DUAL CITIZENSHIP BETWEEN BIH AND CROATIA

Dual citizenship means a person’s right to have citizenships of at least two countries without a need to renounce any of them. Most of the world’s countries today (under certain circumstances) allow their citizens to have a foreign citizenship.   

The possibility of dual citizenship is generally prescribed by bilateral agreements. This is also the case with dual citizenship between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia. 

2. AGREEMENT ON DUAL CITIZENSHIP BETWEEN BIH AND CROATIA

A right on dual citizenship for any person who meets the requirements of the citizenship rules of both countries is determined and guaranteed by the Agreement on Dual Citizenship between BiH and Croatia (signed in 2007 and verified in 2011). 

It is well known that many citizens of the Republic of Croatia originate from Bosnia and Herzegovina. A recent survey provides information that almost every fourth citizen of Croatia comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most of them are the descendants of Croatian people who have been populating the area of the present-day Croatia due to various historical and economic reasons. 

By this Agreement those persons are given the possibilities to request the acquisition of Bosnia and Herzegovina citizenship in case both of their parents are the BiH citizens or in certain cases if only one parent is a citizen of BiH.  

3. IMPORTANCE OF BiH CITIZENSHIP REGISTRATION 

All those persons not living in BiH by the very act of registration of their BiH citizenship are firmly and formally connected to a place where they come from and they help to preserve and restore the BiH identity accordingly. Additionally, by registration in the Citizenship Record Books the ability to exercise any other associated rights is provided (facilitated acquisition of real estate, inheritance, investments, etc.).

4. ENGAGEMENT OF LAWYERS IN THE PROCEDURE OF CITIZENSHIP ACQUISITION 

However, many citizens of the Republic of Croatia who come from BiH do not decide to independently initiate the procedure of acquisition of BiH citizenship due to bureaucratic reasons or the lack of time. Besides, their incomplete knowing of the procedure itself is a complicating factor. 

For all above reasons, the engagement of specific lawyers in the area of citizenship is always an advantage because all actions required for the successful citizenship acquisition and registration in the Citizenship Records Books of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be completely performed by the lawyers on behalf of their clients.   

5. HOW WE ACT?

Any inquiry about the possibility of BiH citizenship acquisition requires a thorough analysis. Therefore, we instruct interested persons to provide us with the details on their status through conversation or via e-mail (e.g. information on parents’ citizenship, their place of birth, whether or not their status of legal residence was regulated earlier or their domicile in the BiH territory, etc.) 

After you provide us with the above stated general information, our Office will inform you of all necessary documents, the duration of the procedure and any other details. 

It is of great importance to the clients that we, being their assistants, are able to undertake all necessary actions leading to the registration into the Citizenship Records Books. All you have to do is to provide us with a power of attorney (power of representation) and any other required documents. We may carry out the procedure of acquisition of BiH citizenship for the adults and minors too. 

The actions performed by the lawyers:

▶ detailed checking and obtaining all the documents in BiH  

▶ everyday communication with the institutions which decide on the citizenship 

▶ submission of the application in person for the citizenship acquisition and any other documents addressed to the authorised bodies 

▶ picking up the Decision on citizenship acquisition end registration in the BiH Citizenship Records Books 

▶ taking all actions necessary on your behalf even without the need of your presence 

> Do you want to initiate a procedure of acquisition of Bosnia and Herzegovina citizenship?

> Ljubić Law Firm may also be your representative in this procedure. Many clients who placed their trust in us, guarantee our future clients security and success.