Attesting Croatian Documents (FAQs)

Yes - Croatia is a member of the Apostille Convention.

Croatian documents can be legalized for use abroad with an Apostille Stamp when destined for other signatory countries without additional certification by the destination country.

When Croatian documents are required for non-apostille countries, such as United Arab Emirates - Taiwan - Malaysia - Thailand - Qatar they need additional authentication by the embassy of the destination country.

For further information about Apostille certification in Croatia, see:
Croatia Apostille Services

Submission within the European Union
Certain Croatian documents do not require Apostilles when they are presented to authorities of other European Union countries (the receiving authority should accept the original or a certified copy).

When applying for certain public documents, a multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Croatian authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.
See: EU Multilingual standard forms

Croatian documents not requiring Apostilles include birth, death, marriage certificates, absence of a criminal record (a clean criminal record of a Croatian citizen), certificates of nationality and residence:
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/1191

Other Croatian documents, including academic certificates, still require Apostille certification and certified translation to be valid in other EU countries.

Civil status certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers)
Croatian birth, marriage and death certificates) issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to one of the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

Apostille stamps can be obtained in Croatia for documents which include:

• Croatian birth, death and marriage certificates
• Criminal Record Certificates (stamped by the Ministry of Justice)
• University diplomas
• Documents certified by a Croatian notary

To confirm whether your document is eligible for apostille authentication in Croatia, please Contact us and we’ll check your document free of charge. For further information about our Croatian apostille services and for assistance obtaining official copies of Croatian documents, see:
Croatia Apostille Services

Croatian Apostilles are normally obtained in 2 - 5 business days, depending on the location of the competent Municipal Court.

Document legalization (or attestation) is a procedure which authenticates a public Croatian document so that it can be submitted in another country for official or legal purposes - for example, if you need to submit a Croatian birth certificate to the authority or embassy of another country, it will often need to be legalized.

Legalizing a document in Croatia certifies the authenticity of the signature appearing on the document as that of an authorized public official in Croatia and confirms the capacity of that official.

• Because Croatia is a member of the Apostille Convention, Croatian documents can be legalized by means of an Apostille Stamp when being submitted to countries that are also members of the Hague Apostille Convention
• If a Croatian document is required for a country that is not a member of the Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalized both by Croatian authorities and by the embassy of the recipient country (embassy in Croatia or non-resident embassy accredited to Croatia).
  See: Document legalization - Wikipedia

Isarey Certification Services provides a range of services in Croatia including Apostille and legalization services, notarization services, certified translation services and document retrieval services.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:

• ISAREY reviews on Trustpilot
• ISAREY reviews on Google

Croatia Apostilles follow the standard format laid down in the Apostille Convention. Some examples of Croatian documents certified with Apostille stamps:

• Croatian Birth Certificate with Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• Croatia University Diploma with Apostille Stamp (PDF)
• Croatian Birth Certificate attested by United Arab Emirates (PDF)
• Croatian University Diploma attested by the Embassy of Qatar (PDF)

See What does an Apostille look like?

Apostilles are not required when submitting Croatian certificates of marital status to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union.

A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Croatian authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Apostilles are not required when submitting Croatian birth, death and marriage certificates to the authorities of another Member State of the European Union. A multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a Croatian authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority understand the certificate when in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

Croatian birth, marriage and death certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status) should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to countries that have acceded to the Vienna CIEC Convention. The following countries are contracting states of the Vienna Convention:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

Croatian Criminal Record Certificates can be obtained from the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration. Electronic certificates issued through the e-Citizens portal do not contain a handwritten signature or stamp of the Ministry and are not valid for authentication with an Apostille.

Certificates can also be obtained by applying to your nearest Croatian embassy.

Apostilles are not required when submitting Croatian Criminal Record Certificates to another Member State of the European Union when the certificate is issued to a Croatian national and when the criminal record is clean (no convictions). In other cases, the recipient Member State may require an Apostille.

EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 (EU GDPR)

To obtain an apostille on a Croatian Power of Attorney, it must be signed and sworn before a Croatian notary (in Croatian). An Apostille stamp can then be obtained from the Municipal Court.