The Croatian nationality law dates back from June 26, 1991, with amendments on May 8, 1992, October 28, 2011, and January 1, 2020, and an interpretation of the Constitutional Court in 1993.

[1] It is also possible for emigrants and their descendants (and their spouses) to claim Croatian citizenship under Article 11.

They do not have to: However, Article 11 does not generally apply to migrants who are citizens of other countries and territories of the former Yugoslavia.

In 2018, Croatian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 156 countries and territories, ranking the Croatian passport 20th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley visa restrictions index.

The QNI considers, in addition to travel freedom, on internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, and human development as well.