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Croatia: The Personal Identification Number; the meaning of Personal Identification Numbers; and whether a person who was a citizen of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia but not of the Socialist Republic of Croatia would have had his/her Personal Identification Number changed upon receiving citizenship of the Republic of Croatia (2004-2006)

On 19 February 1992, Dr. Franjo Tudjman, President of the Republic of Croatia, issued a decree proclaiming the Personal Identification Number Act and outlining the meaning of the 13 digits of the Personal Identification Number as follows:

1) The first two digits refer to the day of birth.

2) The next two digits refer to the month of birth.

3) The next three digits refer to the year of birth.

4) The next two digits refer to the Registration Number. This number is between 30 and 39 and represents the "register area where the personal identification number was issued." The register area according to Subsection 3 of Article 2 of the Act is a "local self-governing unit or a group of self-governing units which were formed to issue Personal Identification Numbers to the nationals."

5) The next three digits refer to "a combination of a gender and a sequential number for individuals born on the same date...; for male individuals numbers 000 – 499; and for female individuals numbers 500 – 999."

6) The last digit refers to a "control number" (Art. 2).

In 10 March 2006 correspondence, an official from the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia indicated that, "[i]n accordance with the law on the Personal Registration Number (NN no. 9/92 and 66/02), this number is used for official purposes."

In a 6 June 2006 telephone interview with the Research Directorate, the official from the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia added the following information. Every citizen of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which existed prior to 1992, also had the citizenship of one of the country's constituent socialist republics (Croatia 6 June 2006). As the socialist republics were semi-autonomous, each one issued its own Personal Registration Number (ibid.). The numbers were unique for each socialist republic and one could infer the citizenship of a person by looking at their Personal Registration Number (ibid.). In accordance with laws NN no. 9/92 and 66/02, a citizen of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who held the citizenship of a Yugoslav republic other than the Socialist Republic of Croatia (such as the Socialist Republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia) and acquired the citizenship of the Republic of Croatia (which became independent in 1991), would be given a Croatian Personal Registration Number. Citizens of the Socialist Republic of Croatia retained their Personal Registration Number after 1991 (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Croatia. 6 June 2006. Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Ottawa. Telephone interview with an official.
_____. 10 March 2006. Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Ottawa. Correspondence from an official.
_____. 19 February 1992. Sabor (Lower House of Government). Decree Proclaiming the Personal Identification Number Act. Translated by Multilingual Translation Directorate of the Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet Sites, including: Government of Slovenia, Java Center Croatia, Ministry of the Interior of Croatia (Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova).

Publications: Passport Handbook to Check the Authenticity of Passports.