Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)

- Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)

- - EU citizenship (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/eu-citizenship-138883/)

I was told that since one of my parents was born in Italy, I am eligible for European Citizenship. Is this true? What benefits, if any, are there ?

Not sure what the Italian rules are, but if your parent was born in Italy, it's likely that you could get an Italian passport. The benefit of being an Italian citizen would be that you can live and/or work in any country in the European Union. Pretty big benefit, in my opinion. Contact the Italian embassy in the U.S. They can answer your questions and get you started on the application process.

You need to speak to an Italian lawyer, but you can't get EU citizenship. However if you do get access to any EU country you can get access to them all. In the UK, there is a halfway house. You can get a visa which is for "indefinite leave to remain". That might also be worth having

Citizenship is a pretty complicated issue -- you really should contact the nearest Italian consulate. You don't specify your own citizenship, but for the sake of this example, I'll assume you're a native-born American. If so, and if your Italian-born parent (assuming that s/he was an Italian citizen and not just born there) acquired American citizenship, under Italian law s/he renounced Italian citizenship. If this happened before you were born, you probably don't have a right to Italian citizenship.

KT: I don't know what the law is ni Italy (and you're right, it varies from country to country), but I and my husband and children have Irish citizenship and EU passports by virtue of an Irish law that says if an American has a parent or grandparent born in Ireland and has the documentation to prove it, you can obtin Irish citizenship and thence a passport. My Irish grandparents all became American citizens, presumably renouncing their Irish citizenship, and that was not a barrier to obtaining Irish citizenship for us.

StCirq, You are correct about being able to get a Irish Citizenship. But, Irish citizens are not required to renounce thier citizenship when they become US citizens and the US is the same w/ your Irish Citizenship -- you can have dual citizenship unless you work for a gov't agency that requires a security clearance. So StCirq you would have to renounce your Irish citzenship if you were to run for congress.

I was under the impression that if your parents were born in Ireland then their 1st generation children born in other countries automatically hold Irish citizenship. Am I wrong? Interesting thread. A.M.

From the NYC Italian Consulate's website (http://www.italconsulnyc.org/cittadin.htm): If you were born in the United States, you may be eligible for Italian citizenship if any of the following situations pertains to you: A. Your father was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth* and you have never renounced your Italian citizenship. The following documentation is required: 1. your father’s birth certificate 2. your parents’ marriage certificate 3. your father’s current Italian passport and alien registration card 4. your father’s naturalization certificate or a letter from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service evidencing that he was naturalized AFTER your birth. *If your father was naturalized before your birth, you are not entitled to Italian citizenship. B. You were born after January 1, 1948, you have never renounced your Italian citizenship, and your mother was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth.* The following documentation is required: 1. your mother’s birth certificate; 2. your parent’s marriage certificate; 3. your mother’s current Italian passport and alien registration card; 4. your mother’s naturalization certificate or a letter from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service evidencing that she was naturalized AFTER your birth. If your mother was naturalized before your birth, you are not entitled to Italian citizenship C. Your father was born in the U.S. and your paternal grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your father’s birth* and neither you nor your father ever renounced Italian citizenship. The following documentation is required: 1. birth certificates of your paternal grandfather and your father; 2. marriage certificates of your grandparents and your parents; 3. your paternal grandfather’s naturalization certificate or a letter from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service evidencing that he was naturalized AFTER your father’s birth. If your paternal grandfather was naturalized before your father’s birth, you and your father are not entitled to Italian citizenship. D. Your were born after January 1, 1948, your mother was born in the U.S. and your maternal grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your mother’s birth and neither you nor your mother ever renounced Italian citizenship. The following documentation is required: 1. birth certificates of your maternal grandfather and your mother; 2. marriage certificates of your grandparents and of your parents 3. your maternal grandfather’s naturalization certificate or a letter from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service evidencing that he was naturalized AFTER your mother’s birth. If your maternal grandfather was naturalized before your mother’s birth, you and your mother are not entitled to Italian citizenship

Mikey: Interesting information. I guess, then, my forebears did not renounce their Irish citizenship. Interestingly, although I have no designs on running for Congress, I have held various high-level security clearances while working under contract to a number of government agencies (the question never arose as to whether I held any other citizenships). A.M.: I don't know whether they automatically hold it or not (I don't think so, but may be wrong), but if you don't actually have the citizenship papers or the passport (both of which you have to apply for and pay for), the citizenship is worthless. With the passport, you are a member of the EU and eligible to work there (a big plus for some people), not to mention you get to go to the short lines upon arriving in Europe and can sometimes get a baggage cart long before your American-only fellow travelers. Also, back when hotels used to require you to leave your passport at the desk, I used to leave my EU passport and carry my American one with me, thereby diminishing the dangers of being without a passport.

StCirq, I just went through a clearance application and there was a question concerning foriegn citizenship so either it must have changed or it depends on the classification.

I just did some research and I guess I was incorrect in that your grandparents had to renounce their citizenship, since new US citizens do have to renounce their old citizenships. I apologize for this.

Wow! Thank you all for the excellent advice. My dad was a naturalized American citizen. Think I will stand pat. Happy to be an American!!

For Italy, see: http://www.italyemb.org/Riconoscimento.htm It seems that for those of us born before 1948, we can qualify only through paternal ancestry. I wonder, too, whether the advantages are worth the trouble. I also wonder whether Italy would have income tax jurisdiction over income not earned in Italy.

There is a rather interesting scandal going on in the moment in the football ("soccer") world regarding this precise issue. Non EU footballers are very heavily restricted and only the very best are entitled to play in europe. However if they have an EU passport then they are entitled to play anywhere in the EU, and the rewards are enormous. What has happened is that these footballers, or more precisely their agents, have all "discovered" a spanish or portugese grandparent and have obtained a spanish or portugese passport on the back of this and gone on to play in europe (it's spain and portugal as most of them are from S America). They have now been found out and the punishments will be pretty severe. THis shows how easy it is to obtain EU status. On this basis I am sure that you would be entitled to an italian passport which would entitle you to work not just in the EU but in the larger European Economic Area which includes EU refuseniks like Norway and switzerland, as well as some old warsaw pact countries. As to the benefits of this, well....you could become ill and turn to the swedish health service for treatment, or organise a pension with the german government. Or get your teeth fixed by a swiss dentist and so on. As regards the renunciation of citizenship by your forebears, this is only as relevant as the renounced country think it is. Thus the italian government would probably accept you (they are pretty flexible about citizenship).

David West; don't you think there is a difference between an extremely rich European football club trying to arrange a passport for a player, and an ordinary citizen? If you are rich, you can get ANY passport within a few months. An EU passport will allow you to live and work in all EU countries + Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. NOT in Switzerland, who still have their own rules. Also, forget about fixing your teeth, arranging a pension etc. in other EU countries. It is not that easy. Normally, to qualify for pension rights, health care rights etc. you must have resided in that country for many / some years.

for sjoerd: The point I was trying to make was that these were workers (albeit glamorous ones) who were NOT entitled to work in the EU. However by virtue of having (or as it transpires CLAIMING to have) an EU grandparent they obtained passports. Their profession didn't enter into it. The relative gap in earnings between a footballer in S america and europe is mirrored in that for a plumber, carpenter baker etc. Thus it illustrates who is entiled to a EU passport and who isn't

Hello Mikey, Apparently you are no longer required to renounce a foreign citizenship, at least Canadian, to become American. I was born in Ireland, grew up in Canada (passport) and am a resident of the US. I have been told this by an immigration lawyer. A.M.

Can you play soccer? The Irish look like they're in with a chance of making the next World Cup, so formalities can be waived.

Saints be praised. I don't play soccer but I go to Mass, enjoy a Guiness now and then and love to sing... would that help? A.M.

Well, I do not go to Mass on a regular basis, but I do play football (real football ie soccer) and I love Guinness with all my heart. Can I get my Irish passport now please? If it helps, I also enjoy the odd glass of Jameson's now and again as well......