getting eu citizenship for an american
 

Does anybody have any knowledge concerning how to gain eu citizenship for a us citizen through marriage to an eu citizen?

Are you hoping to marry anyone from the EU or are you targetting a particular country?

If you marry you are entitled to citizenship of that country under usual circumstances.

In some countries you are entitled to citizenship through marriage, and in others- not. For example, I do not think Greece gives passports through marriage, without a very long residency requirement. This, on top of other requirements- like religion...

Equally, most countries of EU all have different length of residency requirements, before you are eligible for citizenship..You really should look into the laws of the country that interests you.

Alternately, if you are just looking for a "quickie" you should examine each naturalization law to figure which one is easiest to fulfill. M-kingdom is right though about UK- it is a relatively easy country to grant citizenship. I think you can get naturalized through marriage and also think they have a minimal residency requirement of some 5 years..(Stand to be corrected, though)

Great! Do you know if this will also entitle me to all the other benefits , namely, an eu passport and the right to work in all eu countries as well?

Hi ce,

If you are married to a citizen of an eu country and that country grants you citizenship, you get all of the rights of citizenship of that country.

You do realize that, except for the UK, unemployment in the EU is about 9-10%?

Is there an eu passport?

My dear, unless you have money who in their right mind is going to marry someone who is only after their, er, passport?

No such think as an E.U. passport, you are merely the holder of a passport of a country that is a member of the E.U.

Uou get an "EU" passport with your country's name on it. I am not sure if there is a single EU one now as people like to keep some sense of nationality with items like passports.

I would not recommend getting married as a route to citizenship. Why not get a job here and get sponsored by a company.

Yes, with the citizenship of one EU country, you are entitled to a work- permit in the rest (which does not mean that you are actually going to get the job, since, for the most part, everyone has a preference to employ their own citizens).

The above does not apply to the citizenship of one of the 15 new accession countries, and will not until 2008, I believe.

You could also have rights to citizenship if your parents were born in a eu country. My dad was born in England and I am getting my british passport due to that.

Jamikins I am not sure its so straight forward in every country especially if the parent did not live in the country at the time. CXheck each country as the laws differ. To be honest you have a very slim chance of getting citizenship. Why do you want this? Any reasons other than you like europe?

Jamikins I am not sure its so straight forward in every country especially if the parent did not live in the country at the time. Check each country as the laws differ. To be honest you have a very slim chance of getting citizenship. Why do you want this? Any reasons other than you like europe?

I'm Canadian and it is pretty straight forward if your dad was born in England. I would of course expect people to research their own country's laws etc. I was just providing an alternative to marriage.

Marriage in the UK entitles you to a two year visa, followed by indefinite leave to remain.

You are allowed to work and travel anywhere within the EU with such visas. After you have had ILR for a year, you can apply for nationality.

I don't think any EU country gives citizenship to spouses automatically.

All are aware that this is widely abused, and make citizenshiop dependent, among other things, on several years' residency and real evidence the marriage is genuine, or that there are good reasons a cohabiting couple aren't getting married. Americans are treated no more or less favourably than Thais or
Japanese. Citizenship applications from spouses ARE refused.

The details vary from country to country. The UK rules aren't typical (the Irish and the Italians make it easier, at least if you had an Irish/Italian grandparent, the Germans make it a lot tougher, for example, and the Danes are rumoured to make it virtually impossible). But they are in English.

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...tionality.html.

Citizenship of a former colony (or at least of a colony that waited till it got permission before becoming independent) can often make things easier.

Once you have citizenship of an EU-15 country, you can work throughout the EU-15. With citizenship of one of the new 10, you can really work only in your "own" country or in the UK and Ireland (though the rules are slightly easier for Maltese and Cypriots).

Rights to free healthcare, social security, subsidised tertiary education and the like are typically related to minimum lengths of stay, or sometimes to a contribution record to a member state social security fund.

ooops...10 new countries..said it the other way around...brain must be in weekend-mode already..:)

Message: You could also have rights to citizenship if your parents were born in a eu country. My dad was born in England and I am getting my british passport due to that.

Jamikins! Can you tell me more? Have you done this? I was born in Canada , both was British and immigrated to US and became a citizen when i was 16.
Do you have a Uk passport?

Hi there,

I just sent in my application, but i meet all the requirements and spoke with them so I am hoping to get it in the mail within the month. Check out this link:
http://www.britainincanada.org/Passport/index.htm

You will have to look up and see if the US has the same. I think it may be easier for Cdns because we are a commonwealth country. I know Australia has the same benefit but I dont know about the US.

We're in the midst of moving to the UK--England, actually, but let's not bring up that England v. UK snake pit topic again ;-)
Although my husband's mum is a Geordie (and his dad's German), he's not eligible for a British passport because Mum had already emigrated to Canada before he was born. He did, however, have UK Right to Abode. As his spouse, I also get the right to live, work, in the UK. At first, we were told I could get a British passport after two years in the UK but that my husband would have to wait 5 years. We knew that didn't sound right, and it turns out 5 years it is for us both.
Given that most countries are more prickly about immigration than in the past, we're using lawyers to handle all my paperwork (my husband's is straightforward, he's got the UK Right to Abode stamp in his Canadian passport and that's all he needs as far as the UK is concerned). Their web site is www.webbimmigration.com and they have some general useful info about UK immigration. But our paperwork pales in comparison to what our dog has to go through to get there, even without quarantine--and she's from New Zealand! Shouldn't she get a break as a commonwealth citizen :-D
After we get our British passports, we hope *maybe* to move to France (or we may like the UK so much that we'll stay there, not really planning that far ahead). So my husband will have a Canadian, British, and American passport by that time, and he's been told that since he was born in a part of the world once ruled by France (Quebec), he could be fasttracked for a French passport after moving to France.
P.S. In the "how rude can they get" category, one guy at the German consulate in Vancouver, BC, takes the prize. My father in law went up to see if it would be possible for my husband to get a German passport even though he became a Canadian before my husband was born (after WW II, many young German men were strongly encouraged to emigrate as there were few jobs available in Germany, otherwise he would never have left). The young jerk at the Consulate said, no way, and my father in law himself could no longer be considered a "real" German, because, as he said, "when a snake sheds its skin..."
OTOH, when he was a hostage in Baghdad during the first Gulf War, he was allowed to leave with the other German hostages.