How to a become an EU citizen
The purpose of this post is to help you gain EU citizenship in a legal way.
Dual citizen as an American
Many Americans often talk about the desire to be a dual citizen. We Americans do not always like some of the economic or political policies of Europe, but peace and love we secretly admire the more relaxed lifestyle and cultural richness. Third generations Americans rediscover and connect to the roots that the first generation left and the second generation swore off.
How citizenship is determined
American citizenship is defined by birth, whereas European Citizenship is often connected to nationality. You ca be born in Germany yet not granted citizenship.So how can An American get/claim a dual citizenship, now the USA allows this. You will simply follow the laws of each country you enter and can not claim protect as a USA citizen if you entered on another passport.
Jason Bourne and his multiple passports
Ok so how do you get a draw full of passports like Jason Bourne.
Rules of citizenship
Generally for most counties these are the rules, – a parent, not a grandparent must have citizenship. If you grandparents came from there your patents must get it first, than you have to apply.
How to get citizenship
You can get all birth certificate on line and sent to you; just check off the box that says you are applying fore dual citizen it costs about 20 dollars at any state online site. Once you have all the birth and marriage documents, create a family tree. Then translate all this by an official translator. Then fill out the paperwork you can get at the consulate. If you parents are citizens then you are all set, if not usually you have to legally live in the country for five years for at least six months out of the year. Last option is write the president with your story and sometimes if you give them enough paper you case will be accepted. Oh and if you speak the language even to some level this will help you case.
Myth: Marry a EU citizen and you will become a EU citizen.
People have old fashion TV based ideas. Marriage does not change your citizenship. It will allow you to get a visa easier to stay in the country which in term will allow you get get become citizen after many years and lot of paper.
If you know some of the language, you will see how much easier it will be to be a citizen.
Tags: American, citizen, citizenship, EU, Europe, Jason-bourne, language, learn, passports, USA
242 responses to How to get an EU citizenship
Your English is great, thank you for writing as most of my comments I have grammar and spell check.
And I am happy about your marriage. I am an American and married to a Polish girl. I am very happy, however, I live in the EU – Poland of course.
Anyway, If she married her Italian guy, she is married all over the world. All she would have to do is get the documents officially registered and translated in Italy or at the embassy.
She will be able to get a EU visa no problem in my opinion. She would be married to an EU citizen and Italy has liberal laws in this regard, and could achieve Citizenship.
Anyway, if you are married in the USA in Nevada for example you are married all over the world. In Vegas all you need is your passport. It could take all of 20 minutes if that is what you want.
My question is does anyone know she over stayed her visa? I ask this because I have herd of this a lot and no one knew, but maybe it is different now.
Italy is a nice country as well as being friendly and warm so now she is has found her love, then I wish her the best.
But also Belarus is a European country and has good relations with Poland and other members of the EU. Do not listen to old cranks and nationalists. I live in Poland and am a Polish citizen and Poland’s policy is very positive towards Ukraine and Belarus, not only because of the similar cultures but because at some point they will both be EU and weaken’s Russia’s influence in the region.
In fact, Belarus have special work rules in Poland, further if she has Polish blood, she can get a EU citizenship. I would check this out.
But either way, best of luck. I am a big believer you do not have to marry the girl next door but the one you fall in love with no matter where they are from.
Happy Christmas Mark!!
Thanks you too. I will be going out to the village for a traditional European Christmas.
Im celebrating Christmas in Czestochowa this year
Thanks for the great information. I will ask my mother to apply for a eu citizenship. anychance you can inform me on which website to start with, will keep searching for the paperwork or online forms.
Hello Mark
I am 20 year old Indian citizen . me and my girlfriend who is a dual citizen(Russia and Estonia) are planning to get married this summer.i wanted to know how long will it take for me to attain European Passport and do I have to withdraw My Indian citizenship.
Estonia does not give citizenship based on marriage. However, if you live legally for at least five years there and take a test on the Estonian language to the advanced level you can get citizenship, but it is very hard. This is an EU citizenship, but in my opinion Estonian is one of the hardest languages to master.
I am Indian citizen living in UK for last 2 years and my gf she is from EU (Lithuanian)country living and working in uk.
We have decided to get married can you please advice on EU citizen ship process and how these things work.
How long does it take to get eu citizen ship what are the steps to follow
Can you please explain step by step
Appreciate for your time
Great about being married, I think marriage is a wonderful thing. But the EU citizenship will not happen. Well maybe. Why? Lithuania does not grant citizenship on marriage that I am aware of. You must pass a language test and live in the country for many years, then you can apply for nationalization. If you want to learn Lithuanian to an advanced level and live in this EU country you will get it, but not living in the UK.
I am Nigerian citizen living in UK for last 5 years as a student. I did a Masters course in UK and still have post-study visa remaining till end of 2011 and my gf she is from UK. I am living and working in UK temporarily as my visa stated.
We have decided to get married can you please advice on spouse visa, UK/EU citizenship process and how these things work.
How long does it take to get spouse visa and/or UK/EU citizenship, and what are the steps to follow
Can you please explain step by step
Thank you in advance
Ben
Appreciate for your time
It takes three years to become a citizen if you are married to an English person. If you are married legally to a citizen it will not be that hard, just apply like you did with the student visa.
Hi, I just found another one of your interesting sites from a google search… You’re doing well.. This looks like an interesting article. I have been seriously trying to think of a good way to get EU citizenship without having to marry a woman and risk major problems. As of now, I don’t think its possible. My grandfather was born in England, but sadly, the stupid UK government doesn’t recognize ancestry citizenship from grandparents who lived outside the commonwealth territories, aka former, non-american colonies.. LOL
I am an American citizen. My boyfriend is a French citizen. If we were to marry, how would I go about getting EU citizenship? What are the steps to living and working in France/Europe legally?
After being married and living in France for 2 years I think you can apply. You can get a fiance or marriage visa before hand. If you are not living in France it will take five years.
My name is Ben and I am currently studying Spanish, French and German in my undergraduate career. I have ancestors with Irish and German roots but lack any documentation.
I aspire to become an Interpreter and have been researching universities in Germany to earn a Masters in Conference Interpreting. If everything goes well, once I complete my undergraduate studies and if I were to be accepted to the German graduate program for my Masters, I would be granted a year to search for work in Germany with my degree.
If I were to find a job that met the qualifications of my degree somehow related to interpreting, I would be granted a permanent settlement visa. How long afterwards would I have to wait before gaining German citizenship?
Would I also be able to move around the European Union after obtaining my degree or settlement visa for Germany?
Once you have a permanent visa you can move around the EU at will and it is usually about 3 to 5 citizenship.
Hi, I am a Singapore Citizen but also eligible for Portuguese Citizenship due to ancestry ( my grandparents are Portuguese). I do not want to give up my Singapore Citizenship but would like to live and work in the EU just holding a Portuguese ID. Is this possible or would I be forced to give up my Singapore citizenship? Many Thanks.
Technically you could very well lose your Singapore citizenship. But it is up to you, what is more important a Singapore or EU citizenship. Further I do not know how one nation would find out about the other nation’s citizenship, it is not like they notify each other.
Hi Mark.. I have been losing hope in the fight for EU citizenship. It seems that its quite a challenge unless you have some special skills. And since there is the Schengen agreement, I can only stay in Europe, legally, without hassle, for 3 months. I guess marriage is the only way, but 3 months is not enough time to find a wife. LOL .
I am wondering what suggestions you can give. I was looking into teaching languages and it seems in order for that to make you eliglbe for a residency visa, you need to have a college degree. Of course, I know as you told me, that you can make money doing it, but it won’t allow me to legally stay inthe country.
I am trying to think of the most feasible way to stay in Europe for a year without doing things illegally or strange deals with rogue gov’t officilas. This is a dilemma I am faced with.
E.g. If I want to stay in Italy 3 months then go to Romania, then to Poland, it will be impossible, because I will have used up my 3 month Schengen visa. Of course, I can stay in England, but I have no desire to go there and its also extremely expensive.
I am wondering what advice you can give me now.
Hi Mark
Well the situation is like this, I am a Portuguese citizen and working in UK for the last 4 years .I acquired Portuguese nationality through origins from GOA India. I intend to marry an Indian girl and get her to live with me in UK. I plan to do a civil marriage in UK. How long will she take to get EU citizenship or alternatively a visa for indefinite stay with me in UK
Regards and Thanks
As the wife of an EU citizen, I think it would be only a matter of applying to get a visa. It should be no problem at all. Portuguese citizenship will take about three years, I do not think they have a residency requirement.
I got it! German citizenship, by naturalization. Not easy I worked for years in Germany. However it’s worth it. I’ve some links with the country since as a child I went to a german school. My plan was different, get the citizenship, then marry. I wanted that my future kids don’t have to go through buroecracy but just get the EU citizenship directly.
That is how I got Polish/EU citizenship. Patience and work and I have some connection to the country. Now with this my family can live and work freely in the USA and Europe, which is a very nice option, even for the cultural aspect, we have an interesting life.
I am an Engineering Graduate from India.I want to study my Masters Degree( Engineering ) abroad and I want to settle there with citizenship.So,which countries have easier rules to get citizenship and good employment opportunities after completing Masters in Engineering there.
I can speak English and German.The countries which I am interested to go are Germany,Switzerland,Austria,USA and UK .
or please suggest any other country.
Regards,
Zulu.
I recommend one step at a time. I do not think you can make any claim to citizenship to those countries so I think your best bet is to get a work visa first. If you can do that after several years of living and working legally you might have the ability to apply for a green card. Besides marriage I know, no other way unless you have a connection to the country or are a world class football player.
My mother was born a British citizen, I was born in America before 1983. Ultimately I’d like to get my British citizenship so I can live/work/study in France. Is this possible?
Yes you can get it, but it will cost 450 GBP, a background check, a character check and attend a civil ceremony. I would be easier if your father was the UK citizen of course, but today I think they make allowances for children who mothers were UK citizens, even though the law at the time, which most countries go by, say it is not possible. So yes you are on your way to the EU, if you jump though some hoops first.
Is it possible to obtain EU citizenship based on ancestors? Are you aware of which countries have this possibility? I would like to trace my ancestry to see if there is a country for which this would be possible.
Thank you
Yes is is possible t get an EU citizenship based on ancestors. In fact, that is the basic way EU countries give citizenship, that is by right of blood. However, you have to prove the connection with documents.
Hi there! Thanks for the great advice, I’ve been buried in research on this for weeks. I have a question and would love some help!
My Mother was born and raised in France and was a French citizen and married my Father, an American, and moved to the US before I was born back in the 40′s. I contacted the French consulate in my city, Cleveland, and they were helpful and let me know I could obtain French citizenship fairly easily, however it looks as though my Mother may have given up her French citizenship in order to come to the US with my Father.
When I first started my research I recall coming across this very topic and something about a law or rule that works around this (giving up French citizenship for US citizenship during a certain time). However, I’m having trouble finding the info again so I am really hoping someone can help me! I desperately want to obtain my citizenship so my children can do so and we can keep it going throughout the family to keep the connection to our heritage.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much!
Well I was in a similar circumstance and went the long and honest way. But let me ask you a question, why would France know about your mother giving up citizenship? I am not recommending this but some people would just not make an issue out of it. If you go the long way, then I think with time you will get it. Citizenship is a case. That is something you need to build. You need to dump as much paper and passion into it as possible and they will see you they will respond. The main thing is you have French blood. This is what is important not some piece of paper. Believe me blood is what matters when it comes to citizenship.
Hey Mark! I read all your responses and you seem like you are on top of your game with this stuff.
I was wondering if you could possibly help me in my citizenship dilemma. My great grandparents on my grandfather’s side were Austrian citizens, and they came over in the early 1900′s to America. they gave birth to my grandfather who then gave birth to my mother who then gave birth to me. I’ve spoken with the Austrian consulate regarding even a possibility of us repatriating to Austria, and she said it was possible, but documentation was necessary. I am attempting to find documentation and have been somewhat successful, finding WWI and WWII draft cards of my great-grandfather’s, census records, all stating that he was Austrian, as well as my great-grandmother. My great-grandfather left Austria due to religious persecution (before the holocaust), but there is no proof of that other than word of mouth family history. Leaving the country due to religious or political persecution exempts us from loosing eligibility since I am relatively sure he naturalized as a US citizen (not certain), but it just all seems a bit confusing. Our family wants dual citizenship in Austria to maintain the connection with our heritage and for me and my younger cousins when we start working.
Any help you could give me on my situation would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. – do you know anything about what might happen taxation-wise if we get dual citizenship in the US and Austria?
Thanks Mark!
Jacob, it is simple, you need to find the village he was from. You need to get documents from there to prove he was a Austrian citizen. You would be amazed what documents they have. My grandparents were from small villages yet we had no problem getting the documents. Civil and church documents. I think it is more a matter of collecting paper, building a case, that is it is not black or white, but doing your best to document everything. Make an excel spreadsheet with all your family on it. A family tree and start from there. In the boxes next to their names record any important information and documents you might get. It took me a lot of work but it worth it as I am a dual EU and US citizen.
Taxes are simple.
I must report all world wide income to the US government and assets over 10,000 dollars no matter where they are or how I earn this. You get a 90k exclusion on foreign earned income, but you must report your income. The EU is more lax and basically if you earn money in the USA I think no EU country will really care too much, but the USA does care if you earn money in the EU. But that exclusion is pretty high so do not worry too much about double taxation.
Hello Mark
I am a citizen of Montenegro and would like to become a citizen of Switzerland. Can you tell me the easiest way to obtain a Swiss citizenship. Does Switzerland have maybe so called “economic citizenship program” and if so how does that work? 
))
The only way I know is work and live in Switzerland legally and with a job speaking one of the four languages for many years. Of course you could be of Swiss background or through marriage but I do not think there is an economic refugee basis as you are not a stateless person or real political refuge.
Besides Montenegro is a great place to live, warn and sunny and low tax and easy to start a business. Montenegro will be EU so this will be a mute point about citizenship really as the EU has good relations with Switzerland and you can work there no problem.
Mark Montenegro is really a great place to live I am very glad you’ve noticed that plus its getting better and better every day. I want Montenegro to be fully integrated member of the EU but only when we deserve it. Thank you so much for the information and God Bless Europe
)
Thank you for your reply. Yes Montenegro ( Czarnogóra) is really set to rock. I think there is no way a country like Montenegro will not do well. The people are educated and taxes are low.
Many people fall in love with an EU citizen and get married and live happily ever after in the EU. But I think Montenegro will start to forge agreements with EU countries even before they enter the EU. I think it already has a special nation status in the EU, so even if it is just a future candidate it is on the way.
One of my friends was from Bosnia and had no problem getting work in Europe.
I want to live and work in Europe.
I am an American woman, about to marry and Italian man in NYC. Can I get a work visa for EU if we live in America? If so, how long after we are married am I able to work there? Must he come with me, in order for me to work?
Thank you!
L.
If you are married to a EU citizen it is just a matter of applying for a spousal visa and it should be under six month for both of you to live and work together in Italy. Just go to the Italian Consulate.
Hi Mark, I wonder if you can help me. My father is German, my mother American. I myself was born in Germany but came to the US when I was five & am now a naturalized US citizen with a US passport. Is there anyway for me to establish EU citizenship while retaining my US citizenship? From what I understand Germany is pretty strict about not allowing dual citizenship…
Thanks in advance!
If you were born in the USA and then get German citizenship they allow exceptions. If if the other way around they do not like. That is you are a German citizen at birth then get another citizenship. I am not positive on this but I think it will be OK. You can ask at the embassy.
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