Discover 10 Countries Where You Can Claim a Passport Through Your Ancestry
Do you realize your ancestry might give you access to an additional passport? Walking through the ancient stone streets in a village where your ancestors lived or uncovering cultural elements that form part of your genetic heritage can feel like stepping into your past.
Through research, you could find yourself well within reach of earning citizenship in one of multiple additional countries. Many countries allow you to become their citizen through proof of your ancestral line.
Want to find out if you meet the eligibility requirements? Discover 10 nations that allow dual citizenship while enabling you to link arms with your ancestral history.
Italy
Italy prides itself on the “right of blood.” Italian citizenship benefits anyone who can prove family descent from Italian bloodlines, even from distant ancestry. Your family ancestry can extend back indefinitely regarding Italian citizenship unless an Italian ancestor underwent naturalization in another country before having children.
This passport’s unique advantages include exquisite Italian cuisine, access to the European Union, and stunning scenery. The best approach to establishing eligibility requirements for your ancestors is to start with documents from grandparents and great-grandparents.
Ireland
The Irish citizenship application process becomes simple when a direct parent or grandparent is born on Irish soil. Ireland’s welcoming passport policy lets diaspora descendants establish a cultural link with their ancestral heritage.
An Irish passport grants permission to work and settle throughout the European Union. Birth and marriage certificates are the starting documents for completing the official application process.
Poland
Polish law permits descendants of its citizens to obtain Polish citizenship while keeping their current national passports. You are likely eligible through Polish descent if your ancestors resided in Poland before their emigration, especially before 1920.
Dual citizenship has advantages for people wishing to benefit from Poland’s economic growth as an EU member state. According to Polish law, you must establish that your ancestors have not officially abandoned their Polish citizenship status.
Germany
Though Germany maintains detailed descent-based citizenship guidelines, it gives preference to those whose forebears were German citizens before World War I immigration. An added benefit?
People who become German citizens receive access to Europe’s biggest market and all the benefits of EU membership. Research the German archives to understand the complicated eligibility rules for potential applicants.
Spain
The Spanish government extends welcoming status to Sephardic Jewish descendants whose families historically originated from the area. The law serves to rectify historical wrongs, demanding genealogical evidence and cultural connections to Spain from applicants.
Latin American descendants of Spanish citizens experience a faster citizenship procedure. The Spanish passport allows individuals to reside throughout Europe in its historically rich cultural environment.
Since 2015, Spain has received 150,000 citizenship applications but has only awarded citizenship to 33,485 people. In the most recent quarter, around 6,000 applicants became Spaniards.
Portugal
The Portuguese government offers citizenship requests to survivors’ descendants who escaped from the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish diaspora. Applicants must show they descend from Sephardic ancestors and maintain links to Portugal’s cultural traditions.
Portuguese citizens can travel to more than 190 destinations without visas while receiving high regard because their passport is ranked among the most powerful worldwide. The Jewish communities in Lisbon and Porto represent your initial point of contact when starting your citizenship application process.
Hungary
Hungarian ancestry extending to great-great-grandparents qualifies you to obtain Hungarian citizenship. Your accession becomes less complicated when you show proof of Hungarian ethnicity through documentation or your ability to speak Hungarian fluently.
People enjoy valuable opportunities to live and work alongside free travel possibilities, with Hungary situated at the core of Central Europe and extending throughout the EU. Research your ancestors’ birth records immediately to determine if you fulfill this requirement.
Lithuania
The Lithuanian government allows descendants of former citizens to request reinstated citizenship primarily when their forebears fled the country due to political circumstances. People whose families left Lithuania during the World Wars and Soviet occupation can apply for new Lithuanian citizenship.
Obtaining a Lithuanian passport means you secure the right to live and work anywhere throughout the EU. To begin your citizenship quest, your primary focus should be collecting essential vital records, especially emigration and naturalization documents.
Greece
Greek national citizenship awaits anyone with a governing grandfather born within Greek territory, letting individuals embrace one of humanity’s most pronounced cultural inheritances. To apply, individuals must show baptismal certificates and demonstrate they share ancestry with their village of origin.
The EU passport provides you entry to a Mediterranean lifestyle while connecting with an inclusive Greek community abroad. Through this process, you gain membership in the honored lineages of history.
Israel
Israel’s Law of Return permits people who can trace their roots to Jewish forebears to become Israeli citizens. Legality dictates that Israeli citizenship through the Law of Return requires applicants to verify Jewish descent through their mother or grandmother paired with synagogue or organizational Jewish documents.
Israeli citizenship enables beneficiaries to join a dynamic economic landscape alongside a cultural connection to one of the most historically rich nations. When qualification requirements are fulfilled, individuals can anticipate an expedited and uncomplicated application process.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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