Acquiring citizenship

Sadly my pursuit of an Irish passport has hit a brick wall. My notes on this page, are about how to get an alternative EU passport, and point at a white paper looking at global law. ….

I came across this article in the New European dated Sep 2022, which does a review of the current visa requirements, the trend for allowing digital nomads specific visas, some of which only require income guarantees, although most are above that of the British pension. Berlin and Porto are popular destinations.

Ireland 🇮🇪

Obvious, there is no residency nor a language qualification for Ireland, partly because of the Good Friday agreement.

There is a route to Irish citizenship for great grand parents. It requires proof of significant links with Ireland, such as three years residency.

Before applying for a passport I need to establish Irish citizenship rights, on this page. and this page, by registering a foreign birth. For this I need the Birth and Death certificates of Granda Frank which I can’t find, partly because I now think he was born in Hackney.

The Irish document requirementsToggle Me

Lithuania 🇱🇹

They do not require a language skill, but do require a blood line to Lithuanian residency. I have a great grand father born in Lithuania and they are developing law to allow recognition of expatriates but I think he died too early, 1923, if he’d lasted like his wife to 1943 it might be game on. It depends on how Lithuania treats the 1940 threshold. I of the view that Jacob does create an eligibility.

See more …

Lithuania is not very keen on dual nationality which is why the special route to entry is required. I had another look, someone suggested to me, that Lithuania would change its laws, unfortunately it takes a referendum with a super-majority which they have failed to achieve twice. This page documents how to apply and the necessary documents. 4th August 2024

Estonia 🇪🇪

They require one to have resided in Estonia legally for at least eight years and, of that, have spent the last five years with permanent residence in Estonia. Be familiar with the Estonian language. Take an examination demonstrating familiarity with the Estonian Constitution. Show a demonstrated means of support and take an oath of loyalty. Dual Nationality is not permitted.  They have an e-residency scheme, which seems to be more of a company registration scheme, rather than a personal application and acquisition of privileges.

Germany 🇩🇪

The Germans have laws that allow those deprived of citizenship by the Nazi’s can reclaim it, and so can their descendants, but don’t think this is very helpful to me. For more, see Living in Germany on this wiki

Poland 🇵🇱

1. The Polish Government permit dual nationality.
2. Apply to be recognised as a Polish citizen from the Polish Government, or to the President. These routes all require good Polish, if adult an income to support oneself, and some time spent in legal residency. I found this, which seems to major on the usual routes.
3. Polish citizenship for Jews from the an Israeli NGO
4. Polish Citizenship by Descent by whatpassport.com i.e. not the Polish Government, some rules on date of birth and residence, and some disqualifying changes, inc. great grand parents, of which I have two. It seems that the root of descent must have been Polish citizens in 1918 when modern Poland was founded. Philip had naturalised by then but I am unclear about Dora.

Portugal 🇵🇹

I should write up on Portugal, they seem fairly open to UK citizens obtaining residency.

Greece 🇬🇷

I wrote about getting permission to remain in Greece, in my travel page on Greece.

Sweden 🇸🇪

It looks, while the UK is not in the EU, that unless one has worked for 4 years, one may not stay in Sweden; that’s a no for me then.

Iceland 🇮🇸

Probably a dream, but I found this about entry/residence routes.

France 🇫🇷

In order to get a French Resident’s permit, one needs to enter the country with a visa, and then apply for a residency permit, which it seems can be issued if one wishes to retire. One needs, address proof in France, no older than 6 months, Medical certificate issued by OFII, proof of your income, proof of valid health insurance, proof of payment of duty stamps, signed Republican Integration Contract and language certificate

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Citizenship as inherited property

I came across this, “Citizenship as Inherited Property”, Ayelet Shachar and Ran Hirschl Political Theory, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Jun., 2007), pp. 253-287 (35 pages) Published By: Sage Publications, Inc.

The global distributive implications of automatically allocating political membership according to territoriality (jus soli) and parentage (jus sanguinis) principles have largely escaped critical scrutiny. This article begins to address this considerable gap. Securing membership status in a given state or region–with its specific level of wealth, degree of stability, and human rights record–is a crucial factor in the determination of life chances. However, birthright entitlements still dominate both our imagination and our laws in the allotment of political membership to a given state. In this article we explore the striking conceptual and legal similarities between intergenerational transfers of citizenship and property. The analogy between inherited citizenship and the intergenerational transfer of property allows us to use existing qualifications found in the realm of inheritance as a model for imposing restrictions on the unlimited and perpetual transmission of membership–with the aim of ameliorating its most glaring opportunity inequalities.

Abstract

To me the importance of Jus Soli and Jus Sanguinis, you can see these in today’s laws, although it seems that marriage is being excluded as a means of acquiring nationality.

See also

I wrote this, Citizenship, about right to remain in the UK and voting rights.

Image Credit: by Alison Clarke, from flickr CC 2014 BY-NC-SA – this bliki is non commercial