Yahoo Lifestyle Americans Who Got Dual Citizenship In Countries Are Sharing How They Did It Without Marriage
Attention, American citizens 🫡 Recently, I asked Americans in our BuzzFeed Community who've moved abroad and attained citizenship (without marriage) to share with the class exactly how they did it. (I was just curious.) Their answers ranged from straightforward bureaucratic fare to tales worthy of a soap opera, so of course, I had to share... without further ado, here are their most interesting answers!
1."My American kid got a job at CERN in Switzerland and lives in France. He has visas for both working in Switzerland and one to live in France. Also has diplomatic immunity."
2."Nothing super special, unfortunately - my grandmother was born and raised in that country, so has citizenship, my dad has citizenship, and therefore, I qualify."
3."Pretty weird case, I'm half Mexican half white and have Mexican citizenship cuz my mom was born there. After college, I didn't really know what to do with my life so I spent a couple years in Spain teaching English."
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"When COVID hit that ruined it, but Spain has a digital nomad visa so I just chilled there for another year. Then I found out about this Convenio de Doble Nacionalidad, which is where if you're a citizen of (I think any?) country colonized by Spain you can get citizenship in Spain.
You have to have lived there for two years but I'd already lived there for like three, and also... I think you're supposed to renounce your US citizenship but I just applied with my Mexican passport and my lawyer was like, 'No one has to know.'
It took a little bit (Spaniards don't exactly work fast) but now I've got my citizenship and I'm chilling in Spain for the foreseeable future. Love it here, love the culture and how old the cities are. Love the old churches. Pretty sick."
—Anonymous
4."I moved to the UK BECAUSE of marriage and it still involved LOTS of paperwork and money."
"It’s hard to imagine how people who don’t speak the language fluently/have limited resources manage at all. I’m also interested in getting an EU passport because of my grandmother, which involves a modest language competency exam. Might take a while though, it’s a tough language. 🙂"
5."I have dual nationality with Egypt; [I got it] through descent."
6."I have dual Canadian and US citizenship via my mom being born in Saskatchewan. I could get UK as well, since her father was born in Yorkshire, but it costs about $1200 to process, and since Brexit, why bother?"
Pop TV / CBC Television / Via giphy.com
"The Irish will give you descent citizenship via a great-grandparent, so check out Ancestry.com! With their passport, you can live in any EU country."
7."[I'm] not American but I think this applies anyway. If you have grandparents who are immigrants and never renounced their citizenship, check the laws of their country's double descent! You might be surprised."
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"My mum thought she had two citizenships, and it was recently pointed out to her that she was eligible to apply for four different passports! She was floored."
8."American living in London here: I studied abroad in London my third year of college (uni) and liked it so much I returned a year later for grad school. This was 2018, when the student visa rules stipulated that you had to leave the UK upon completing your programme."
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"I had about fiuve months left on my student visa before I would essentially be kicked out of the country, so I applied for a bunch of internships.
One company (seriously, only one!) took a chance on me. The position I applied to turned into full-time employment, and they were able to sponsor my work visa. It was only meant for one year, but then it was renewed again in 2020 and 2023.
Last year, after living/working in the UK for five consecutive years (living here while on a student visa sadly doesn’t count) I became a permanent resident! Next year I will apply for dual citizenship.
The most straightforward way into the UK is through higher education (either doing a BA or MA degree). I understand this is not an option for many."
9."I studied abroad in Brazil and fell in love with the country and way of life. I got a job offer after college, but trying to get a work visa as a US citizen is almost impossible, even more so without experience."
"I was lucky that my father is Argentine which gave me the right to dual citizenship. At 22 I requested my citizenship and five months later I moved to Brazil.
The Mercosul agreement gives me the right to live and work like a local and seven years later I'm still here, now on a permanent residency. I got married last year but still keep my Mercosul residency because I earned it for myself. My parents moved mountains to give me a better life in the US, but they didn't realize they were really giving me the world."
—Anonymous
10."My story is wild. I was raised in a Christian fundamentalist cult in the US. They didn't give the girls social security numbers. My siblings and I were homeschooled and very sheltered..."
"Then when I was 13, my mother died in childbirth with her ninth baby. My father ended up sending us who were still under 18 to (gasp!) public school. It was a rural, poorly funded school but it was the world to me. I discovered non-culty literature and ate it up. I discovered history class and REAL MATH.
When I was 18 I figured out how to get my social security card. I worked for a year (okay by my dad because we were strapped for cash) at a restaurant and applied to college. I got a full scholarship to a state school and went without telling my family. (My brother did find me and tried to bring me home... story for another time.) "
"[In] my junior year, I got the chance to study abroad and TOOK IT. I went to Northern Ireland. I fell in love with it. It's a place that has seen a lot of turmoil (religious turmoil, just like me!) but the people were so lovely and the culture was the fresh start I needed."
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"I got my citizenship the long way. Senior year back in the US, I applied to every job in the UK I could find. I didn't get any. I graduated and worked for a year and a half in the US, still applying to any UK job I saw. Then, finally, I got one. I got a job outside London that sponsored my visa.
In England, I felt so much safer than I did in the US. I kept applying for jobs and FINALLY, I landed a job in Belfast. THEN, I got my ILR (indefinite leave to remain) and after a year of that, I applied for citizenship.
I'm 40 now and though I still feel an ache for my childhood and my siblings, all but one of whom are still stuck where they started, I am so happy and grateful to be free. I love NI and the life I've created for myself."
—Anonymous
11."I am currently in the process of pursuing Croatian citizenship by descent. Croatia has no limits on how 'far back' your Croatian ancestors [have to be]."
"In my case two of my great-grandparents (born 1863 and 1879) were emigrants. It’s a complicated process to prove descent by stringing together birth certificates (or in the case of my great-grandparents, Catholic Church birth/baptism records from their tiny villages), but it makes for interesting research.
Since I speak not a lick of Croatian (yet!), it requires the hiring of local bilingual lawyers and researchers to help prepare the application. In total, this will cost me about $2,000.
The wait for a decision from the interior ministry is up to two years, but all of this is worth it to have an EU passport in my back pocket."
—Anonymous
12."I was born in the UK to American parents before 1983. According to British law, I was automatically a citizen, so I recently applied and received my UK passport."
—Anonymous
13."[I got dual citizenship] through my dad via my great-grandfather; he was born in Northern Ireland, and so my dad and his brothers can claim Irish citizenship because it has been extended to anyone who has a grandparent born on the island. And then I can get it through my dad."
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—Anonymous
14."I'm from New England and I have a grandpa and grandma (opposite sides of the family) who were born and raised in Italy. I studied abroad in Florence and it was f—ing gorgeous."
"I already knew a li'l Italian and got pretty good at it while living there (it's a pretty easy language once you get going). I could read novels and write essays in Italian.
After college I figured I'd look into getting citizenship and found out that Italy has citizenship by descent, [so] it's really easy to get citizenship there if your grandparent is from there.
I'm 28 and have been over to Italy a couple times with my grandparents now. Last time we went, I brought my boyfriend (now fiancé!), and my Nonno introduced us to his brother (my great-uncle!) and his kids and their kids. It was so cool, just great and I've been able to keep up a relationship with a couple of my cousins."
—Anonymous
15."I will say the system has changed a bit now post-Brexit. I believe grad students can apply for a graduate visa scheme, which allows them to work/live in the UK [for] up to two years after completing their programme."
"Still, if you want to stay long-term you will need to find a job that will sponsor your work visa — believe me, this is not easy (but still a possibility)!"
16."We started our own business helping Americans move abroad and moved to Mexico! We are in the process of getting temporary residency and have helped lots of other people move too."
—Anonymous
17."I'm an American who was eligible for dual citizenship through descent with an EU country. I already spoke the language, but I had to live here for a few years before applying for citizenship."
"I'm going to be honest, I personally was able to do that much more easily because my parents were able to help me financially make the transition. They paid for my apartment while I moved and found a job. I'm really grateful for it and feel very lucky.
BUT... if that isn't your situation, just know that you don't need rich parents to do this. Don't let my situation dissuade you! I have two friends who gained citizenship here and they did it all by themselves. This was just my situation so I wanted to be honest."
—Anonymous
18."My dad is from Ireland so I have dual citizenship. I had to mail a copy of my birth certificate and his birth certificate along with my Irish passport application and that was it! I lived in County Wicklow a few years ago, came back to the States, and I’m currently prepping to move back to Dublin in a few months. It’s my greatest privilege and joy."
—Anonymous
19.And finally: "I had a job at an architecture firm in the US. At some point, I mentioned to my boss off-handedly that I would love one day to work out of the London office, at least for a time."
"Over a year later, he came to me and told me that a position had opened up, and asked if I would like to move there. I had a little time to decide, but not much; but I didn't need the time, really. I loved the idea of living in the UK and gave him an immediate YES."
"12 years later I have my UK citizenship and an amazing husband and two kids. I still love it here just as much as the day I came. Obviously, there are some frustrating cultural differences every once in a while, but that's to be expected."
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"One thing I must note that anyone considering this should know is that you WILL miss the United States. Even if you're one of those people who's like, 'I hate the US!' (which wasn't me, btw,) you will miss it more than you know.
There is a freedom of two parts in the US that the UK lacks: that of the vast swathes of nature open to you, and that of class mobility."
—Anonymous
Okay, all of these are interesting and/or helpful, but some of these actually need their own movie. Netflix, I hope you're reading this. Please leave allllll your thoughts in the comments below — I'm dying to read them.
Some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.
