Is it time for a second passport?

[Pauline]

There is an interesting article in The Atlantic about Americans “hedging” by getting a second citizenship.

The Atlantic - AMERICANS ARE BUYING AN ESCAPE PLAN
Is it time for a second passport?
MARCH 22, 2025

Americans Are Buying an Escape Plan — The Atlantic

Is it time for a second passport?

apple.news

For once I am ahead of the game. I got my Irish citizenship in the 1980s and Steve got his through me. We were not able to move to the UK until we retired but we had those passports in case we figured out a way to move earlier. (Steve’s work involved American high schools (admin software).)

There is a thread in the Italy forum about changes to the qualifications for Italian citizenship. Maybe this is because of the increase in applications.

From the article:
Americans without a ton of money are finding ways to access new passports by re-hyphenating themselves. Many are casting around for long-lost relatives through which they can claim Italian, Irish, Austrian, or German citizenship. Tracking down birth certificates from the old country and persuading embassies to accept them as proof of citizenship used to be logistically complicated; now there are consultants to help with that too. European countries have grown accustomed to American applicants who want to expand their options and lower the cost of college, health care, and child care.

According to one estimate, about 40 percent of U.S. citizens might be eligible for European passports through their ancestors. Last year, Ireland received 31,825 passport applications from U.S. citizens, Austria naturalized 1,914 (virtually all as reparations for Nazi-era persecutions), and more than 6,100 Americans applied for British citizenship, with a noticeable uptick beginning in November.

 

[artnbarb]

I wish this was a possibility for us, but sadly, it's not.

 

[JMichael]

We have looked into it, but the costs seemed prohibitive. We believe my wife would be eligible in both Germany and Croatia. However, it would cost at least $6K for research and translations without any guarantee of success. I would be another $5K. We are in our 70s, so it doesn't seem worth it at this point.

 

[Mariner_Tom]

My wife did it for an Italian passport.
It took twelve years and cost roughly $4,500 USD. She qualified because her great-grandfather was not yet a citizen when her grandfather was born. That has since been changed; IIRC, it now has to be that your grandfather was not a citizen when your father was born. The Italians used to grant citizenship to the spouse if they had been married for three years, but now, the law has been changed as of 2018, and now the spouse must pass a test for proficiency in the Italian language to qualify, but otherwise will still qualify for permanent resident alien status.

I have been told that in the past you could walk into a consulate office with your proof and walk out with citizenship and a passport a little later. Not so anymore, if it ever was that way, and I don't see it being done on your own now, either. You need someone who can navigate the impenetrable Italian bureaucracy, and it still is going to take a long time. There were many instances of our attorney having to deal with problems of spelling and dates of birth certificates, and general bureaucratic intransigence.

I am glad we did it, we do have an "escape hatch" if it is needed, but it sure did take a long time.

 

[NoSpin]

I can qualify for an Italian passport and many years ago my wife encouraged me to get it. At the time I thought it wasn't really necessary and the time, trouble and expense wasn't worth it.

Don't you just hate it when you spouse says, "I told you so".

 

[Fioridave]

My mother bought property in Canada because she feared that the U.S. was heading to a dictatorship. We finally sold the property because no one in the family wanted it. We paid taxes on the property for 55 years, and my mother passed away in 1985.

I love Europe and have been there at least 50 times, some times twice a year. Many counties are not as liberal as Americans think, like Italy and Ireland. Others have serious problems with crime, like Sweden and parts of the UK.

 

[NoSpin]

Well your mother was finally right. And Sweden has a serious crime problem? I would never have guessed that.

 

[Fioridave]

Well your mother was finally right. And Sweden has a serious crime problem? I would never have guessed that.

Yes. It is having a terrible time with sex crimes. I was there 40 years ago, and women would sunbathe topless in the parks. Now, they are subject to sexual harassment. Rape and sexual offenses are of the charts, as in many other countries. The New Year’s Eve celebration in Germany (I think Hamburg,but memory is tricky at my age) about 10 years ago, were the largest sexual misconduct incident ever outside of war crimes. And it has become typical in Europe. Many women in Paris dress more modestly now. When I first went to London in 1971, the Bobbie’s were not armed. Now many are. Likewise, when I started going to Italy it was rare to see armed police. Now in the corner of every major piazza, there are jeeps with soldiers and automatic weapons. Outside every synagogue in France and Italy there are heavily armed guards. The difference that I have seen in 50 years is amazing and depressing.

 

[Fioridave]

Well your mother was finally right. And Sweden has a serious crime problem? I would never have guessed that.

Also my mother was wrong. In a dictatorship, newspapers cant print anti-government articles. The NYT, LA Times, ABC, nbc, msnbc, sacto Bee, NPR, and countless others are openly critical. The USSR had 2 papers. The name of one translated into “truth,” and the other into “news.”

The Russians used to joke, “in [the paper] Truth there is no news, and in [the paper] News there is no truth.”

Ah, as I said to John Lennon, “you don’t know how lucky you are, back in the USSR.”

 

[NoSpin]

Now in the corner of every major piazza, there are jeeps with soldiers and automatic weapons. Outside every synagogue in France and Italy there are heavily armed guards. The difference that I have seen in 50 years is amazing and depressing.

I believe the issue of armed soldiers at popular sites is due to the threat of terrorism and not the usual street crime. I never saw soldiers patrol the Promenade des Anglais until that terroist drove a truck down the sidewalk.

 

[Fioridave]

I believe the issue of armed soldiers at popular sites is due to the threat of terrorism and not the usual street crime. I never saw soldiers patrol the Promenade des Anglais until that terroist drove a truck down the sidewalk.

You are partly right. It is partly due to the threat of terrorism. But when I started going to Europe that was unimaginable. But still street crime has inreased. Why do Bobbies have guns? Unimaginable 40 years ago. (Am I’m really that old?). Why can’t French women dress like they used to in public? Why can’t women in Stockholm bask in the sun? None of the things I mentioned were imaginable when I was traveling in the old days. Europe was safe to walk the streets at any time in any attire. And if people are there thinking of moving there, it is something to keep in mind. That’s all I’m saying.

 

[Ian Sutton]

A small word of caution. Sexual predators existed back in the 'good old days' of the 1970s/1980s, but far too often a blind eye was turned to such behaviour. Indeed general attitudes towards women stunk badly back then, with casual sexual harassment not just tolerated, but actively encouraged in the TV of the day.

I remember one of our teachers at school used to host house parties, inviting 14/15 year old girls from his classes to attend. There was little doubt among the children as to what was going on, but they knew no-one would listen to any complaints.

Such activities would much more likely be reported now, and the police somewhat more supportive.

Things aren't perfect by any means, and never will be, but there was much about the 1970s / 1980s that was much worse than today.

 

[J_ChanUSA]

I finally explored my roots a couple of years ago and discovered I qualify for Greek citizenship. Going that route now and I'll be moving to a Greek island in the next 12 months. Have not decided where yet...