How to Get EU Citizenship as an American: Ancestry, Residency, Marriage

Americans become EU citizens by acquiring nationality in one of the 27 member states, and there are four realistic routes to do it: claim citizenship through an EU-born ancestor, naturalize after several years of legal residency, marry an EU citizen and naturalize on a shortened timeline, or use an investment-based residence permit as the starting point for eventual naturalization. There is no unified application, and each country writes its own rules. Once you hold any EU passport, you can live, work, and study anywhere in the bloc, use public healthcare systems, and vote in European Parliament and local elections where you reside.¹

Which path fits depends entirely on your family tree, your willingness to relocate, and your budget. Descent is the fastest and cheapest when it works. Naturalization is the reliable fallback. Marriage shortens the naturalization clock. Investment gets you a residency card, not a passport.

Claiming Citizenship Through an Ancestor

If you have a parent, grandparent, or (in some countries) a more distant ancestor born in an EU country, you may already be entitled to citizenship by bloodline. You are not applying so much as proving what is already yours. Each country sets its own generational cutoff and its own documentary rules, so the pathway depends on which nationality you are pursuing.

Italy

Italy was long the most generous descent country for Americans because it had no generational limit at all. That ended on March 28, 2025, when Decree-Law No. 36 took effect. Applications submitted after that date are limited to people who can show that a parent was born in Italy, a parent lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years before the applicant’s birth, or a grandparent was born in Italy.² If you are tracing Italian roots back three or more generations and did not already have a pending application, you are largely shut out.

For those who still qualify, you need a complete paper trail: birth, marriage, and death certificates for every person in the direct line from the Italian ancestor down to you, plus proof that the ancestor never naturalized as a citizen of another country before the next generation was born.³ If the ancestor did naturalize abroad, timing matters: naturalization after a child’s birth may leave the chain intact.

There is also the “1948 case.” Before January 1, 1948, Italian women could not pass citizenship to their children. If your line runs through a woman with a pre-1948 child, the consulate cannot process you administratively. You would have to sue in an Italian court on gender-equality grounds, which courts have been granting but at real cost and delay. U.S.-based Italian consulates currently take roughly two years just to issue an appointment, with processing time on top of that.

Ireland

Ireland is straightforward if a grandparent was born on the island of Ireland. You apply through the Foreign Births Register, submitting original birth, marriage, and death certificates covering three generations. Everything is processed in Dublin, and the Department of Foreign Affairs estimates about 12 months for complete applications.⁴ Once registered, you are a full Irish citizen and can apply for a passport.

The cutoff is firm at grandparents. If only a great-grandparent was Irish-born, you cannot register directly; your parent would have needed to register on the Foreign Births Register before you were born for citizenship to reach you.

Poland

Poland imposes no generational limit. If your ancestor held Polish citizenship and never formally lost it, you may be able to confirm that you already hold Polish citizenship yourself, no matter how many generations have passed. The process runs through the provincial governor via a Polish consulate and requires proof of the family connection along with any records showing your ancestor’s Polish citizenship or origin.⁵ Foreign-language documents must be translated by a sworn translator, and foreign public documents need an apostille.

Germany

Germany is more restrictive on descent, largely because it did not allow dual citizenship until June 2024. Under the old rules, an ancestor who naturalized as a U.S. citizen automatically lost German citizenship, breaking the chain. The 2024 reform permits dual citizenship going forward but does not restore citizenship already lost.⁶ Some Americans still qualify if an ancestor emigrated before certain historical cutoffs or was persecuted during the Nazi era, which triggers a separate restoration right under the German Basic Law.

The Document Trail

Descent applications almost always stall in the paperwork phase. You need original or certified copies of vital records for every generation between you and the EU-born ancestor. Each document generally needs an apostille (a standardized international certification) and a certified translation into the target country’s language.

State-level apostille fees in the U.S. run roughly $10 to $26 per document, and you will likely need several. Certified translations vary by language but commonly cost $30 to $75 per page. If your ancestor’s U.S. naturalization records are not in the family’s hands, the USCIS Genealogy Program can search federal immigration files created between 1893 and 1975 and identify matching records.⁷

Many EU countries also want an FBI Identity History Summary (a criminal background check). You can submit electronically or by mail for $18, with fingerprints taken at a participating U.S. Post Office or through an FBI-approved channeler.⁸

Naturalizing After Residency

If you have no qualifying ancestry, the standard path is to establish legal residency in an EU country and live there long enough to apply for citizenship. It is slower and more involved, but it is open to anyone willing to move.

Residency requirements vary. Germany now requires five years of legal residence for naturalization, down from eight under its 2024 reform, and exceptionally well-integrated applicants can qualify after three.⁶ France requires five years. Italy and Spain require ten. Portugal is raising its requirement from five to ten years, effective in 2026. Shorter periods sometimes apply to refugees, stateless persons, or people who have completed higher education in the country.⁹

Beyond time in country, most nations require a language exam, proof you can support yourself without public benefits, and evidence of integration. Germany requires a civics test and explicitly bars naturalization for applicants who express racism or antisemitism.⁶ Other countries use cultural knowledge exams or civic-participation requirements.

Practically, the sequence for most Americans is: secure a long-term visa (work, student, or freelancer, depending on the country), convert it to a residency permit, maintain continuous legal residence, then file the citizenship application. Extended absences can reset the clock. Germany, for example, allows absences of no more than six months at a stretch, and total time abroad cannot exceed half the minimum residency period.

Marriage or Registered Partnership

Marrying or entering a registered partnership with an EU citizen does not automatically make you one, but it shortens the road. Most countries cut the residency requirement for spouses, often to two or three years instead of the usual five to ten. EU rules also make it easier for non-EU spouses to join their EU-citizen partner in the country where that partner lives and works.¹⁰

You still have to meet the other naturalization requirements: language, financial independence, integration. Authorities verify that the relationship is genuine. If you divorce before hitting the residency threshold, your right to stay may depend on how long you have already lived there and whether you share children.

Investment-Based Residency

Several EU countries offer residence permits to people making substantial financial investments, often called “golden visa” programs. These grant legal residency, not immediate citizenship. After meeting the same naturalization period the country applies to everyone else (typically five to ten years), you can apply for citizenship as any other resident would.

The landscape has shifted sharply. Spain closed its golden visa in April 2025. Ireland shut its investor program in 2023. Portugal eliminated real estate as a qualifying investment in late 2023, though fund-based investments starting at €500,000 remain. Hungary dropped its direct real estate route in January 2025 but still allows a €250,000 investment fund option.

Greece overhauled its program in 2024 with zone-based pricing: €800,000 for real estate in Athens, Thessaloniki, and popular islands, €400,000 elsewhere, and €250,000 for restoring listed buildings or converting commercial properties. Italy offers residency for investments ranging from €250,000 in an innovative startup to €2 million in government bonds. Latvia, Cyprus, Malta, and Bulgaria maintain programs with varying thresholds.

These programs are expensive, closely scrutinized, and increasingly caught up in political backlash over housing prices and security vetting. The trend is toward higher thresholds and tighter rules, so verify current requirements directly with the country’s immigration authority before committing any money.

Keeping Your U.S. Passport

The United States does not require you to give up U.S. citizenship when you naturalize abroad. The State Department recognizes dual nationality as “a status long recognized in the law” and presumes that Americans who take a foreign oath of allegiance intend to keep their U.S. citizenship.¹¹ You do not need to notify Washington or take any affirmative step.

The pressure comes from the EU side. Nine member states currently require applicants for ordinary naturalization to renounce other citizenships: Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.¹² Naturalizing in any of those countries would generally cost you your U.S. passport. Germany dropped its renunciation requirement in 2024, so it is no longer on that list.⁶ The other 18 EU countries permit dual nationality for naturalized citizens.

Descent claims often play by different rules than naturalization. Some countries that demand renunciation from naturalizing applicants do not impose the same rule when you are claiming citizenship you already hold by bloodline. Confirm the specific rule for your situation before assuming you have to choose.

What Changes for Your U.S. Taxes

Americans consistently get blindsided here, so it is worth stating clearly even though it sits alongside the citizenship question rather than inside it. The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Becoming an EU citizen and moving to Paris or Berlin does not end your obligation to file a U.S. federal tax return each year. You will owe taxes to your new country of residence and may owe U.S. taxes on the same income.

Two mechanisms cushion the double hit. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets you exclude up to $132,900 of foreign salary or self-employment income from U.S. federal tax for the 2026 tax year, provided you meet the bona fide residence test or spend 330 full days abroad in a 12-month period.¹³ The Foreign Tax Credit gives you a dollar-for-dollar credit for income taxes paid to a foreign country, which is often the better tool in high-tax Western European countries. You cannot use both on the same dollar. Most U.S. bilateral tax treaties with EU countries contain a “saving clause” that preserves the U.S. right to tax its own citizens, so treaty relief is narrower than many expect.¹⁴

European bank accounts trigger separate reporting. If the combined value of all your foreign financial accounts tops $10,000 at any point in the year, you must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) with FinCEN.¹⁵ The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires an additional Form 8938 with your tax return if your foreign financial assets exceed higher thresholds set by filing status and residency.¹⁶ These are separate obligations filed to different agencies, and you may need to comply with both.

Where to Start

Figure out which pathway is realistic before you spend anything. If you have any European ancestry, check the target country’s descent rules against your specific lineage. Talk to older relatives, pull family documents, and look for naturalization records. For Italian claims, the March 2025 decree narrowed the window to grandparents born in Italy, so verify eligibility before investing in document collection.

If descent is off the table, pick the country you want to live in and study its visa options. A job offer, a university admission, or a freelancer registration can serve as the initial legal basis for residency. Then budget for the long haul: naturalization typically means five to ten years of continuous presence before you can even apply.

Regardless of pathway, expect to spend several hundred to a few thousand dollars on apostilles, certified translations, document procurement, and application fees. Costs mount fast when you need certified vital records spanning multiple generations and jurisdictions. An immigration attorney familiar with the specific country’s rules is worth the money, especially on descent claims where one missing document or procedural misstep can delay an application by years.

1
European Union. Living in the European Union
2
Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles. Citizenship by Descent
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Consulate General of Italy in New York. How to Apply for Citizenship by Descent Jure Sanguinis
4
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Citizenship
5
Republic of Poland. Confirming Polish Citizenship or Its Loss
6
Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (Germany). New Law on Nationality Takes Effect
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USCIS. Searching the Index
8
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
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Your Europe. Naturalisation and Citizenship in an EU Country
10
Your Europe. Non-EU Spouses and Children’s Residence Rights in the EU
11
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 7 FAM 080 – Dual Nationality
12
European Parliament. Acquisition and Loss of Citizenship in EU Member States
13
Internal Revenue Service. Figuring the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
14
Internal Revenue Service. United States Income Tax Treaties – A to Z
15
FinCEN. Reporting Maximum Account Value
16
Internal Revenue Service. Summary of FATCA Reporting for U.S. Taxpayers