We are currently in the process of applying for citizenships of 2 different EU countries by descent. We planned to do this some time ago, but the current political uncertainty really propelled us to get out s**t together, gather documents and start working on the applications.
I think that the political uncertainty in US will continue regardless of who wins the November elections.
Some practical observations about applying for EU citizenship by descent:
- it is a very complicated and long process. It took a lot of effort to gather all the documents.
- EU countries insist on certifying all the marriage and birth certificates with "apostilles" (something that I did not know even existed before starting this process). To give you some idea of how involved this is, it takes 3 months and 3-step process to get an apostille on a NY birth certificate alone.
- EU consulates in NY are already overwhelmed by the number of people who are taking advantage of citizenship by descent. I think that regardless of whoever wins November elections, the number of people looking for EU citizenships will rise and so will the wait periods. If the political uncertainty in US continues to rise, you can fully expect the EU consulates in US to become even more overwhelmed and the wait times to rise dramatically.
Also, if you are at all interested in process, I would encourage you to research the citizenship laws of the countries your ancestors emigrated from. A large number of EU countries have quite liberal law when it comes to issuing passports by descent. Poland, Ireland, Italy, Croatia and Hungary probably have the most liberal laws.
NP. I second that. Use the country that venders citizenship most easily. Some countries are incredibly strict.
Your all looking at Hungary with its REAL LIFE FASCIST GOVERNMENT as a place to escape from New York if the 2020 election doesn't go your way convinces me that the education system here really does have significant gaps. Sounds like y'all are grads of some liberal arts college with the emphasis on liberal. Have you ever heard of Viktor Orban? Do you know how certain ethnic groups were treated during WW2 in Croatia and Hungary? Be careful where you emigrate to...at least read a book maybe Eastern Europe for Dummies.
@Anonymous You seem extremely poorly informed. You do realize that Hungary (whatever you may think about its current government) is a full fledged member of the EU, and that Hungarian passport entitles you to live and work in any other EU member with all the rights that any other citizen of that country would have (except, perhaps voting)? And that getting a Hungarian passport does NOT require you to relinquish a US one? Just because you get a Hungarian passport does not mean you even intend to leave the US. It just means that you have option to down the line. Why on Earth would you chose NOT to get a Hungarian passport and thus get a preferential access to labor market of the entire EU, should the need arise?
Sounds like you have never applied for even a United States of America passport before sweetie...I would start with that. The millions of people trying to get here can't all be wrong! (22 million global citizens typically apply each year for the USA green card lottery - which used to go to about 50,000 winners - fewer winners now but as many applicants as ever.)
You do realize that almost every EU country allows dual citizenship, don't you?
@anonymous that’s not true. I know of several EU countries that don’t permit dual citizenship.
@Anonymous Well, Hungary in particularly DOES allow dual citizenship, which in effect means that Hungarian passport is MORE DESIRABLE to a US citizen to citizenships of these other, "less fascist" EU countries.
Out of the frying pan...what if Hungary institutes a mandatory draft that may affect your snowflakes ... yes, call the defunded police from your former home state and ask them to extraordinary rendition you out of Budapest...fyi that's the capital of Hungary ;)
You see, the beauty of dual citizenship is that in the EXTREMELY UNLIKELY AND INSANE SCENARIO in which Hungary wants to draft you, you can always hop on a plane and go back to US, assuming the situation in US is better in this scenario.
And you will also be subject to the taxing regime of that foreign jurisdiction of which you're claiming citizenship and possibly to the reach of the entire EU to which you so dearly wish to belong...
Except that EU does not have extraterritorial taxation, which seems to be a uniquely American form of mental illness.
Makes sense that you would want to avail yourselves of the protections of a foreign jurisdiction without paying taxes or averring loyalty and then jump back to the fairer shores of the United States whenever things got sticky. Same philosophy behind defunding the police in principle!
All countries of the EU will tax you on your global income if you reside there. From the EU website: Which country can tax you?
There are no EU-wide rules that say how EU nationals who live, work or spend time outside their home countries are to be taxed on their income.
However, the country where you are resident for tax purposes can usually tax your total worldwide income, earned or unearned. This includes wages, pensions, benefits, income from property or from any other sources, or capital gains from sales of property, from all countries worldwide.