Dual Citizenship

[Bojack Horseman]

If you discovered that you have a claim to citizenship through your lineage, would you have it recognized?

I discovered through some genealogy research that my great-great grandfather emigrated from Italy to the United States and never renounced his citizenship, meaning that since all the direct descendants, myself included, were male, I have a claim to birthright Italian citizenship. It's going to cost me upwards of $500 or $600 to get all the documents to prove it (You need the birth, death, and marriage records of every generation before you, up to the generation that gave you the citizenship), but I'm going to get it recognized.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

It depends if I already identified strongly with the country in question. I've grown up knowing that I'm descended from Germans and Britons, so I don't think I'd be against identifying as German or British. That being said, if I did some digging and found out that I have, say, Spanish ancestors that I didn't know about, I probably wouldn't go to the trouble of getting Spanish citizenship because I don't personally believe I have a claim to being called a Spaniard.

[Indy Texas]

To me, citizenship implies a desire to participate in the institutions of civil society in a country. For most people, it goes hand-in-hand with ethnic or national identity, but the two are not interchangeable.

Why would you want to be a citizen of a poorly run basketcase of a country like Italy? Wouldn't that in a way be a slap in the face to your great-great-grandfather who took great pains to get away from the place?

[angus]

If you discovered that you have a claim to citizenship through your lineage, would you have it recognized?

absolutely not.  

I'm wholly against it, in principle.  Pick one and deal with the consequences.  It's one of the few things I respect about the People's Republic of China.  Well, that and the food.  No one is a dual citizen of PRC and anywhere else.  We could learn a thing or two from the world's oldest civilization.

[Hamster]

To me, citizenship implies a desire to participate in the institutions of civil society in a country. For most people, it goes hand-in-hand with ethnic or national identity, but the two are not interchangeable.

Why would you want to be a citizen of a poorly run basketcase of a country like Italy? Wouldn't that in a way be a slap in the face to your great-great-grandfather who took great pains to get away from the place?

The Italian visa makes travel to/through Europe easy. If you want to go some place where Americans aren't welcome, the Italian visa solves that problem. Handy tool to have.

[Simfan34]

I'm a proud Canadian-American!

[bedstuy]

No (Proud to be an American [where at least I know I'm free]).

I can only see the advantage if you're getting the ability to live/work in an EU country.  That can be useful.  If you're unlikely to actually need an EU passport, it seems like a waste of time. 

[Bojack Horseman]

In all honesty, I've wanted to leave the United States just a little more with each passing day, and if I have a right to citizenship that will get me the right to live and work in the EU, I'm going for it. I don't get why Canada and Australia and New Zealand have their immigration laws set up to it's next to impossible for anyone to be able to emigrate.

[Franzl]

I didn't have to go to any trouble to get my dual citizenship recognized.

It's a nice thing to have, and my US passport comes in handy when visiting family in the US. Other than for that purpose, I don't use it for anything.

I wouldn't want to get rid of it unless I, some day, happen to make enough to qualify for American taxation.

[windjammer]

Yes obviously, but all my family is from France for a long time, so unlikely for me .

[Cranberry]

My whole family is coming from three different valleys, all within 50 kilometers, so that could never happen to me. I'd take it of course if I could.

[Hifly]

Definitely, it's quite useful to have as many passports and citizenships as possible.
I currently hold 3. I wouldn't mind having a fourth one.

[Cranberry]

Definitely, it's quite useful to have as many passports and citizenships as possible.
I currently hold 3. I wouldn't mind having a fourth one.

Which countries citizenships do you hold?

[Hifly]

Definitely, it's quite useful to have as many passports and citizenships as possible.
I currently hold 3. I wouldn't mind having a fourth one.

Which countries citizenships do you hold?

Germany, United Kingdom and Iran.

[Edu]

Some of the responses in this thread baffle me a bit.

Dual citizenship (or multiple citizenships) is something that has some potential advantages with basically no downsides. What rational argument can people have against this?

I have Argentinian and Italian citizenship and frankly it makes travelling in Europe that much easier. Also, if I ever wanted to visit the USA I could skip the awful visa process (which is a pain in the ass) and enter visa free with the Italian passport. Plus I can vote in Italian elections too.

Yeah, I obviously could live without it, It's not something THAT important in the grand scheme of things, but it's useful to have. Obviously it depends of the nationality, I don't know how much useful to me an Afghani passport would be like

EDIT: Ok, I guess I could see some argument against it if you have to pay additional taxes or don't travel abroad, but still, it seems like something good to have just in case.

[Cranberry]

Definitely, it's quite useful to have as many passports and citizenships as possible.
I currently hold 3. I wouldn't mind having a fourth one.

Which countries citizenships do you hold?

Germany, United Kingdom and Iran.

Are you of Iranian descent?

[Hifly]

Definitely, it's quite useful to have as many passports and citizenships as possible.
I currently hold 3. I wouldn't mind having a fourth one.

Which countries citizenships do you hold?

Germany, United Kingdom and Iran.

Are you of Iranian descent?

Ethnically I am 1/4 Persian. You wouldn't guess it if you saw me though.

[DC Al Fine]

If it were of some advantage to me (EU travel, Swiss banking etc.) I would.

[Dr. Cynic]

My great-grandfather became a naturalized American citizen in 1917, so I'm afraid I can't do that. Would be kinda cool to if it was possible.

[politicallefty]

I'm not aware of any options that are available to me through ancestry. If it were possible, I certainly wouldn't mind holding dual citizenship.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That Italian citizenship law is disgusting. Can't believe something so sexist remains in a modern day EU country.

[Hifly]

That Italian citizenship law is disgusting. Can't believe something so sexist remains in a modern day EU country.

How? Also if you're born before 1975 you can only claim German citizenship from your father, not your mother.

Unfortunately, German citizenship law has now been changed to allow all sorts of people to gain it.

[Franzl]

That Italian citizenship law is disgusting. Can't believe something so sexist remains in a modern day EU country.

How? Also if you're born before 1975 you can only claim German citizenship from your father, not your mother.

Unfortunately, German citizenship law has now been changed to allow all sorts of people to gain it.

Why? You're proof that natural borns can be the worst of the worst.

[Hifly]

That Italian citizenship law is disgusting. Can't believe something so sexist remains in a modern day EU country.

How? Also if you're born before 1975 you can only claim German citizenship from your father, not your mother.

Unfortunately, German citizenship law has now been changed to allow all sorts of people to gain it.

Why? You're proof that natural borns can be the worst of the worst.

At least I know how to behave when in Rome.

Are you not natural born?

[Franzl]

That Italian citizenship law is disgusting. Can't believe something so sexist remains in a modern day EU country.

How? Also if you're born before 1975 you can only claim German citizenship from your father, not your mother.

Unfortunately, German citizenship law has now been changed to allow all sorts of people to gain it.

Why? You're proof that natural borns can be the worst of the worst.

At least I know how to behave when in Rome.

Are you not natural born?

Of course I am. But unlike you, I think of people as individuals. There are immigrants that shouldn't have been given citizenship, just as there are natural borns like you who give us a bad name.