Citizenship by Descent 2026 verified

Citizenship by Descent in 2026, 12 Pathways Compared

Q: Can I claim citizenship through a great-grandparent?

It depends on the country. Italy generally no longer: since Decree-Law 36/2025, someone born abroad who holds another citizenship qualifies only through a parent or grandparent who was exclusively Italian (or a parent who lived in Italy for two consecutive years). Ireland goes to grandparent automatically, great-grandparent only if your parent registered in the FBR before your birth. Poland allows unlimited if the citizenship was continuously held. Germany via the Section 15 restoration route (descendants of Nazi-era persecuted Germans) has no generation cap. Mexico, since the 2021 reform, has no generational cap on the by-birth line, so grandparent and further-back lines can qualify, registered link by link.

If you have a grandparent (or in some cases great-grandparent) born in Italy, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the UK, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, France, or Mexico, you may already qualify for a second passport, often without moving, paying tax, or even visiting the country. For most people who qualify, it's the cheapest, fastest, and most durable route to an EU passport.

Summarize with ChatGPT Perplexity

Do I qualify? A 20-second check

Descent turns on two things: which country your ancestor came from, and how close they are to you. Check yours here, then run the full Country Matcher for the residence-visa routes too.

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Where to start (2026)

For most people with European ancestry, Ireland's Foreign Births Register is the fastest and cheapest CBD route, typically $600-1,000 all-in, about 12 months, accepts grandparent line cleanly. Italian jus sanguinis was restricted in 2025 to the parent or grandparent line for most applicants born abroad, and consulate waits run multiple years. Mexican Doble Nacionalidad is the cheapest globally at ~$400-1,100 for those with a parent (or, since the 2021 reform, a grandparent) who is Mexican by birth, since the consular registration is free. Spain's descent routes are largely closed: the Democratic Memory Law grandparent window ended in October 2025 and the Sephardic route in 2019, so only a Spanish-born parent (Article 17.1.a) still qualifies.

The twelve countries covered here. All are researched from primary law and official sources and carry a 'researched, not lawyer-reviewed' notice. Blue marks a full step-by-step guide (Ireland, Italy, Germany, Poland, Mexico); green marks a shorter researched summary (Hungary, the UK, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, France, Spain). Guide depth Full step-by-step guideResearched summary Map data: Natural Earth, public domain. Natural Earth I projection.

The 2026 comparison

Citizenship by descent pathways. All twelve are researched against primary law and official sources and carry a "researched, not lawyer-reviewed" notice; figures verified 2026-09-21. † marks the shorter researched summaries (Hungary, UK, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, France, Spain); the rest have full step-by-step guides (Ireland, Italy, Germany, Poland, Mexico). Slovakia's route is an eased naturalization, not automatic recognition; France's claim is barred for long-dormant lines by the 50-year desuetude rule; Spain's grandparent window closed in October 2025.
Country	Generations	Est. cost	Timeline
🇮🇪 Ireland (FBR)	Up to grandparent	$600-1,000	~12 months
🇮🇹 Italy (jus sanguinis)	Parent or grandparent (2025 law)	$2,500-12,000	Multiple years (consulate)
🇩🇪 Germany (StAG, the Nationality Act)	Parent line; no cap via Section 15 (Nazi-era persecution)	$1,200-4,000	2-3 years (certificate)
🇵🇱 Poland	Unlimited (continuous)	$4,000-12,000	6 months statutory (since Aug 2025); 1-2 years typical
🇲🇽 Mexico (Doble Nacionalidad)	Parent line; grandparent+ since 2021 (link-by-link)	$400-1,100	3-9 months
🇭🇺 Hungary †	Unlimited; two routes (verification, or naturalization with a Hungarian-language interview)	No government fee; documents + translation are the cost	6-18 months (US consulate)
🇬🇧 UK (British by descent) †	Usually one generation abroad (a UK-born parent)	£102 passport if already British; £1,214 if child registration	Passport: weeks; registration: varies
🇱🇹 Lithuania (pre-1940 restoration) †	Deep line to a pre-1940 citizen; dual citizenship retained	120 euro state fee, plus genealogy	6-12 months (decision only)
🇬🇷 Greece (jus sanguinis) †	Unlimited; men become liable for military service	~100 euro consular fees, plus genealogy	1-3 years
🇸🇰 Slovakia (Czechoslovak descent) †	Parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent; eased naturalization, not automatic	~30 euro via parent/grandparent; ~1,000 euro via great-grandparent (unconfirmed)	6-12 mo appointment, then decision
🇫🇷 France (jus sanguinis) †	Parent to child, no cap on paper; but the 50-year desuetude rule (Art. 30-3) bars long-dormant lines	Free (Certificate of French Nationality); records are the cost	6 months statutory, longer in practice
🇪🇸 Spain †	Grandparent window (Memory Law) closed Oct 2025; Sephardic closed 2019; only a Spanish parent (Art. 17.1.a) remains	Registration of a nationality you already hold	Varies

Which country accepts which line?

Painted pub fronts along a cobbled street in the Temple Bar quarter of Dublin, Ireland. — Temple Bar, Dublin.Photo: Diogo Palhais on Unsplash

🇮🇪 Ireland, Foreign Births Register

How it works. If a parent or grandparent was born in Ireland (Northern Ireland counts pre-1922), you can register on the FBR and apply for an Irish passport. If a parent gained citizenship via FBR themselves, they must have registered before your birth for you to claim through them.

2026 cost: €278 FBR fee (adult; €153 for a minor) + $200-500 document collection + €90 passport (US resident, online). No apostilles required. Total: $600-1,000.

2026 timeline: approximately 12 months as of September 2026. The FBR works in strict date order; treat the figure as a current estimate, not a ceiling.

Best for: People with one Irish grandparent who want the fastest, cheapest EU passport. Roughly 30 million Americans claim Irish ancestry; many have direct-line eligibility.

Read the full Ireland CBD guide →

🇮🇹 Italy, Jus Sanguinis

How it works. Italy restricted citizenship by descent in 2025. Under Decree-Law 36/2025 (converted by Law 74/2025), a person born abroad who holds another citizenship is recognized only if a parent or grandparent was exclusively an Italian citizen, or a parent lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years before the birth. Each ancestor in the line must still have been Italian when the next generation was born.

2026 caveats. Great-grandparent lines generally no longer qualify. The 1948 rule still requires a court case in Italy for pre-1948 maternal-line transmission. The 2025 law is under active legal challenge, so re-check before you file.

2026 cost: Consular fee €600 per adult applicant (raised from €300 on 1 January 2025; the dollar amount is reset quarterly). Consulate route all-in: $2,500-5,500. In-person comune route (requires Italian residency): $2,000-5,000. 1948 court case via lawyer: $5,000-12,000 (community estimates).

2026 timeline: Consulate: multiple years, varying widely by jurisdiction; some consulates, including New York, have closed their waiting lists. Comune and court routes: not re-verified in September 2026.

Best for: People with an Italian-born parent or grandparent who can wait or can move to Italy for the comune route. Worst for: great-grandparent lines (mostly excluded since 2025) and people in a hurry.

🇩🇪 Germany, general descent + Section 5 and Section 15 routes

The opportunity. Section 15 of the Nationality Act restores German citizenship to descendants of Germans who were denaturalized, persecuted, or forced to emigrate between 1933 and 1945, with no generation cap. Section 5 lets people excluded by old patrilineal or marriage rules (and their descendants born after 23 May 1949) claim by declaration, but that window closes on 19 August 2031.

The general-descent line is stricter: every parent in the chain must have been German at the child's birth, and the 1871-1914 ten-year-abroad rule broke many American families' chains. Since 27 June 2024 Germany generally permits dual citizenship.

2026 cost and timeline: Certificate of Citizenship (general descent) €51, about 2-3 years per the Federal Foreign Office. Section 5 and Section 15 fees and timelines are not clearly published on the official pages, so do not assume they are free.

Best for: People with German-Jewish, German-political- refugee, or other Nazi-era German ancestry (Section 15), and families cut out by the old gender rules who can file before August 2031 (Section 5).

🇲🇽 Mexico, Doble Nacionalidad

How it works. If a parent who is Mexican by birth held Mexican nationality at the time of your birth, you are already a Mexican citizen, you just need to formalize the documentation. Apply at any Mexican consulate in the US. Since the 2021 constitutional reform there is no generational cap on the by-birth line, so grandparent and further-back lines can qualify too, but you register link by link (the parent in between has to register before the child).

2026 cost: consular registration is free + $100-500 document collection + $300-600 apostille/translation. Total: $400-1,100.

2026 timeline: 3-9 months (community estimate).

Best for: People with a parent (or, since the 2021 reform, a grandparent) who is Mexican by birth. Mexico allows full dual citizenship and has a fast-tracked naturalization path for descendants if you don't directly qualify. On tax, note that Mexico taxes its tax-residents on worldwide income, but holding Mexican nationality does not by itself make you a tax resident.

Decision framework

If you have...	Start with	Why
One Irish grandparent	🇮🇪 Ireland FBR	Fastest, cheapest, cleanest law
An Italian-born parent or grandparent	🇮🇹 Italy jus sanguinis	Restricted to parent/grandparent since 2025; plan for a multi-year wait
German-Jewish or Nazi-persecuted ancestry	🇩🇪 Germany Section 15	No generation cap; Section 5 declaration window closes Aug 2031
A parent or grandparent who is Mexican by birth	🇲🇽 Mexico Doble Nacionalidad	Cheapest + fastest of any CBD globally; grandparent lines register link-by-link since the 2021 reform
Polish ancestor (pre-1951 emigration)	🇵🇱 Poland	Wide-open law if citizenship was continuously held
No qualifying ancestry	/retirement-visas/ or /how-to-leave-the-us/	CBD is not your path, consider visa-based residency

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if I qualify for citizenship by descent?

Take the Country Matcher quiz, a few questions, about 3 minutes. It asks the passport you hold, where your parents and grandparents were born, and how you would support yourself abroad, then maps you to the routes that fit, descent and residence visas both. Italy, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Mexico are the most common descent matches.

Can I claim citizenship through a great-grandparent?

It depends on the country. Italy generally no longer: since Decree-Law 36/2025, someone born abroad who holds another citizenship qualifies only through a parent or grandparent who was exclusively Italian (or a parent who lived in Italy for two consecutive years). Ireland goes to grandparent automatically, great-grandparent only if your parent registered in the FBR before your birth. Poland allows unlimited if the citizenship was continuously held. Germany via the Section 15 restoration route (descendants of Nazi-era persecuted Germans) has no generation cap. Mexico, since the 2021 reform, has no generational cap on the by-birth line, so grandparent and further-back lines can qualify, registered link by link.

What documents will I need?

At minimum: a birth/baptism/civil-registry record of the ancestor who was a citizen of the target country, marriage and death records for each generation in the line, naturalization records (proving when the ancestor became American, if at all), and your own birth certificate. All US documents need apostilles and certified translations. Italian and Polish cases routinely require 8-15 documents per line.

How much does it really cost?

For Ireland FBR: $600-1,000 total (EUR 278 fee plus EUR 90 passport plus documents). For Italy via consulate: $2,500-5,500 (the consular fee is now EUR 600 per adult, plus document collection, translations, and apostilles). For Italy 1948 court case in Italy: $5,000-12,000 with a lawyer. For Poland: $4,000-12,000 with a lawyer. Mexico is the cheapest at $400-1,100: the consular registration itself is free, so the spend is documents, apostilles, and translation.

How long does it take?

Ireland FBR: approximately 12 months as of September 2026. Italy consulate route: multiple years, and some consulates (New York included) have closed their waiting lists. Italy 1948 court case: 12-24 months (community estimate). Germany Certificate of Citizenship: about 2-3 years. Mexico Doble Nacionalidad: 3-9 months. Poland: six months by statute since the 1 August 2025 amendment (it was one to two months before that), about 1-2 years in practice once the Voivode backlog and document-gathering are counted. The variance is enormous depending on country and route.

Will I lose my US citizenship?

No, in almost every case. The US allows dual citizenship by default. You only lose US citizenship if you formally renounce, which is a separate $2,350 process at a consulate. Some target countries (e.g., the Netherlands) require renunciation of prior citizenship to naturalize, but CBD claims, which restore citizenship you already had at birth, do not.

Can I work in the EU with an Italian or Irish passport?

Yes. An EU passport gives you the right to live and work in any of the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. This is the single most-valuable practical outcome of an EU CBD claim for working-age Americans.

Sources & methodology

Ireland, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Mexico fees, rules, and timelines re-checked on 2026-09-07 against each country's official consulate, foreign-affairs ministry, or voivode pages. The seven rows marked † (Hungary, UK, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, France, Spain) were research-verified against primary law and official government pages (Hungary's citizenship act; the British Nationality Act and gov.uk; the Lithuanian Migration Department; the Greek Nationality Code and Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Slovak Embassy in Washington; the French Code civil on Legifrance; and the Spanish Civil Code and Ley 20/2022 on the BOE), and each carries a full claim ledger and publishes with a prominent 'researched, not lawyer-reviewed' notice. Slovakia's route is an eased naturalization rather than automatic recognition; France's claim is barred for long-dormant lines by the Article 30-3 fifty-year desuetude rule; and Spain's grandparent window (the Democratic Memory Law) closed on 22 October 2025, leaving only the Spanish-parent route open. Document collection cost ranges are community estimates from r/AmerExit and ExpatFIRE reports (n=120+ recent cases).

Last reviewed 2026-09-21, Expat Future editorial