The Easiest Way to Get a Second Passport in Europe

Review This Checklist to See If You Qualify…

Want to become an Italian? It’s easier than you might think… thanks to a chap named Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Before 1861, the country we now know as Italy was a patchwork of principalities, kingdoms, and other hereditary states. But like German-speaking peoples across the Alps, Italian speakers wanted to live in a real country, on par with the great states of Europe like France, Spain, and England.

Garibaldi led rebellious forces intent on realizing that ideal. Thanks to his efforts, the Kingdom of Italy came into existence on March 17, 1861.

And if you have an ancestor who was alive on that day within the Kingdom, or born there afterward, you’re probably eligible for Italian citizenship… one of the easiest in the world to acquire.

That’s excellent news for millions of Americans.

Between 1870 and 1930, 5.5 million Italians came to the U.S. Even though many eventually returned to their mother country, they left behind enough descendants to make Italian-Americans one of the biggest population groups in the country, at more than 20 million.

Here are the formal conditions to qualify for Italian citizenship:

1. You have an ancestor in direct line of descent (i.e., parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc.) born in the region that became Italy and was alive on March 17, 1861, OR was born inside Italy after that date;

• Your ancestor was never naturalized as a U.S. citizen OR became a U.S. citizen AFTER the birth of their child born in the U.S. after June 14, 1912; and

• None of the ancestors in your direct line of descent ever renounced their Italian citizenship. (Note: Even though until the 1950s U.S. law prohibited dual citizenship, there was never any formal requirement that immigrants renounce their birth citizenship. So, the vast majority of Italian immigrants would not have done so.)

There are some quirks and variations in this process, but in general, if you can thread that exceptionally wide needle, you can apply to become an Italian citizen.

Becoming an Italian citizen makes you a citizen of the European Union. That means you can live, study, work, or open a business in any of the 27 EU member states.

And don’t worry; Italy allows you to hold multiple citizenships. Your children can inherit your Italian citizenship and passport. And because the U.S. and Italy have a double taxation agreement, taxes you pay to one jurisdiction are deducted from the other. That means if you decide to live and work in Italy, your Italian tax payments will be deducted from any U.S. taxes you might owe, and vice versa.

For the cherry on the top, under a 1966 treaty between the countries, Italian nationality gives you the automatic right to live and work in Panama!

Applying for Italian citizenship by descent is one of the least expensive ways to acquire a second passport. If you do it yourself, you’re looking at an application fee of around €300 ($330). You can apply at any Italian consulate in the United States, or at various government offices in Italy itself.

Nevertheless, given the amount of genealogical research involved, many Americans who have pursued Italian citizenship by descent say it’s worth working through specialized attorneys. That’s because it’s necessary to document your ancestry with records from both the U.S. and Italy, which can be hard to find if you don’t know where to look.

But compared to the cost of applying for an Italian golden visa—which can range anywhere from €250,000 to €1 million—citizenship by descent is a bargain no matter how you pursue it.

That’s precisely why I’m so keen on Italy.

I get tired of seeing websites and newsletters that assume that a second passport is only for “high net worth individuals.” A second citizenship should be available to everyone… and if you’re fortunate enough to have Italian descent, it’s available to you.