To ask - if you suddenly found you could apply for an EU passport, would you apply and would you move?

[Peasbewithyou]

I am British but have found out that I am likely eligible for an EU (Italian) passport (due to Italian ancestry) and therefore my children will also be eligible.

Before BREXIT I hadn’t really thought about it but last night I was idly wondering whether I should actually apply for it and if we could move. I quite like the idea of a big adventure. I didn’t grow up in the UK and also loved abroad as a young adult. I loved living abroad as a kid. I learnt a new language (sadly not Italian) and I think got a bit of a different perspective on the world.

But of course as an adult with a mortgage and kids and a career it’s all a bit of a different kettle of fish! I suspect it will probably be much too difficult to contemplate!

So, I’m curious to hear what others would do!

YABU - no I would stay put
YANBU - Bye! I’m off as soon as the passport hits the doormat.

@Hoppinggreen

We found out last year that DH and the DC could get dual nationality with another EU nation so we sorted it out. Unfortunately I can’t unless I live there for 3 years. We do plan to retire to a different EU country but we are not sure how that will work for me yet but it’s over 10 years away

You can still do this if your DH has EU nationality - according to this info:

europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/family-residence-rights/non-eu-wife-husband-children/index_en.htm

Yes, I so wish I could apply. I'd move to the Netherlands.
My family lived in Spain. I have no idealistic view of life abroad but would value the freedom to choose.
Another friend has owned in Spain for many years, retired in October and of course now can't follow her plan to retire there long term.

I feel so aggrieved that my children won't have the same opportunities that being part of the EU afforded.

Friends and their DC's and my step children have all already gained Irish passports through their family heritage to give them the freedoms they want.
I feel left behind for me and my DC's. What has the UK done?

I wouldn’t necessarily move but would definitely apply, in fact I would be filling in the form as fast as I could . Why wouldn’t you ?

@WanderingMilly

No I wouldn't. I'm not European and don't want to be, I'm English. However, if Scotland gained independence I might possibly consider emigrating there....

European isn’t a nationality. You are part of the European continent so you are European I can guess which way you voted.

[quote lurker101]@101namesforme here’s the details europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-family/[/quote]
@lurker101

That’s brilliant, thank you!

Italian is a very easy language to learn OP so you’re in luck - be glad it wasn’t Hungarian or Finnish!

I used to live in Germany and I would love to move back there but I might have a hard time persuading my OH.

Ooh looks like almost everyone would get the passport and then see. Which I think is what I will do if I am eligible.

Thanks for the info @MajorBumsore that is the route I would be claiming through. The Italians have a strong citizenship-through-blood position. Someone else upthread mentioned about a citizenship test which I didn’t know about, I thought if you had a direct familial connection you wouldn’t need to but I will investigate.

I’m not 100% sure I will be able to get the passport but am going to try that’s for sure.

My Italian is pretty rubbish but I have always wanted to learn and am generally pretty good with languages. I also love Italy, have been on quite a few holidays.

Who knows maybe one day we can move?

I would apply for a passport.
It would give me the option to leave, I wouldn’t do this immediately

If I was eligible for an Italian passport I’d apply for it. But I wouldn’t move to a non English speaking country. I’d probably use my Italian passport to move to another EU country such as Ireland.

Sabrina thank you
At present I can live in my husbands country and get nationality there after 3 years but I don’t think I can live in the 3rd EU country indefinitely at the moment.
We will look at the situation nearer to our planned moving date. The key thing for us was that the DC could travel and work throughout the EU like we could
There is a concern that when their EU passport expires they won’t be able to keep their dual nationality as this country allows dual nationality with another EU nation, which GB won’t be by then.

I have an EU passport and I would move in a heartbeat if my husband didn't have a really good job here in the UK. We'll keep reviewing the situation and it's nice to know that we have the option to move if we wanted to. The minute my son was born I sent his birth certificate to my home country to ensure he gets citizenship immediately, so if he ever wants to study or move abroad he can.

I am eligible as I always have been but I probably won’t apply. Already lived in that country and don’t plan to again! Have also lived outside the EU. Honestly it’s UK all the way for me. The grass was greener at the time but the reality didn’t hold up.

No I wouldn't. I'm technically entitled to an Irish one but I'm not Irish just because of my family - I've never even been there!
Citizenship matters and you should only be a citizen if you feel you truly belong to a country, which to me means growing up there, or visiting regularly throughout childhood because your parent is from that country or having built a life there as an adult. It's not something you get just so you can travel easier.

@Hoppinggreen

Sabrina thank you At present I can live in my husbands country and get nationality there after 3 years but I don’t think I can live in the 3rd EU country indefinitely at the moment. We will look at the situation nearer to our planned moving date. The key thing for us was that the DC could travel and work throughout the EU like we could There is a concern that when their EU passport expires they won’t be able to keep their dual nationality as this country allows dual nationality with another EU nation, which GB won’t be by then.

If your spouse is an EU national then you can live with him in any EU country, you will have to go through the residency process but it's not usually that tough for EU national family members (depending on what basis you are living there).

Their nationality will not expire. A passport can expire, but a nationality cannot, you have to formally renounce it.

I hold an EU passport and will get one for DD too. But have no plans to move out of UK.

No, I spent 13 years living in another EU Member state, and I am happy to be back in the UK. This is home.

Yes: DH (and our kids) might be eligible so we're looking into it right now.

I don't think we'd move now - perhaps to Ireland - but once the kids are older I'd like the freedom to live part of the year abroad.

Quite simply, no. I could get one due to Irish parents but I won’t be.

I'm British with an Irish mother. I live in Ireland and have an Irish passport. It was straightforward to apply for. I got all of the necessary documents and when I finished with them, I passed them on to my DM for my DS and her adult DC to use, should they want to apply for one. I also have a British passport, but tend to use my Irish passport when I travel.

@Pugdogmom

I didn't realise till my Dad passed away that I am actually an Irish citizen. 🙈. Applying for passport and getting my youngest DD on register of foreign births , as she plans to live in Italy. Sadly can't get DH on it, unless we live in Ireland for 3 years and my life is here. I won't be reapplying for my British passport when it expires. Should have done it in 2016.

Sorry I don't think That's possible. I mean with registering your dd as an Irish citizen. You must have been a citizen before she was born to register her as Irish.

First thing I did when I heard the result of the referendum, was get the certificates together and apply for my Irish passport.

No immediate plans to move, just good to know I still have an EU passport.

Curiously, DSis who was actually born on the island of Ireland has not applied and is happy with her UK passport. We both grew up abroad, but were educated in England.

Irish passports are amongst those least likely to attract adverse interest from terrorists in hostage situations.

have been a citizen before she was born to register her as Irish.

Indeed, but you don't need to have applied for a passport to prove that citizenship.

How is your Italian? If, like the OP, you are applying through the ancestors route you are exempt from the language test.

I'd get the passport. Even if you don't ever move to Europe, you don't know when a EU passport will come in handy. If your children can get them too, even better.

It might be easier for traveling and avoiding immigration queues in the future. If your children might like to study or live in the EU in the future, it will be so much easier with an EU passport. You literally just move to the new country and that's it, no waiting for visas and work contracts or health insurance until you're settled in the new country. (Of course there is paperwork to be done after you've moved but no one can deny you moving wherever you want)

Don't underestimate the cost or hassle involved. But it will give you more choices.