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.

Damn right. Wish my husband's Irish ancestry was close enough to get us a passport.

I’m eligible for an Italian passport but the process is quite complicated.

Your children and descendants forever can get it as long as every generation continues to take up the citizenship. But not until they are 18.

Not moving but my Irish passport is on the way!

I can, but I don't think my children can. I keep meaning to apply. And yes I would consider living in a different European country. Italy, Denmark or the Netherlands maybe. (all of which are different countries to my passport).

No and no

I do not want an EU passport

There's no such thing. Every citizen in the EU has a passport from their own country. It just gives freedom of movement, no passport control etc. within the EU.

I can, I haven't and I wouldn't.

@Orangeteddy

I was thinking of Austria for National Service

Austrian men need to do 6 months.

Luckily - all girls.

@Girlyracer

Absolutely not.

The UK has just jumped India to become the 5th largest economy in the world. Our little island. That's amazing and makes me feel secure.

I like island life generally, that makes me feel secure too.

I only speak English. I like my culture which I will pass to my children.

I love our countryside, it's beautiful.

I may criticise the rain, but our temperate climate is very safe and appealing.

A holiday home abroad, perhaps. Move abroad lock, stock and barrel? Never.

All those who are unhappy can ship out if they want.

Ship out

I rest my case WRT the level of Vote Leave intelligence.

I would certainly apply for a European Passport, I don't want to move to Europe though.

I hope one day to be able to have a Scottish Passport.

You know to gain another passport you don't have to move there?

I have Polish passport but no connections with Poland whatsoever.
Both kids born here,I believe they are British as my husband?
I struggled in Poland before I came here ,I’d struggle even more now with current situation in politics.

Hi @Peasbewithyou I am sure people have already said but Italian citizenship via ancestry is not conditional upon knowledge of Italian, and can be handed down generation after generation.

I am half Italian and registered at the consulate in London as an Italian citizen (I also have British nationality) and am in the process of getting documents together to:

renew my Italian passport

register my marriage and divorce

register the births of my dc who are under 18 (they won’t have to go through the process of claiming their citizenship later)

help my ds (over 18) apply for his Italian citizenship- or claim it rather.

If I had registered his birth before he turned 18 it would have been much easier and I am annoyed with myself, but can only plough through the mountain of documents to acquire, get translated, apostilled etc etc. It’s making me feel quite anxious but I guess the only thing to do is break it down into smaller steps and not get frustrated. Just getting a copy of my divorce certificate from the court is going to take ages, plus they want it translated, certified by a district judge, a separate form filled in and signed and sealed by the court, in addition to a letter saying that no order was made in regard to my dcs’ care. All of this from the court system which before covid was already suffering awful delays.

Still, more than worth it so that my kids can get an EU passport and I can renew mine (last valid in 1994!).

Well if you can't move, why is the OP asking if you would?

@FrenchBoule I'm the same as you, two passports but no connection to one of them apart from grandparents' heritage. You don't have to be Polish or Italian or whatever to have their passport. I think multiple passports gives us, and especially will give young people, more opportunities for travel and studies, should they ever wish to take them. The more passports, the better, I say

Can get a Serbian passport. Probably not though. A montenigrin one would be better (maybe) if they ever get to be part of the EU 😀

Yes same with my kids - I am actually half Italian - my mother was Italian, I speak the language (fluently but not to mother tongue level and I sound foreign), used to visit Italy every year growing up to visit grandparents, lived there for a year in my 20s etc...

My kids on the other hand have been to Italy yes, but don’t speak a word of Italian and have much less of an emotional connection (and my Mum died at 63 when they were small so only my eldest has any memory of her). Yes so maybe slightly incongruous for them to get an Italian passport but we’re not looking a gift horse in the mouth!

(Still scared of how long it will take me to get all the documents together however😱, not to mention how difficult it is to then get appointments at the consulate via “prenota online”.)

Yes. Definitely. Not sure I'd move but I'd definitely get the passport. The loss of fre movement is the part I've taken hardest. My mom's family is Italian and she is valid for a passport but is the last generation to be valid so after much deliberation has decided not to get it as being late 60s she doesn't think there will be a point if no one else has the same abilities she does. We have always considered ourselves European over anything else. Our families, despite being linked a few generations ago now, are very close (cousins etc in Italy). Although I don't speak the language I feel very close to them and the country and always assumed one day I would move out there. To have that ripped away, has been painful. It is unlikely I will meet financial requirements to move out there now.

@StoneofDestiny

I would certainly apply for a European Passport, I don't want to move to Europe though.

I hope one day to be able to have a Scottish Passport.

There's no such thing as a European passport, just a specific country's passport. You already live in Europe. If you're hoping for a Scottish passport, I'd have thought you were sensitive to these distinctions.

Why do potter keep saying 'there's no such thing as a European passport'. Surely they recognise that people mean a passport from a country that is a member state of the EU?

I would certainly get the passport, but I wouldn't move. I think if you do want to move, a passport or lack of it isn't that big a deal. Either you have skills in demand in the country, in which case you will probably get hired even if they have to apply for a work permit for you - or your skills are not in short supply, in which case having a local passport is not going to help much compared to the difficulties of competing against locals in their own language.

I am eligible for an irish passport, and have just sent off the kids paperwork.

No plans to move, but if they want to work or study abroad at any point it gives them more options.

Gives us the option of retiring abroad if we choose as well.

I’ve just finished the process of getting Italian citizenship for younger DD through jure sanguinis (elder already has citizenship and AIRE registration as born in Italy). Their father is Italian. It wasn’t too difficult and I wouldn’t be put off or bother with the online forums (most of those are full of Americans pursuing tenuous and expensive options, ime)- I just had to send off a approved translation of their UK birth certificate with apostille and a form. You don’t need an appointment at the consulato for the application of a minor. I got it all done in a couple of hours, managed to mess up the form a bit but they were very friendly and helpful and emailed me for clarification. There’s no language requirement for jure sanguinis. So glad I got it done for them, so they retain the freedoms which are now being curtailed for the rest of us.

I would in a heartbeat get an eu passport, especially if it meant the kids could get one.
No immediate plans to move just as I couldn’t take the kids away from their grandparents.
But i lived abroad when younger (in and outside the EU) and desperately wish for my kids to have that opportunity try that.
My dad has an EU passport thanks to Irish ancestry, but I’m not eligible as he didn’t “become Irish” until after I was born.

I said this on another thread, but think it’s worth repeating. Sorry if it’s stating the obvious :)

If your kids are eligible for dual citizenship, get it don while they are under 18. It’s often far easier and cheaper as a child than as an adult.