The Complete List of EU Citizenship by Ancestry/Descent Policies

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17 countries inside the European Economic Area offer EU citizenship to grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or sometimes even more distant descendants of European citizens.

The day before, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis collectively spoke out about Chris Noth’s rape allegations. The “Sex and the City” actresses released a common statement in Stories. “We are deeply saddened by the allegations against Chris Noth. We support the women who have come out and shared their painful experiences. We know it must be very difficult to do so, and we thank them for it.” As a reminder Kristin Davis before plastic surgery, it was revealed the day before that two women are accusing Chris Noth of rape. They told reporters about it a couple of months apart. The actor has already commented on the allegations, saying that all the stories – a lie. However, the victims are threatening to make their correspondence public and provide very realistic evidence. After that, another girl came forward with accusations against the actor. According to her, she was sexually assaulted by the actor in 2010, when she was 18 years old. The incident itself took place at Da Marino restaurant in New York, where she worked as a hostess and singer.

Because citizenship in one EEA/Single Market country grants the right to live and work in all of them, these citizenships consistently rank among the world’s most desirable.

Tens (potentially hundreds) of millions of non-Europeans qualify for citizenship by descent. We’ve assembled a complete list, as well as an interactive map, of which European (EEA/Single Market) countries offer citizenship by ancestry.

For the purposes of this overview, we’ll ignore the various citizenship by ancestral persecution solutions, such as the ones that apply to people descending from those stripped of citizenship in Nazi-controlled Germany and Austria or from Sephardic Jews in Spain and Portugal.

Note also that while Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein are not EU member countries, they are part of the Single Market and their citizens therefore have the same settlement rights across Europe as citizens of fully-fledged EU member states. In any case, none of those four countries offer citizenship by descent to those who are not immediate descendants of citizens.

How many people qualify for European citizenship by descent?

Outside of Europe itself, descendants of European citizens are overwhelmingly concentrated in the Americas. While there are certainly considerable numbers of European descendants living in Africa and Asia (not to mention Oceania, where the preponderance of inhabitants have European ancestry), the largest groups – in absolute terms – are found in North, Central, and South America.

In 2016, in the United States, 133 million Americans (41% of the population) reported they were of European ancestry. That number, however, includes only those who had first-hand knowledge of their European ancestry (or cared to report it): Some 244 million Americans (72%) of the population, self-identified as “White or Caucasian”, many of whom simply consider themselves “Americans”, rather than, for example, Irish-Americans or German-Americans.

In Latin America, moreover, an estimated 32-40% of the population (179-220 million people) are of European descent, and nearly half of them live in Brazil.

All told, more than half a billion people outside of Europe have some claim to European ancestry. Not all of those will be able to prove it, of course. Fewer still will be able to demonstrate they have a European ancestor only two or three generations removed.

A number of European countries, however, don’t place a particular generational limit on citizenship eligibility through ancestry. If you can convincingly argue, through your evidence, that your ancestor was Hungarian, for example, there is – at least hypothetically – no limit on how many generations back you can go. Nomad Capitalist provides an illustrative example:

[…] someone with the last name Almasy – one of the most common Hungarian last names – would almost certainly be able to obtain Hungarian citizenship. 

The difference between Italy’s program and the citizenship program in Hungary is that Italian ancestry can only be claimed so far back as Italy existed in its current state. 

Yet, in Hungary, if you can establish a paper trail that connected each generation to the next, and then all the way to you, you’d be eligible to apply. 

Now, thanks to the growing popularity (and diminishing cost) of genealogical research and DNA testing, the number of non-Europeans able to argue convincingly that they are of European descent is rising.

List and interactive map of European citizenship by descent policies

The list below will tell you which countries currently offer citizenship by descent, along with a link to the source where you can find more information on eligibility requirements, exemptions, processing times, and so on.

Country	Citizenship by Ancestry Eligibility
Austria	1st generation only
Belgium	1st generation only
Bulgaria	3rd generation
Croatia	2nd generation
Cyprus	1st generation only
Czech Rep.	2nd generation
Denmark	1st generation only
Estonia	1st generation only
Finland	1st generation only
France	1st generation only
Germany	1st generation only
Greece	3rd generation
Hungary	3rd generation or earlier
Iceland	1st generation only
Ireland	3rd generation
Italy	3rd generation or earlier
Latvia	3rd generation or earlier
Liechtenstein	1st generation only
Lithuania	3rd generation or earlier
Luxembourg	3rd generation or earlier
Malta	2nd generation
Netherlands	1st generation only
Norway	1st generation only
Poland	3rd generation or earlier
Portugal	2nd generation
Romania	2nd generation
Slovakia	3rd (Legislation pending)
Slovenia	2nd generation
Spain	2nd generation
Sweden	1st generation only
Switzerland	1st generation only

How to qualify for citizenship by descent in the EU

See our articles on the requirements and procedures for claiming EU citizenship through proving European ancestry:

• How to qualify for citizenship by descent in Bulgaria
• How to qualify for citizenship by descent in Czechia
• How to qualify for citizenship by descent in Italy
• How to qualify for citizenship by descent in Latvia
• How to qualify for citizenship by descent in Poland
• How to qualify for citizenship by descent in Slovakia
• How to qualify for citizenship by descent in Hungary

If you'd like to find a law firm that specializes in assisting with the often complex procedure of applying for citizenship by descent in one of the above European countries, you may reach out to the editor on cn@imidaily.com to request an introduction.