Obtaining a Second Passport

[chenda]

I looked it up, nice deal you have there; for me it is still going to be £1,330 to apply.

I suppose thats monopoly pricing...

Are you Polish guitarplayer?

[guitarplayer]

@chenda, I think getting British citizenship via this route costs the same regardless of the previous / original nationality.

DW and I agreed long ago that in my ramblings on the Internet I'll refer to us as an EU citizen and a South American citizen, so I'm gonna stick with it.

[chenda]

DW and I agreed long ago that in my ramblings on the Internet I'll refer to us as an EU citizen and a South American citizen, so I'm gonna stick with it.

Ok no problem, wasn't trying to pry. Yes im sure the nationality itself doesn't affect the cost.

[guitarplayer]

No worries @chenda. I guess participating in this thread the way I do means that I will have to admit at least the British citizenship once I get one!

[Ego]

Spain is finalizing a law that will permit Sephardic Jews, those who can prove Sephardic heritage and those with Sephardic last names to obtain Spanish citizenship. No need to actually be Jewish. Seeing that they expelled the Jews in the late 1400s, that's a lot of people.

Apparently Portugal also offers citizenship to those of Sephardic heritage who were expelled. Here is a video of a very enthusiastic guy who succeeded in getting his Portuguese passport. https://youtu.be/viG9Tmy2w0o

[chenda]

There is a growing tendency to collect biometric data like fingerprints and iris scans on passports, and also by immigration officials if visiting a country. I find this abhorrent and won't visit any country which requires this. Physical passports might soon become redundant and we will all become walking barcodes.

Later this year the UK and EU are both going to start fingerprinting all their visiting non-citizens. No one has worked out how this is going to work on cross-channel ferries or trains. There has been talk of passing around an ipad in each car which is just absurd and would cause huge delays. It also means any non-Irish or non-UK citizen who drifts across the invisible, unmanned border into Northern Ireland should apply for a UK visa or visa exemption and submit biometric data. If they don't they would have technically entered the UK illegally and can face 2 years in jail if caught.

[Ego]

Last year we flew to Mexico for a week. Coming back we went past the immigration line and walked directly to the Global Entry kiosks. The camera scanned my face and spit out a receipt in less than a second. Mrs. Ego was looking down when the scan happened and the photo on her receipt was from the eyebrows up. Somehow the forehead photo was enough to identify her.

[chenda]

Somehow the forehead photo was enough to identify her.

Lol, it only further strengthens my suspicion that so many airport security measures are nonsensical scaremongering, like the 100 ml hand luggage liquid rule.

[Ego]

Those with OCD use compulsive, complex rituals to soothe their anxiety. We as a society are being trained to use security theater, and more recently hygiene theater, to calm our collective anxieties.

[chenda]

That sounds very likely. That said I was at Boston airport in September 2000 and I remember thinking just how slack the security was, especially after I inadvertently carried on board a very sharp object. So it seems to have swung from one extreme to another.

[Ego]

Spain grants citizenship to the grandchildren of exiles. An estimated 400,000 people could benefit from the Socialist government's new law for the descendants of those who fled during Francisco Franco's dictatorship.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/arti ... 8_117.html

[chenda]

Spain grants citizenship to the grandchildren of exiles. An estimated 400,000 people could benefit from the

I wonder if Spain is hoping to gain economic advantages by doing this, aside from righting historical wrongs ?

[Ego]

@chenda, yes, EU countries with shrinking populations and shrinking tax bases will eventually create loopholes for those with historic ties. It is much less politically controversial than other types of migration. The applicants typically look similar to the locals, and they have wealth to bring with them, so pushback against the laws is muted. The application process weeds out those from undesirable places as it is difficult to prove lineage and acquire ancestral birth, marriage and death certificates from disorganized states.

My UK and Ukrainian genealogy has been thoroughly researched and ready to go if/when they open the door for those citizenships. I already have some of the documents and could have the remaining birth, marriage and death certificates here in a matter of weeks. Mrs. Ego's Basque genealogy is also complete back to Spain, but acquiring the official documents from Mexico and having them apostilled would be more challenging.

[chenda]

@chenda, yes, EU countries with shrinking populations and shrinking tax bases will eventually create loopholes for those with historic ties. It is much less politically controversial than other types of migration.

That certainly sounds likely.

Best of luck with the citizenships : )

[ertyu]

In the hypothetical case where getting an EU passport requires you to give up your US one, would you? (the UK might be one of the countries that allows double citizenship w the US but many other countries do not)

[Ego]

@ertyu, I wouldn't give up the US for any other passport as this is our home base. Had Italy required renunciation, we would not have done it.

Does your new job open any citizenship options?

[chenda]

I think most EU countries do allow duel citizenship, at least if you are going through ancestry. Naturalisation may be more restrictive in certain cases.

[take2]

Germany and Austria generally do not, although certain rare exceptions are granted. Most EU countries do not have any restriction on holding multiple nationalities.

[MeloTheMelon]

For EU countries it often depends on the background of the second citizenship.
If you immigrate you tend to renounce the old one. If you get it by birthright it's often fine.
I have both Austrian and German citizenship due to my parents, which is worked without problems. Although there isn't really a difference between either. Having two passports had some advantages during the pandemic and lockdowns but that was pretty much it