Can You Get Citizenship Through Ancestry?

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Have you ever looked into getting citizenship through ancestry? If your ancestors came from certain countries, even if they emigrated a few generations ago, you might be eligible for citizenship.

I love it when we can put our genealogy skills to use, or use the research that we have done in an important way. It's also great when people are inspired, for whatever reason, to learn more about their ancestors.

The topic of citizenship through ancestry is an important one to me, and it's something I have researched and thought a lot about over the past 12 or so years.

Why claim citizenship through ancestry?

If you are entitled to citizenship of a country where your ancestors lived, claiming your citizenship might benefit your future descendants. You never know where it might be best for your children, grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren to live, and your citizenship(s) might be the key to helping them live there.

As any student of history knows, the world has changed quite a bit in the past 100-150 years. During this time, many countries experienced a lot of population growth due to immigration and population loss through emigration.

Some of our ancestors left their countries because they were experiencing extreme poverty, discrimination based on politics, religion or membership in an ethnic group. They may have been concerned about geopolitical tensions and wanted a safer place to raise their children.

Decades later, however, many of these places have become great places to live. Some of their descendants may be eligible to return to their ancestor's native country as a citizen.

Some of these descendants might actually already be considered citizens of those countries, even if they don't know it. Many countries, including the United States, allow their citizens to have dual citizenship.

For some people, officially acquiring the citizenship of their ancestors can also have a symbolic importance, as it can help them feel closer to their ancestors.

Which countries offer citizenship through ancestors?

Below, I will discuss a few countries that I found in my research that allow citizenship through ancestry. If you have ancestors from any of these countries, it is certainly worth taking a closer look at the requirements to see if you are eligible.

The list below is by no means a comprehensive list of countries that allow citizenship through your ancestors. In addition, most countries offer citizenship in certain situations for children of their citizens born abroad, so if your parent was born somewhere else, definitely look into their native country's specific rules about how citizenship is passed down.

Disclaimer! I'm not an expert in citizenship law for any of these countries, or any country, for that matter, so just interpret this article as a place to start your research.

Ireland

Ireland allows citizenship grandparents were born in Ireland. Children of a parent that was born in Ireland are already considered to be Irish citizens.

You can read more about the process and requirements here: Registering a foreign birth

Poland

Under certain circumstances, some people may be able to claim Polish citizenship by descent from their parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents. Eligibility depends on exactly when your ancestor left Poland and several other factors.

You can read more about it on the following website:

• Polaron overview on Polish citizenship by descent

Canada

Canada is currently undergoing a restructuring of citizenship by descent laws in order to be more fair to the children born abroad of Canadian citizens. Their existing citizenship law does not automatically grant citizenship to the children of citizens born abroad if the citizen parent was not born in Canada.

However, there are temporary measures in place while the government develops new citizenship rules that allow for a "discretionary grant of citizenship" to those children of Canadian citizens who were not previously eligible for citizenship because their parent was not born in Canada.

Read more about this topic:

• Changes to Canadian citizenship law
• Canadian citizenship eligibility tool
• Getting a Canadian citizenship could be much easier for more people soon

The Czech Republic

The Czech Republic allows for citizenship by descent for most people with parents or grandparents who were Czech citizens.

You can learn more about this here:

How to Get Czech Citizenship by Descent in 2025: The Ultimate Guide

Slovakia

You may be eligible for Slovak citizenship if you have a parent, grandparent, or a great-grandparent who was born a citizen of Slovakia or Czechoslovakia.

You can read more about the process and find application requirements here:

• Embassy of the Slovak Republic: Citizenship

Croatia

If you have a parent, grandparent, or a great-grandparent who was Croatian and left Croatia before October 8, 1991, you might be eligible for Croatian citizenship by descent. There are a few exceptions, and you can read about them, as well as other important details, in the following article:

• How to apply for Croatian citizenship based on descent

Mexico

Children of Mexican citizens born abroad are automatically considered to be Mexican citizens. If one or both of your parents was a Mexican citizen who was born in Mexico, you only need to register your birth at your nearest Mexican consulate.

• How to register as a Mexican citizen

As of 2021, it is possible for Mexican citizenship to pass down to the children born of Mexican citizens abroad, even if the parent was not born in Mexico. If the Mexican-citizen parent that was not born in Mexico has already registered as a Mexican citizen, then citizenship can be claimed through that parent.

However, if your grandparent(s) is a Mexican citizen, but your parent has not registered as a Mexican citizen, you will have to complete that process before you can get your citizenship. Your nearest Mexican consulate can help answer questions about this for you.

Germany

Germany does allow for citizenship by descent because their citizenship law passes down citizenship "by blood" and not based on where the person is born. There is no official limit to how many generations back your German ancestor needs to be, as long as they didn't leave Germany before 1871.

This is because Germany as an official, unified country did not exist before 1871.

However, German citizenship law is very complicated, which means that even if your ancestor left Germany after 1871, they may not have passed their German citizenship to their children, grandchildren, and to you, for a variety of reasons.

The only way to know whether you are eligible is to check out the details for yourself and compare it to your family tree research. You can read more about the topic on these links:

• German Missions in the United States: Obtaining German citizenship
• Helpful Reddit wiki on German citizenship by descent

Conclusion

I hope that you found this article interesting. Most importantly, I hope that you have fun figuring out where all of your ancestors came from in order to see if you are eligible for additional citizenship.

If you have any questions about something that you read in this post, or if you have gone through the process of acquiring citizenship through ancestry, I would love to hear from you in the discussion below.

Thanks for reading today!

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