European citizenship by descent lets people born outside Europe claim the nationality of a parent, grandparent or older ancestor, and with it the right to live and work across the European Union. For many families in the Americas, Australia and South Africa, it is the only route to an EU passport that does not need years of residence or a large investment.
The rules differ sharply from country to country. Some states recognize a citizenship you already hold through an unbroken chain of ancestors. Others offer a fast-track naturalization to people of their origin, and a third group restores citizenship that was taken from persecuted families. As of October 2026, several of the most popular routes have also narrowed, most notably Italy's.
This guide compares the main routes and flags recent changes.
Key takeaways
- Ireland, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, Austria and Slovakia all still offer some form of citizenship by descent or origin in 2026.
- Italy's unlimited bloodline rule ended in March 2025. New claims now generally need a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship, or a parent who lived in Italy for two years before the applicant's birth.
- Spain's Democratic Memory Law window for grandchildren of exiles closed in October 2025.
- How far back you can go varies from one generation (in most cases) to no fixed limit (Poland, Hungary, Greece, Austria's restoration route).
- Every claim lives or dies on documents: birth, marriage, death and naturalization records that link each generation.
How citizenship by descent works in Europe
Almost every European country follows jus sanguinis, the principle that nationality passes from parent to child rather than from place of birth. What separates the generous systems from the strict ones is how they treat people born abroad who never lived in the country.
There are three broad types of route:
- Recognition or registration. You are treated as a citizen because your ancestor was one when your parent was born, and so on down the line. The authority confirms the status rather than granting it. Italy, Poland and Greece work this way. Ireland's Foreign Births Register is a hybrid: you become a citizen on the day you are registered.
- Preferential naturalization. You are not a citizen yet, but your origin entitles you to a shortcut, usually with no residence requirement. Hungary and Croatia use this model.
- Restoration. Citizenship is restored to descendants of people who lost it through persecution, occupation or exile. Germany, Austria and Lithuania have routes of this kind.
The type matters. A recognition claim fails if any link lost citizenship before the next generation was born, while a restoration claim turns on proving why and when the ancestor lost their status.
Country-by-country comparison
| Country | Who can anchor a claim | Main condition | Type of route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | Grandparent (great-grandparent only in limited cases) | Grandparent born on the island of Ireland | Registration |
| Italy | Parent or grandparent for new claims | Parent or grandparent held only Italian citizenship, or parent lived two years in Italy before your birth | Recognition |
| Germany | Parent; no fixed limit for restoration | Rules at each birth; restoration for descendants of those persecuted 1933 to 1945 | Descent or restoration |
| Poland | No fixed limit | Unbroken chain from an ancestor who held Polish citizenship | Confirmation |
| Hungary | No fixed limit | Ancestor was a Hungarian citizen before 1920 or from 1941 to 1945; Hungarian language | Simplified naturalization |
| Greece | No fixed limit | Each link held Greek citizenship and is documented | Registration |
| Croatia | Descendants of emigrants | Emigrant ancestor left before 8 October 1991 | Naturalization |
| Lithuania | Up to great-grandchildren | Ancestor was a citizen in 1918 to 1940 and left before 11 March 1990 | Restoration |
| Austria | Direct descendants, no fixed limit | Ancestor left because of Nazi persecution before 15 May 1955 | Declaration |
| Slovakia | Up to great-grandchildren | Ancestor was a Czechoslovak citizen born in present-day Slovakia | Descent |
| Spain | Parent or grandparent | Exiled ancestor; window closed in October 2025 | Option (closed) |
Ireland
Ireland is the most straightforward grandparent route in Europe. If one of your grandparents was born anywhere on the island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland, you can apply to enter the Foreign Births Register, and you become an Irish citizen on the date of registration. There is no language test and no residence requirement.
The route generally stops at grandchildren. A great-grandchild can qualify only if their parent was already on the register before the great-grandchild was born. As of October 2026, the Department of Foreign Affairs charges €278 for an adult application and quotes a processing time of about 12 months. Our guide to Irish citizenship through grandparents covers the documents and steps in detail.
Italy
Italy was, for decades, the most generous system in the world: no generational limit, as long as the chain ran back to an ancestor alive after Italian unification. Decree-Law 36/2025, in force since 28 March 2025 and converted by Law 74/2025, changed that. People born abroad who hold another citizenship are now treated as never having acquired Italian citizenship, unless an exception applies.
The main exceptions are an application filed by 23:59 on 27 March 2025, a parent or grandparent who holds (or held at death) only Italian citizenship, or a parent who lived in Italy for two continuous years after becoming Italian and before the applicant's birth. Italy's Constitutional Court upheld the reform in judgment 63/2026, filed on 30 April 2026. See our full analysis of Italian citizenship by descent after the 2025 reform.
Germany
A child acquires German citizenship at birth if one parent is German. There is a cut-off for families who have lived abroad for generations: a child born abroad does not acquire citizenship if the German parent was also born abroad after 31 December 1999 and lives there, unless the birth is registered with German authorities within one year.
Separately, Section 15 of the German Nationality Act gives a right to naturalization to people persecuted between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945 who lost or were denied German citizenship, and to their descendants. The law sets no generational limit and no residence requirement for this route. Since 27 June 2024, Germany also accepts dual citizenship in general.
Poland
Poland does not grant citizenship to descendants; it confirms that they already hold it. If your ancestor was a Polish citizen under the 1920 citizenship law and the status passed down without a break, you may be Polish today, with no fixed limit on generations. A voivode (regional governor) decides on confirmation, and people abroad can file through a Polish consul.
The difficulty is the chain. Before 1951, Polish citizens could lose their status by acquiring a foreign citizenship or serving in a foreign army, with exceptions for some men subject to military duty. If an ancestor lost citizenship before the next generation was born, the line breaks there.
Hungary
Hungary's simplified naturalization, in place since 2011, is open to people who descend from a Hungarian citizen, in practice mostly descendants of people from territories Hungary held before 1920 or between 1941 and 1945. There is no residence requirement, and dual citizenship is permitted. The catch is language: applicants must be able to speak Hungarian, which rules out many descendants in the wider diaspora.
The route has been used on a large scale. By December 2017, it had passed one million new citizens, according to Bloomberg, most of them ethnic Hungarians in neighboring countries such as Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.
Greece
A child of a Greek citizen is Greek at birth, and Greeks born abroad can pass citizenship on across generations. In practice, the claim depends on documenting every generation and getting each birth recorded with the Greek authorities. When nobody registered the line for decades, families often have to rebuild it record by record, which can take a long time.
People of Greek ethnic origin who cannot document an unbroken line of Greek citizens may be able to apply for naturalization as persons of Greek origin through a Greek consulate.
Croatia
Croatia lets emigrants, their descendants and their spouses acquire citizenship through naturalization without living in Croatia and without a Croatian language test. The claim generally rests on direct lineage to an emigrant who left the territory of today's Croatia before 8 October 1991, according to the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A move to another part of the former Yugoslavia does not count as emigration for this route.
Lithuania
Lithuania restores citizenship to people who held it during the 1918 to 1940 independence period and to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, provided the ancestor left before 11 March 1990 and did not move to the Soviet Union after June 1940. People in this group may keep their other citizenship.
Lithuania otherwise restricts dual citizenship. A 2024 referendum to relax the constitutional limit won about 74% of the votes cast, but failed because fewer than half of all registered voters supported it.
Austria
Since 1 September 2020, Section 58c of Austria's Citizenship Act has allowed people persecuted by the Nazi regime, and all their direct descendants, to acquire citizenship by declaration. The persecuted ancestor must have left Austria before 15 May 1955. Applicants keep their existing citizenship, which is unusual in a country that otherwise limits dual nationality.
Slovakia
Since 1 April 2022, Slovakia has offered citizenship to people whose parent, grandparent or great-grandparent was a Czechoslovak citizen born within the territory of today's Slovakia. Slovak consulates describe a Slovak permanent residence permit as an administrative first step in the process. Slovakia limits dual citizenship for its own nationals who voluntarily take another passport, so applicants often check how the rules apply to them before they file.
Routes that have closed or narrowed
Ancestry routes are political choices, and they can end quickly.
- Spain. The Democratic Memory Law, in force since 21 October 2022, let children and grandchildren of Spaniards who went into exile, and children of Spanish women who lost their nationality by marrying foreigners before 1978, opt for Spanish nationality. The law gave a two-year window with a possible one-year extension. After the extension, the window closed in October 2025. Spain's separate Sephardic route closed to new applications in 2019.
- Italy. The 2025 reform ended unlimited descent for anyone who had not applied by 27 March 2025.
- Portugal. Portugal has been reforming its nationality law, including routes for descendants. Anyone with a Portuguese grandparent may want to check the version of the law in force on the date they apply.
Countries with large diasporas are moving from pure bloodline toward proof of a current link, such as residence, language or timely registration.
What every descent application needs
The legal test varies, but the paperwork is similar across Europe:
- The ancestor's records. A birth certificate from the home country, plus marriage and death records where relevant.
- Proof of each link. Long-form birth certificates for every generation between the ancestor and you, showing both parents.
- Proof the chain did not break. Naturalization records, or a certificate showing that no naturalization record exists, to prove when (or whether) an ancestor took another citizenship.
- Certification. Apostilles or consular legalization for foreign documents, and certified translations where the authority requires them.
- Consistency. Names, dates and places that match across documents, or a clear explanation of each difference.
Most delays come from missing or inconsistent records rather than from the legal test itself.
Dual citizenship: the other side of the equation
Your current country may limit dual citizenship, or treat a voluntary second citizenship as grounds for losing the first. Many people check both sides first, using our lists of countries that allow dual citizenship and countries that do not.
If no European ancestry route fits, other paths exist, from residence-based naturalization to investment programs. Our guide on how to get a second passport compares them, and the overview of citizenship by descent outside Europe covers ancestry routes in Latin America, Asia and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
Which European country is easiest for citizenship by descent?
For people with an Irish-born grandparent, Ireland is usually the simplest: one application, no language test, no residence requirement and a published fee. Poland and Greece have no fixed generational limit but need a complete documentary chain. Hungary is open to many generations but requires Hungarian language skills.
Can I get European citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Sometimes. Poland, Greece and Hungary set no fixed limit, Lithuania and Slovakia reach great-grandchildren, and Austria's and Germany's restoration routes cover all direct descendants of persecuted people. Ireland allows great-grandchildren only if the parent was registered before their birth. Italy no longer accepts new great-grandparent claims in most cases.
Do I need to live in the country or speak the language?
Usually not for recognition or registration routes such as Ireland, Italy, Poland or Greece. Hungary requires Hungarian. Naturalization routes elsewhere may add language or integration conditions, so each country's current rules matter.
Is Italian citizenship by descent still possible in 2026?
Yes, but for far fewer people. New applicants generally need a parent or grandparent who held only Italian citizenship, or a parent who lived in Italy for two continuous years before their birth. Applications filed by 27 March 2025 are assessed under the old rules.
Important: This article is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rules change often and depend on your personal circumstances. Speak with a qualified professional in each relevant country before you act.