As a US citizen, I no longer take traveling freely for granted. As such, we have begun the process of acquiring dual citizenship for our entire family.
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The upheaval of the last couple of years has forced us to take a hard look at many things we used to take for granted. Traveling with almost no restrictions as a US citizen was one of those things. I wanted to share our reasoning for going through the process of acquiring dual citizenship (or even triple).
A Little History
It’s strange for us living in the 21st Century to think about it, but less than 100 years ago there were no passport or visa requirements to enter the United States.
Let’s say the year is 1922 and I live in some small town in the Carpathian Mountains. I suffer terrible poverty and have my eyes set on the “land where the streets are paved in gold”. I decide to immigrate to the United States. So, what is the process?
First I need to apply for a passport from the country of my citizenship, right? WRONG! I might not even know what that country is since the borders keep changing. I might have been born in the same house as three generations before me and yet we were all born in different countries.
So, no passport. So, I must need to go to the nearest US embassy or consulate to get an immigration visa. Again, NOPE!
No passport. No visa. What kind of “papers” or identifying documents do I need? NONE.
So, how do I get to the United States? On a boat of course! But, what do I need? All I actually need is a ticket. I’ll have to make my way to the port by train, or horse and buggy, or even by foot. But once I get to the port and have a ticket, that’s all I need. (Yes, I need a ticket. Stowaways are turned back.)
The ship puts together a manifest before leaving the port of departure. This manifest contains the names of all the passengers along with some identifying and demographic information. This includes: name, age, whether the person could read or write, nationality, birthplace, final destination, who paid for the ticket, and how much money is in the passenger’s possession. There’s also space for physical description and whether there is any deformity, physical or mental health condition and questions related to morality and whether the passenger is an anarchist.
There were columns added over the years, such as profession and language in which the passenger could read/write.
However, it is important to note that nearly all this information was SELF-REPORTED. Upon arrival at Ellis Island, the passengers would be separated and processed based on the class of travel, gender, and age. An immigration officer would simply ask for the passenger’s name and match it to the manifest. If all the details matched up and there was no reason for further questioning or screening, then the passenger was on their way. Generally over 90% of passengers were processed within a few hours and the rest within a day or two.
That’s it. No papers, no verification that I am who I say I am. Just checking that I’m [seemingly] healthy and say that I have somewhere to go. And, off I am to that place (hopefully).
What Changed?
This isn’t a history or poli-sci class. So, I’m not going to get into all the nitty-gritty, but things changed in the mid-1920’s and now we need passports anytime we travel internationally. Until a few years ago, you could cross into Canada or Mexico from the US with just some sort of photo ID for the adults. Now, even newborns need passports for those border crossings. And, depending on your nationality and destination, you may even need to go through a whole visa application process.
The passport and visa processes have been compounded by the all the backups due to COVID closures. I know people who have been waiting a-year-and-a-half for a visa appointment to visit their children in the US! My husband sent his passport in for renewal in March 2020–3 days before lockdown; he didn’t get it back until July. But that was still faster than when I paid to expedite a passport in 2021–I was told it would be 18-20 weeks!
Why Dual Citizenship?
The answer to the question as to why my family is exploring dual citizenship appears to be freedom to travel. During the border closures of the last couple of years, we felt if we had additional citizenship we would’ve still been able to travel. Possession of a passport from any EU country would have allowed us entry into any of the 27 EU-member countries. Furthermore, there were many locales that were open to EU citizens that remained closed to US citizens.
But, a global pandemic is an anomaly. A once in a century rarity. So, there must be more to it. Consular protection is nice. And if we have multiple passports, then we have access to multiple consulates and embassies. But, truth be told, in all my travels I’ve never stepped foot in a US embassy or consulate nor needed any of their protections. And, certain countries offer free health, education, and other benefits to its citizens.
However, as a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I grew up painfully aware that I always need options. As safe, secure, and established as you are, there are no guarantees. From the moment any of my children has a birth certificate, I ensure they always have a valid passport. I am always uneasy and anxiety-ridden for the few weeks of the renewal process. Multiple passports would ensure we are never passport-less.
Furthermore, the general lawlessness of the last couple of years compounded with the pandemic and increasing anti-American sentiment has really given us a greater sense of urgency. We hope we never need them, but we want to ensure we have options. I can’t help but wonder how different my family tree would be if my grandparents had options in 1943.
We talked about it for a while, but in October 2021, we finally took the plunge and officially started the process.
The Process
We first had to determine if there was a country for which we would be eligible and if so which one. If there were several, then which would be the most beneficial or easiest to acquire. I also wanted to verify that we would not have to renounce our US citizenship, and that we would even be eligible for triple citizenship if we chose to acquire Israeli citizenship at some point. Also, I wanted to confirm that there were no tax or military ramifications.
We’ve clarified all those points and settled on focusing on Czech citizenship. We have begun our journey and are currently still at the document collection stage. This is pretty thorough. I will link here to a future post that will go more in depth into the process as we have been going through it with Polaron.
It can be a long and tedious process to get dual citizenship. But freedom and ensuring you have options are worth the effort.
Have you ever thought of acquiring dual citizenship? I’d love to hear the story.
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