Many people ask me about the benefits of dual citizenship. Sometimes, people feel that if you hold citizenship to more than one country it’s as if you’re betraying your allegiance to your place of birth. I disagree since you do not have to give up your citizenship of, nor your allegiance to, your country of birth. Especially for Italian Americans there is a strong bond with Italy as it is the land of our ancestors but there is also an intense connection with the United States – the land where we were born and raised and which gave us great opportunities.
When a person holds dual citizenship s/he has the right to vote, live and work freely in either country. For those who obtain Italian citizenship, this means that s/he will also be allowed to live and work freely in any other E.U. country. That in an of itself is a great advantage to have. The person holding two passports does not in any way give up or forfeit any of his/her rights from the country of birth to obtain new ones in the country of second citizenship. That is a complete misconception.
Literally, dual (or even multiple) citizenship is a status in which a person concurrently considered a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Dual (multiple) citizenship is possible because not all countries use the same laws concerning citizenship. These laws are not mutually exclusive and may vary from place to place. Places like the United States, Austria, St. Kitts and Nevits and Dominica even offer citizenship to those who make extensive financial investments.
As expected, there are many ways to obtain citizenship in any given country and individual countries follow their own rationales as far as bestowing citizenship is concerned. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the most common methods of becoming a national in a state (for our intents and purposes, the terms state and country are interchangeable).
Jus (or jure) sanguinis (Latin: right of the blood): Social policy in which citizenship is not determined by where you were born, but by to whom you were born. In other words, citizenship is bestowed automatically upon birth to those born to a country’s national or those who have an ancestor who is a national or citizen of a state. States offering jus sanguinis rights to ethnic citizens include but are not limited to Greece, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Israel, Ireland, Spain, and Bulgaria but not France. Many countries provide immigration privileges, but not necessary full citizenship, to people with ethnic ties to their state. These are called leges sanguinis (singular: lex sanguinis) or “blood laws.”
Jus soli (Latin: right of the ground): Also called “birthright citizenship.” Through jus soli, people born in a territory of the related state become citizens of that state. Many developing countries pass citizenship on through this policy. Most notably the United States offers citizenship via jus soli. In other words, those born in the U.S. (save for rare exceptions) are citizens of that country. Other countries which offer citizenship via jus soli include but are not limited to: Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela etc.
Jus matrimonii: In jus matrimonii a person obtains citizenship via marriage of a country’s national. Certain countries place different criteria upon which obtaining citizenship via jus matrimonii is contingent. For example, many countries require a minimum period of residence in the country whose citizenship you would like to obtain.
Post to be continued…
