I recently turned myself into a dual citizen. I’m now a citizen both of the United States, where I was born, and of Ireland, where I have ancestors. So I have two perfectly legal passports. This was not something I’d considered doing until a few years ago.
You just know James Bond carries a bunch of these.
When I was growing up, the only people who had more than one passport were spies in movies. And you knew most of those passports were fake. People were citizens of one country, and that was it. Well, that wasn’t entirely true even then, and it certainly is not true now. Indeed, ever since a 1967 United States Supreme Court decision, Americans have had the Constitutional right to hold more than one citizenship (subject to certain limitations).
Essentially, every nation reserves the right to set its own rules on citizenship. The two most common rules are jus sanguinis (your parents were citizens) and jus solis (you were born there). But the specifics vary greatly from nation to nation. Britain has six classes of citizenship. The People’s Republic of China forbids dual citizenship. Dominica allows you to become a citizen by investing $100,000 in their country. And so on.
Ireland happens to allow you to become an Irish citizen if you had a grandparent born on the island of Ireland prior to 2005. I qualified. To actually become an Irish citizen by descent, as it is usually called, I would have to file an application, pay a fee, and prove my descent to them with supporting documents.
I decided to go ahead with this after my mother died and left a small estate. I thought I’d put a few dollars into some distinctive way of honoring her. Since it was her mother who came from Ireland, this was one way to do it. I mentioned this to all my siblings and first cousins on my mother’s side, as they were also eligible, just in case any of them wanted to join me in the process. I did everything right, got proof of citizenship, and then worked through the helpful Irish consulate in Boston to get a passport.
So now I’m an American citizen, an Irish citizen, and, by virtue of my Irish citizenship, a citizen of the European Union as well. At the trivial level, I can get through more border controls with less waiting. At the routine level, I need to consider what responsibilities and benefits citizenship in two nations brings. And at the profound level, I have to consider what it means to be a good citizen of two different countries.
Sillyverse 
I’m a dual citizen too, and technically, I could probably get a third one. My father got his Romanian citizenship back a few years before he died. But I don’t feel like doing it. This country denied my family their citizenship when they immigrated to Israel and prior to that, was happily willing to hand them to the Nazis. In addition to that, they only cancelled their Sodomy Law to join the EU. Why would I want to become their citizen? I would have much rather become an Irish citizen, but well, technically, I don’t match the criteria….
I think you can get by with two, Dana. 🙂
One of the issues your story reveals is how citizenship isn’t just a matter of laws, but of values and attitudes. I think and hope your decision to becomes a U.S. citizen was driven in part by approval of the better side of the American political tradition.
Hey, great to see you back online. Is this a one-off, or the beginning of a new (dual) thrust?
Warming up, Crispina. Warming up. Couldn’t let my birthday weekend pass without saying something.
Did you have a good time? Drink EJ under the table on Irish whiskey?
I polished off the last bottle of Irish whiskey we had, “Dead Rabbit,” before my birthday. And EJ only drinks whiskey in cocktails; look up what a Ward 8 is.
Oh, we did have drinks with my birthday dinner. I outweigh EJ by 30-50 pounds, so it affects her more than me. 😉
So you had a good birthday, Valentine’s Lover Boy! Lucky EJ!
I tell her so, all the time. 😉
And I’m sure she knows it 🙂
I believe she practices what in reading fiction is called “suspension of disbelief.”
Thank you, Brian, that’s my best laugh of the day… so far 🙂
Me too, Iran-Canada.
My apologies, your comment was caught in my spam filter. Hence why it has taken so long to show up.
My congratulations to you. Growing up in one country, moving to another, and making it your new home is a challenge I see as daunting. And being able to write a book and win an award in your adopted homeland is quite an achievement. Yet your book demonstrates your connection to the land of your birth as well.
Thanks so much dear for your beautiful reply.🌹
this is incredible news. congrats! let’s go to the pub(s)!!
I’m all for it; what would be more appropriate for the Irish? But I will have to get out there, or you come in toward Boston to visit.
Spring is coming; and my commitments will become a bit less burdensome after the middle of March.