I qualified for Italian citizenship via my father, who was still a citizen when I was born. He became a U.S. citizen a few years after I was born, but before my sister was. She obtained her Italian citizenship through my mom, since mom had never actively renounced it (obtained via marrying my father). There was a huge change in Italian law back in '92, which opened the doors to dual citizenship and the restoration of citizenship to former nationals who had immigrated and naturalized elsewhere. That's how my father was able to get his back. Mom never lost hers since she was a U.S. citizen first. During that time, they waived the residency requirements. Italian passports for all of us!

My uncle has been talking about getting his Italian citizenship back. He could fairly easily, but he'd now have to live in Italy for a year.

I don't think I qualify for citizenship anywhere else. My Irish relatives have no idea when they got here, and my Italian relatives have been here too long.

The DAR recognizes other patriotic activites than soldiering for our ancestors. If your ancestors supplied food to the Contnental Army, they might qualify.

I may qualify for Spanish citizenship under the reparations they started a few years back to descendants of people who were kicked out of the country during the Inquisition.

I did not expect that. ::ducks::

I should look into that too. Wonder if we're distantly related!

Anything's possible Trudy! Apparently, my maiden name is one of the most popular in Spain. Who knew? (Clearly, not me.)

I've seriously been thinking of doing one of the DNA tests to see what, exactly, lurks in my genetic woodpile. I know so little about my father's extended family.

I'm eligible for Irish citizenship since my grandfather was born there.

Me too! But while living in Greece I was always happier to use the Diplomatic line at passport control, rather than the huge line for Schengen.

This is me: one grandfather came over from Ireland and married a DAR Quaker. One grandfather came over from Germany and married a Choctaw woman. I don't know that it gets more American than that.

But 23andme swears I'm East Asian.

I wish I qualified for some other citizenship. All my grandparents were born here (most of their parents were the immigrants, except my mom's father's father, whose family seems to have been in Missouri for a very long time??)

I'd have to do a DNA search, since my adoption was sealed. I love being able to celebrate Cinco de Mayo *and* St. Patrick's Day *and* Bastille Day, though. I mean, I *could* be any of those. Who knows? Wait wait, don't tell me.

sealed adoption high five

I should do the DNA thing at some point

I want to do the DNA thing too, just to see if the family rumors are true and I'm not just a soup of Nothern European whiteness.