European Citizenship Laws

European citizenship of any EU country can be obtained if certain citizenship conditions are met. EU citizenship can be obtained by birth, descent, marriage or naturalization. These citizenship rules are stated in each EU country's citizenship law. But these laws are too long to read and also use heavy legal language. Therefore, I summarised the citizenship laws of each European country for you.

Please browse the sections on the left side to see each law or whether the dual citizenship is allowed by the European countries.

DUAL SPANISH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL SPANISH CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exception: Spain has dual citizenship treaties with the following countries: Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador,Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, andHonduras. Spaniards residing in the above countries do not lose their rights as Spaniards if they adopt the nationality of the country of residence. For all other countries, Spanish citizenship is revoked upon the acquisition of foreign citizenship.

DUAL SLOVENIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL SLOVENIAN CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exception: Slovenian expatriates who may had involuntarily fled the country, as well as their descendants, are the only categories of people in the dual citizenship category. This policy is now in flux; any questions regarding the possibility of dual citizenship should be directed to the Slovenian Consul.

DUAL SLOVAK CITIZENSHIP

DUAL SLOVAK CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED. If a citizen of Slovakia holds another citizenship, their Slovak citizenship is considered to be dominant.

DUAL PORTUGUESE CITIZENSHIP

DUAL PORTUGUESE CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED.
Exception: Portuguese citizens who obtained a second citizenship prior to October of 1981 lost their Portuguese citizenship under the previous Citizenship Law #2098, dated July, 1959. Upon adoption of the new law, # 37/81, these persons were able to petition for the return of their Portuguese citizenship.

DUAL POLISH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL POLISH CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED. Poland does not recognize dual citizenship of its citizens. Polish law does not forbid a Polish citizen from becoming the citizen of a foreign state but Polish authorities will only recognize the Polish citizenship.

DUAL NORWEGIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL NORWEGIAN CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exceptions: The Norwegian Nationality Act permits an individual to be a national of more than one country in the following cases:
- If the individual acquired dual nationality at birth from their parents.
- If the individual was born of Norwegian parents in a country where a second nationality is based on birth in the country.
- If an individual is granted Norwegian nationality in accordance with the provision relating to “Notification through the County Governor’s Office” and “Persons born before 1979” whereby the former nationality is not automatically lost.

DUAL MALTESE CITIZENSHIP

DUAL MALTESE CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exceptions:
- Child born abroad, who obtains the citizenship of the birth country, is allowed to maintain dual citizenship until age 19. Person then has from age 19 to 20 to renounce foreign citizenship or Maltese citizenship will be revoked.
- Certain native-born Maltese emigrants are permitted to possess dual citizenship. If questions arise, contact the Embassy.

DUAL LUXEMBOURG CITIZENSHIP

DUAL LUXEMBOURG CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exception: Child born abroad to Luxembourg citizens, who acquires another citizenship due to laws in the country of birth. However, at the age of 18 a decision must be made of which nationality the individual wishes to maintain. Upon this decision, the other nationality must be renounced.

DUAL LITHUANIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL LITHUANIAN CITIZENSHIP:
Not generally recognized. Specificity not provided.

DUAL LATVIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL LATVIAN CITIZENSHIP: Not recognized. If a citizen of Latvia simultaneously can be considered a citizen or subject of a foreign country in accordance with the laws of that country, the citizen shall be considered solely a citizen of Latvia in relations with the Republic of Latvia.

DUAL ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED.
Amendment dated August 16, 1992, states those Italian citizens who acquire U.S. citizenship will retain Italian citizenship unless they voluntarily renounce their Italian citizenship.

DUAL HUNGARIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL HUNGARIAN CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED.

DUAL IRISH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL IRISH CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED.

DUAL GREEK CITIZENSHIP

DUAL GREEK CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exception: Greek law does not automatically remove citizenship upon a person acquiring a foreign citizenship. When a Greek citizen acquires another nationality, they are technically a dual citizen until the Greek government has given permission for the removal of Greek citizenship.

DUAL GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL GERMAN CITIZENSHIP: In principle, not recognized.
Exceptions:
- German citizens abroad who acquire another citizenship can forego the automatic forfeiture of their German citizenship by obtaining a decree from the German authorities permitting them to retain their German citizenship.
- After January 1, 2000, dual citizenship is allowed until age 23.

DUAL FRENCH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL FRENCH CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED.

DUAL FINNISH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL FINNISH CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exceptions: Dual citizenship is accepted under these circumstances:
- Child acquires Finnish citizenship from one parent and another citizenship from the other parent.
- Finnish citizen who marries a foreigner and automatically acquires the nationality of the foreign spouse without formal request.
- Child born to Finnish parents who becomes a foreign citizen by birth in another country. A child born abroad (as dual citizen) must return to live in Finland before the age of 22 and upon reaching 22 must choose one nationality in order to retain Finnish citizenship.

DUAL ESTONIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL ESTONIAN CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED

DUAL DUTCH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL DUTCH CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exceptions:
- Dutch child born abroad who acquires the citizenship of country of birth. Upon reaching the age of majority, person must chose which nationality to keep.
- Person, who involuntarily obtains another citizenship may not be asked to renounce Dutch citizenship. Questions concerning dual citizenship and what constitutes involuntary acquisition of a foreign citizenship are not entirely clear in Dutch courts. In cases where the status of Dutch dual citizenship is unclear, contact the Dutch consulate for clarification.

DUAL DANISH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL DANISH CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exceptions:
- Danish citizen who marries a foreign national and acquires spouse's citizenship is not required to renounce Danish citizenship.
- Child born abroad to Danish parents who acquires the nationality of the country of birth may keep dual citizenship until the age of 22. Before reaching the age of majority (22), the person must apply to retain citizenship. If person does not apply, their citizenship is lost.

DUAL CYPRIOT CITIZENSHIP

DUAL CYPRIOT CITIZENSHIP: RECOGNIZED.

DUAL CZECH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL CZECH CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED.
Exception: Person has been living in the Czech Republic for five years and the law of their home country does not allow them to be released from their citizenship. Person obtains dual citizenship (citizenship ex-lege).

DUAL BRITISH CITIZENSHIP

DUAL BRITISH CITIZENSHIP IS RECOGNIZED. You can have another citizenships along with the UK citizenship.

DUAL BELGIAN CITIZENSHIP

DUAL BELGIAN CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED. 

Exception: Belgian children born abroad, who received the citizenship of country of birth, may hold dual citizenship until age 18.

AUSTRIAN DUAL CITIZENSHIP

AUSTRIAN DUAL CITIZENSHIP is NOT RECOGNIZED.

Exception: Child of Austrian citizens who was born in a foreign country and acquired citizenship according to the other country's laws. Also, in exceptional cases, Austrian authorities may permit an Austrian citizen who obtains a new citizenship to retain their Austrian citizenship.

Canadian dual citizenship

Canadian government started to allow dual Canadian citizenship by 1977. So, if you are a canadian citizen, you can get or keep your other nationality as well. Obviously you need to make sure that the other country allows the dual citizenship as well.

Dual American Citizenship (USA)

The American immigration policies discourage the dual citizenship in many ways. However, the governmental organisations tend to allow it but do not want to officially acknowledge the dual American citizenship. There might be some restrictions on people with dual American citizenship such as the requirement to enter the USA border with the American passport not with that of another country.

As you can see, there is no proper regulation for dual citizenship in USA. But generally speaking, it is unofficially accepted by the American government.

Dual Citizenship India

Dual Citizenship in India for Indians has been a complicated issue so far. Overseas Citizenship of India is in someway a type of dual citizenship in India which is is awarded to the people who were Indian citizens. Indian origin people living in certain countries are given this status. This kind of person has the following rights:

• He does not have to register himself in the Foreign Registration Officer each time he visit the country for less than 180 days.
• Does not require visa to visit India
• Can buy and sell property in India except for agricultural and plantation land.
• Can do business in India
• Can open bank accounts
• Can give loans to Indian citizens

On the other hand, the Indian Parliament issued a law to award dual citizenship to the Indian people on December 22, 2003. The Bill received the President's approval on January 7, 2004, and became operational from 2nd December 2005. The Bill will help grant dual citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) belonging to, or having citizenship of other countries subject to certain conditions. This dual citizenship was intended to remove for those who have taken foreign passports, the obstacle in travel to and from India.