Americans Seeking European Passports

Newsweek -   For many Americans struggling with the higher cost of living and tired of the growing political tension at home, their European family trees offer a chance to escape the country—or at least to have a Plan B in case things get really bad.  Millions of people in the U.S. can trace their ancestry back to the so-called "Old Continent," even if these ties date back multiple generations. 

Long-lost connections to Europe gives them the right to apply for citizenship in the country that their ancestors left behind, granting them the right to live and work in the continent as a birthright, through a legal pathway called citizenship-by-descent.

Between 2023 and 2025, U.S. applications for citizenship-by-descent in Europe rose by up to 500 percent, according to firms facilitating the process such as Arton Capital and Latitude. 

During that period 80 percent of the applications targeted Italy, but the nation has since tightened its rules, making it harder for Italian Americans to obtain citizenship through their ancestors