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I lived in Italy and have parents born and raised there as were my grandparents and great grandparents going back as far as forever. Despite my Italian ancestry, people viewed me as American. It made little to no difference what my ancestors were. I was American, not Italian.
Aren't you fine with that though? I would be. Because I AM American. No apologies, no regrets. No matter where I live.
"You can take the girl out of the US but you can't take the US out of the girl!"
Aren't you fine with that though? I would be. Because I AM American. No apologies, no regrets. No matter where I live.
"You can take the girl out of the US but you can't take the US out of the girl!"
Yes, I was quite fine with it. People treated me very well. It was however a reality check knowing that no matter how long I lived there and all my ancestors coming from there, I was never going to be one of them in that way, always going to be "the American", even by my closest relatives. It was never said in a bad or negative way, it was just matter of fact.
Yes, I was quite fine with it. People treated me very well. It was however a reality check knowing that no matter how long I lived there and all my ancestors coming from there, I was never going to be one of them in that way, always going to be "the American", even by my closest relatives. It was never said in a bad or negative way, it was just matter of fact.
This is very common, I had a Texan wife With Mexican heritage. When we visited in Mexico everyone saw us as Foreigners, to Local Mexicans she was just an American tourist.
Anyone whose ancestors left Italy after 1861 can get Italian citizenship. Ancestry does indeed matter, not just in Europe, but around the world.
It's pretty easy for many ethnic groups and people to get citizenship in the land of their ancestors. There's no such thing as an American, as the US is a country of immigrants and two thirds of them are European. Not only that most African Americans and Latinos in the US have at least some European ancestry.
African Americans, if they want to can get citizenship in Ghana as the descendants of African slaves.
Anyone with a parent or grandparent from most EU nations can get citizenship from those names.
Lots of people do this, including some Americans.
I got Spanish citizenship via distant Sephardic heritage.
Of course when people do these things they are not looking for the approval of every idiot on the street.
But an Italian American, like any other Italian is free to apply for Italian citizenship if they want and upon acquiring it has the full legal rights of ANY other Italian. The same for anyone else who acquires any other citizenship/
By the way, Europeans cannot be bothered often to know what their immigration laws state, so people may not necessarily know this.
But in terms of work, education, access to the national health system if you have a family tie to that European nation you will be able to get all that plus the EU passport.
So an Italian American in Italy is not just another American, because other Americans cannot easily get Italy citizenship (they'd have to do it through naturalization).
As far as I understand it is not that simple to regain Italian citizenship. DH and his parents renounced their Italian citizenship to become Australian, before there was dual citizenship. Because he renounced it, it is not straightforward to regain it. Perhaps the rules have changed since we chased it up.
Italians seem to call people Americanos, if they have immigrated and they think they are well off. A friend who still has close family in Italy was saying that his brother was upset with him as they did not fly back to Italy for a family funeral (keep in mind this is a twenty- four hour flight costing thousands) Was told he was an Americano and could have come.
Depends on the country. People eligible for german citizenship by descent are only people whose at least one parent had already held german citizenship when child was being born . Grandparents already do not count as far as I know. Not to mention earlier ancestors.
In Poland if some foreigner wanna get visa for a settlement through having ancestors from Poland, these are the conditions:
-At least one parent or at least one grandparent was of polish nationality.
-Such person must prove to authorities that he or she still has connection to Poland particularly through being fluent in polish language and keeping up with polish culture, tradition and habits.
So it depends on country.
Last edited by WestPreussen; 10-28-2019 at 01:47 AM..
Yes, I was quite fine with it. People treated me very well. It was however a reality check knowing that no matter how long I lived there and all my ancestors coming from there, I was never going to be one of them in that way, always going to be "the American", even by my closest relatives. It was never said in a bad or negative way, it was just matter of fact.
I gotcha.
To be fair, there are many places in the US that are that way as well, mainly small towns and rural areas. If you ain't from there, you ain't never gonna be one of 'em.
By the way, Europeans cannot be bothered often to know what their immigration laws state, so people may not necessarily know this.
But in terms of work, education, access to the national health system if you have a family tie to that European nation you will be able to get all that plus the EU passport.
So an Italian American in Italy is not just another American, because other Americans cannot easily get Italy citizenship (they'd have to do it through naturalization).
For Portugal the Portuguese descent needs to be recent at least one Portuguese grandparent and you have to demonstrate fluency in Portuguese and actual recent connection to a Portuguese community such as participation in cultural activities if you are living outside of Portugal. Those that haven't retained some culture, can't speak the language and can't even identify exactly where there family is from and sadly sometimes have Anglicized surnames are descendants they aren't real Portuguese people.
I'm just trying to figure the face of Spanish immigration officers when an AA comes to them and says: I might look African but I'm really Sephardic Muslim with some Klingon in it,
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