Job Discussion Forums

[josepho]

Hi there,

I'm actually a British citizen by birth - my girlfriend, an American living in Ohio, is not. Next year as part of my uni course (BA in Italian & Spanish) I'll be spending a year in Italy (can't complain!) - she'd like to come too, as she's actually already finished her degree in International Studies from Ohio State University. We thought that the best thing to do would be for her to look at doing some sort of TELF course (CELTA perhaps) then looking for some teaching work while we're there. Clearly, the main obstacle in our path (apart from her not speaking Italian - though we can work on that) is that she obviously isn't an EU citizen.

Looking on this site it would appear that some European countries are fairly lax about giving citizenship by descent. As far as I'm aware, my girlfriend would not be eligible for British citizenship as only her grandparents (paternal) were born in the UK - her father was born to them in the US (thus British by descent, not birth). Is there any way that she could obtain British citizenship through her grandparents and, if so, what would be the steps/regulations involved in this?

Any help would be incredibly appreciated, as, well, we'd really like to spend next year (academic year, September onwards) together in Italy! Would also help her come stay here in Glasgow with me, at least 'til I finish my degree - at which point we might very well move to the US.

Cheers!

[Jetgirly]

When I was applying for German citizenship, the biggest factor was what citizenship my grandparents held when they had my father. Although they were in Canada, their Canadian citizenship had not yet been granted, so my father was actually born to two German parents, in Canada. This allowed him to apply for German citizenship and then pass it on to me.

My family found out all the necessary information by contacting the German consulate here in Canada. You should try the same thing for Britain.

[jnesta1]

When I was pursuing Italian citizenship, I went to the Italian Embassy web site and teh site of my local Italian Consulate. Perhaps you'd find the details you need in a location like that.

Jeff