Here’s your ultimate guide to becoming an EU citizen.
If you want to invest as an expat or high-net-worth individual, which is what i specialize in, you can email me (advice@adamfayed.com) or use WhatsApp (+44-7393-450-837). We also help with golden visas – residency and citizenship by investment.
Nothing written on here is tax advice, and the facts might have changed since this article was penned.
Do you wish to become an EU citizen and obtain a strong EU passport? Maybe you’re from the UK and want to re-join the EU to reclaim your rights after Brexit. Or maybe you’re from a non-EU nation and want to have dual citizenship with a strong and flexible second passport from one of the EU’s member states. The good news is that becoming an EU citizen is simpler than you would imagine.
Let us first define what it means to be an EU citizen. EU citizenship is a unique status conferred to nationals of EU member states, granting them the right to vote in EU elections.
It was established in 1992, at the same time as the European Union, with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. An EU citizen is somebody who has citizenship in one of the EU member states.
The legal relationship between the state and the individual is defined as citizenship. It can be acquired by birth, marriage, naturalization, and a variety of other methods. By approving an individual’s application to become an EU citizen, the state confers citizenship to them.
Of course, the state can reject the application for a variety of reasons, some of which are obvious, such as a criminal background check, and others which are purely at the discretion of the state.
Citizens of the EU have rights, freedoms, and safeguards under EU law. One of the most essential is the right to free movement, which encompasses the ability to live, study, work, and retire anywhere in the European Union.
EU citizens have the right to vote and run for office in the national elections of the state in which they reside. They can also vote in European elections and make choices that affect the entire EU.
Furthermore, as an EU citizen, you will be protected when traveling overseas. When visiting a place where your own country is not represented, you have the right to consular assistance from embassies of other EU member states.
An ‘EU passport’ is simply one issued by any EU member state such as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
Obtaining citizenship in any of these nations enables you to apply for a passport issued by that country. A Portuguese passport, for example, is an EU passport. It grants you the ability to travel freely among all 27 EU member states, as well as the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) and Switzerland.
Citizens of the United Kingdom can re-join the EU using any of the normal channels. Brits can also enter the EU via Ireland.
Regardless of Brexit, under the Common Travel Area agreement, any UK passport bearer can freely travel to Ireland (which predates the EU). Naturalization takes five years once you become a resident. You’ll be able to seek for Irish citizenship and rejoin the EU at that moment.
There are four primary routes to becoming an EU citizen:
After receiving citizenship, you can apply for a passport from your new country. Depending on the nation you naturalized in and your original citizenship, you may be eligible to preserve dual citizenship, which comes with a slew of advantages.
The number of persons asking for citizenship in EU nations has increased dramatically in recent years. UK citizens are now one of the most common applicants for EU citizenship. The bulk of them got a French or German passport after getting naturalized in these countries after living there for the requisite amount of time.
Citizenship by ancestry is a common way to become an EU citizen. Depending on the nation, you may be able to apply for citizenship if you have citizens as parents or grandparents.
Even great-grandparents in the case of Italy! Citizenship by descent or heritage is affordable and simple. However, not everyone has an ancestor from another nation – and this is something you can’t truly control.
Another path to EU citizenship is through your EU spouse. Timelines for obtaining citizenship by marriage differ. Spain has one of the quickest, conferring Spanish citizenship after only one year of marriage.
Citizenship via naturalization occurs when a government grants citizenship to those who have lived in the country legally for the appropriate number of years.
Timelines differ depending on the country. The EU’s quickest timescale is five years (France, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, and a few others). Others can last up to ten years (Austria, Spain, Italy, Greece). It is entirely up to each individual country.
At Digital Émigré, we specialize in assisting people in obtaining EU citizenship through naturalization. We believe that an individual’s future liberties should be totally under their control, rather than being determined by a chance of birth.
One common route to becoming an EU citizen is through one of the EU’s various “citizenship by investment” initiatives. This is where you may get a passport in exchange for your money without having to stay in the nation for a long time.
This option is accessible in Malta and Cyprus, with passports valid for one year and six months, respectively. The Cyprus scheme, on the other hand, is now on hold.
The first step for naturalization as an EU citizen is to be a legal resident of your chosen nation. That is the new émigré’s first challenge.
The Digital Émigré team includes immigration and tax specialists that can help you with all parts of the residence procedure. There are several ways to get residency in an EU country, the following are some of them:
Finding work in an EU nation is a classic approach to obtain residence there. This entails obtaining a work permit from your new company, which you will then use to apply for residence. However, finding job as a non-EU citizen might be difficult.
Unless you have specialized expertise, EU firms prefer to hire from within the EU first. As a result, we choose residency paths that rely on revenue from remote jobs or internet enterprises.
Another option for obtaining residence is self-employment. This entails establishing oneself as a self-employed individual in the target nation and utilizing it as a method of obtaining residence.
Varied nations have different regulations, and it is simpler to become self-employed in some than others. For example, we’ve been told that starting up as self-employed in Spain and Belgium is an extremely laborious procedure.
The passive income path to residence permits you to overcome job and self-employment barriers. Although not all EU nations provide a road to the residence through passive income, several do.
Furthermore, the concept of ‘passive income’ differs per nation. It is typically characterized as income earned without working. Royalties, dividends, pension income, investment income, and rental income from foreign property are all examples.
There is still some uncertainty regarding whether revenue from a remote employment with one company headquartered outside the target nation qualifies as passive income.
It does for Portugal. For people with passive income, Portugal’s D7 visa is one of the most flexible choices for obtaining residency. As a result, Portugal is a fantastic option if you wish to have a permanent remote work contract with an overseas company rather than receiving earnings from an internet business.
One common route to becoming an EU resident is through one of the EU’s various “citizenship by investment” initiatives. You make a financial investment in the nation in exchange for instant residency. You can seek citizenship when the requisite number of years has passed.
Portugal, for example, offers this option through its Portugal Golden Visa residency-by-investment program. Similar schemes exist in Greece, Cyprus, Spain, and Ireland, all of which require you to retain resident status for a specific number of years before being eligible for citizenship.
The residence by investment option is similar to enabling your money to spend time in the nation rather than you physically being there (unless of course, you want to).
Those who employ normal (non-investment) residency as a bridge to citizenship, on the other hand, must make the target nation their primary base for the duration of the process, including becoming a tax resident. This can be a flexible choice in certain countries, but it can be restricted in others.
It is debatable. Any EU passport grants you free travel across the Schengen area, as well as the ability to live, work, study, and retire in any of the member states.
According to the Henley Passport Index, some EU passports are more potent than others when it comes to worldwide visa-free travel. You should ideally become an EU citizen in a country where you can keep your current nationality.
However, it is not permitted in all EU nations. Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria, for example, all require new citizens to relinquish their previous citizenship.
Dual citizenship is permitted in Bulgaria, but only for native Bulgarians, EU/EEA citizens, Swiss citizens, and spouses of Bulgarian nationals. Two passports are better than one in an uncertain world. As a result, it’s vital to think about whether your chosen nation will enable you to keep your dual citizenship.
Portugal provides one of the most flexible and quickest EU citizenship paths, as well as dual citizenship. A Portuguese passport entitles you to visa-free travel in 188 countries. Furthermore, because Portugal is geopolitically neutral, obtaining its passport is unlikely to cause you problems at border crossings.
Furthermore, Portugal provides a wide range of residence choices, including the D7 passive income visa for remote employees, internet entrepreneurs, and retirees, as well as a comprehensive Portugal Golden Visa residency program that includes many various sorts of investment.
In 2022, obtaining the Golden Visa by investment in Portuguese venture capital or private equity funds is becoming a popular alternative.
Portugal is an excellent destination for obtaining EU citizenship. Here’s a rundown of the advantages:
After just five years of stay, you can petition for Portuguese citizenship. That is one of the EU’s quickest deadlines. But when precisely do those five years begin? The clock starts ticking when you acquire your residence permit.
That’s why it makes sense to be there as soon as possible, without any needless delays or hassles.
The time it takes to gain EU citizenship is determined on the exact target country and the path you choose to residency. Here are some of the quickest alternatives we’ve discovered.
To become an EU citizen with passive income, you must first become a resident in your target nation of choice for the requisite period of time. Not every EU country enables third-country nationals with passive income to become residents.
Portugal has the quickest and most flexible resident-to-citizenship track, allowing you to seek for citizenship after only five years of residency. In addition, the cost of living in Portugal is among the lowest in Western Europe.
With the growing popularity of “digital nomad visas,” additional nations may soon follow suit. At the moment, most digital nomad visas/residency alternatives cannot be utilized as a road to citizenship.
Portugal: D7 passive income visa and residency permit
Luxembourg: Residency for private reasons
Cyprus: Income-based visa and residency permit
Greece: Financially independent residency
Malta: Residency by economic self-sufficiency
Austria: Settlement permit (gainful employment excepted)
Estonia: Temporary to permanent residency
Italy: Elective residence by independent means
Ireland: Common Travel Area (UK citizens only)
Spain: Non-lucrative residency permit
Applying for a long-term resident visa in one of the EU member states is the best method to permanently relocate to Europe. There are numerous options for accomplishing this, such as being sponsored by a European business, enrolling in a study program in a European nation, or applying for residency based on passive income or investment.
The application procedure normally starts with applying for an entrance visa at the nearest embassy of your destination country in your home country. When you arrive in your destination country, you can proceed to the second stage, which often entails obtaining a resident visa. After that, you can renew your resident permit for the requisite number of years until you qualify for permanent residency or citizenship.
In today’s post-pandemic environment, EU citizenship is quite valuable. An EU passport opens over 30 secure and stable nations to you and your family.
It also gives you access to lucrative commercial prospects within the Eurozone, as well as high-quality healthcare and improved political security while traveling. To become an EU citizen, you have a variety of alternatives, which are mostly dependent on your specific circumstances and objectives.
You will have the same rights to free movement in all EU nations. However, we recommend that you only choose target nations that offer dual citizenship for maximum flexibility and the best potential backup plan.