Guides to citizenship by descent paperwork
Plain answers to the paperwork questions people ask when claiming citizenship through a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent: which documents, in what form, what changed in 2025, and how to handle names that do not match.
Citizenship by descent through a grandparent
Which countries grant citizenship through a grandparent, what each asks you to prove, and the documents for the three people: you, a parent, a grandparent.
The German declaration route explained
Who can become German by declaration under section 5, the deadline of 19 August 2031, the documents the federal office lists, and how the chain is proved.
Ireland Foreign Births Register document list
Every document the Foreign Births Register asks for when you claim through an Irish-born grandparent, person by person: originals, certified copies, photos.
Polish citizenship confirmation document list
The documents for confirming Polish citizenship by descent: civil records for every link, the ancestor's Polish papers, sworn translations and apostilles.
Canadian citizenship by descent after the 2025 change
What the amendment in force on 15 December 2025 changed for people born abroad beyond the first generation, and the documents to prove it with a certificate.
What Italy's 2025 citizenship law changed
How Decree-Law 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025, narrowed Italian citizenship by descent, which routes remain, and what happens to files started before.
Apostilles and translations for descent claims
What an apostille certifies and what it does not, who issues it, which descent routes want one, and when a sworn or certified translation is needed.
Fixing name discrepancies in old records
Why names, dates and places differ across old family records, which differences matter, and the usual fixes: amendments, affidavits and same person statements.
Questions about the descent dossier
Short answers on legal advice, storage, the countries and routes covered, how rules are sourced, and the cost.
Citizenship by descent rules by country
Every rule the organiser applies for Germany, Ireland, Poland, Canada and Italy, with its source and the day it was read.
Start your dossier
Pick your country and route, add the people in your line, and the register lists every document the route asks for, with the rule behind each one. Free for one case. Your family's records stay in this browser.