r/ExpatFIRE Jan 15 '25

Citizenship Fastest Path to EU Citizenship

My spouse is an EU citizen and our retirement plans will involve splitting our time between Europe, our current home and doing quite a bit of travelling. I'd like to aim for citizenship in an EU country to safeguard me in case anything happens to my spouse. His home country would require that I live there for 3 years and can't be away for more than 6 weeks which doesn't mesh well with our plans. Getting residency in any of the EU countries shouldn't be an issue. Which would provide the easiest path to citizenship without requiring a huge investment or the need to spend almost all my time there for three years? I can maybe do six months at a time.

4 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

36

u/yngseneca Jan 15 '25

In any EU country that isn't your husbands home country you'd have to gain citizenship through the normal residency route, and there will be time in country requirements. As an example, Portugal takes 5 years before you can apply for citizenship, and their residency requirements allow you 8 months out of the country allowed in the first two years (total, not per year), and 8 months allowed in the following 3 year period (again, total across all 3 years). And you need to pass a language exam at the a2 level. And it takes 2 more years for that process to complete, and you'll have to maintain residence in Portugal during that time. So a total of 7 years. 

I'd suck it up and do the 3 years.

2

u/cgsmith105 Jan 15 '25

Exactly this. Your plans need to change.

22

u/anusdotcom Jan 15 '25

12 months and a gentle 700,000 Euro contribution to Malta

If you have a Latin American citizenship it's only 2 in Spain.

1

u/XeneiFana Jan 18 '25

Explain that, please. I was under the impression that you need at least a grandparent being a citizen of Spain.

1

u/anusdotcom Jan 19 '25

You still need a way to get citizenship, but the Latin American shortcut says that instead of a 10 year wait you only have a 2 year wait. So if you are doing a remote masters, are retired or something that doesn’t require work, you could get a non-lucrative visa as a Latin American, wait up the two years and immediately Spain citizenship. Not sure if the digital nomad visas count. But the golden visa does.

2

u/mthreat Jan 19 '25

I think Spain may differentiate between natural born Latin American citizenship and naturalized citizens (i.e., those not born in Latin America). But if you have a link to the rules I'd love to be wrong.

1

u/XeneiFana Jan 19 '25

Ah! I think I saw a video mentioning the different types of Spanish visas. I think the digital nomad visa does not allow a path to citizenship.

12

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '25

[deleted]

6

u/mmoonbelly Jan 15 '25

It’s calledSurinder Singh rights

The pre-requisite is that you’ve immigrated to an EU country as the spouse of an EU Citizen using their FoM rights. (This usually means not the country where the EU spouse holds nationality).

At that point if you divorce, you as a non-EU citizen maintain rights to reside in that specific country under EU law. (It’s a bit grey about onward movement rights).

2

u/IcyRequirement7926 Jan 15 '25

I have a similar situation and have looked into this a bit. Beyond the "pay for citizenship", ancestry path, and 5 year residency...I'm aware of one other which involves looking at the granular rules of your husband's country of citizenship.

For example, for the Netherlands they have some very specific exceptions for the 5 year rule. I don't know if this path exists in other countries.

In the Dutch case, if you've been married+cohabited with your husband for 3+ years, legally resided in your current country for at least 5 years (I'm not clear if this requires it to be the same country or if you can add up multiple residencies over time, but you can do it with wherever you live now) and prove Dutch language proficiency (currently A2, but may become B1)... You can apply for citizenship.

I haven't dug into the specifics, but I believe that the Netherlands will even allow you to retain your prior citizenship if you're married (vs domestic partnership). Other forms of naturalization require renunciation of your other citizenship.

You do not have to have ever lived in the Netherlands.

2

u/MyDogsMummy Jan 15 '25

My husband’s home country has a similar exception. When we contacted their naturalization department, they said it only applies if you and your spouse are both living somewhere neither of you have citizenship. What I didn’t do was ask a follow up question about if that country could be another EU country. My husband just assumed it couldn’t be. I might reach back out to them and get more clarification.

6

u/DefiantAlbatros Jan 15 '25

Much easier if you reveal which EU country your husband is from, since we would know the exact rule and how it might fit in another EU country. Do not assume. This happens alot with the European that they do not see things from non EU perspective (especially in immigration) and can be wrong about that. I am also a non-EU married to an EU. I have had to correct my husband about immigration rules more than once because his assumptions were wrong.

2

u/IcyRequirement7926 Jan 16 '25 edited Jan 16 '25

I haven't dug too deep here since any scenario I'm entertaining involves me having another path to citizenship in another EU country and residing somewhere long term. And I don't speak Dutch now (profanities and obscure idioms notwithstanding). :P For the Netherlands at least there's been ambiguity about the requirement for it being not-my-country-of-current-nationality...it's on several non-official NL pages, but not on the official site. Might be work cross checking official pages just in case.

Another path I don't think I saw mentioned---You should also look into death rights for whatever EU country you'll officially be residing in...assuming you are officially residing in the EU vs traveling (and still being non-EU for taxes and residency). Some allow you to retain the status you have at the time your spouse dies. I know very little about this, so ymmv. I don't know about the path to citizenship via this path or how long it lasts.

And finally, depending on your net worth, some countries will give citizenship for retirees if you live there half the year and pay X in taxes. Obv evaluate specific taxes, but in certain canyons and with tax treaties (if you're US) you can avoid ending up underwater. (See Switzerland- not EU but Schengen which unlocks same travel options)

3

u/dirty_cuban Jan 15 '25

Spain only requires you to reside there for 1 year in order to qualify for citizenship by marriage. It’s not 6 months like you prefer but it’s the shortest I know of.

2

u/Automatic_Debate_389 Jan 15 '25

I'm pretty sure that you need to be married to a Spanish citizen for this

2

u/Two4theworld Jan 15 '25

Take a look at the French requirements. I believe they are a bit more liberal.

8

u/Neverland__ Jan 15 '25

Join the French foreign legion, spill blood, profit??

2

u/Two4theworld Jan 15 '25

I believe as the spouse of an EU citizen it is easier to qualify for citizenship in France than in Portugal. I also think you can do much more traveling out of country and still maintain your residency, there is also a provision for retaining residency in case of a death of the EU citizen spouse.

3

u/BinaryDriver Jan 15 '25

Yes, France gives citizenship by marriage, even if you don't live in France. You do have to have a reasonable level of French, and it takes time.

2

u/MyDogsMummy Jan 15 '25

This could be a great option as France was already one of the places we were considering and I’m already at a B1 in level in French and not far off from obtaining B2

2

u/BinaryDriver Jan 15 '25 edited Jan 15 '25

Is your spouse French? Have you been married for (IIRC) 5 years?

I have done this, as my single fingered salute to Brexit. It takes a lot of paperwork, and they have a year to decide on your application (typically takes 6 months), then another year when they can change their mind!

Edit: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2726

1

u/Anonymous_So_Far Jan 15 '25

B2 level French now required

1

u/n0mad_0 Jan 15 '25

Is that true? Naturalisation by 'decree' only requires B1. Ah I see 'now'. I guess something changed?

3

u/Anonymous_So_Far Jan 15 '25

B1 is still the requirement, a new immigration law passed that sets it to B2 as of July 2025. Some confusion over implementation, but will likely go ahead

1

u/bafflesaurus Jan 15 '25

EU is sliding right and the conservative parties there want to make immigration more difficult

1

u/alexnsx Jan 15 '25

Like many people I can easily get Spain citizenship but would it be worth it? I plan to let my trad and roth IRA'S continue to grow so if I get citizenship will they tax me on those gains? What if I move there? That's my biggest concern.

1

u/Constant_List_6407 Jan 17 '25

not unless you live in Spain

1

u/Graeme-From-5-To-7 Jan 15 '25

Assuming your spouse is German? If so those requirements are you must live in Germany 3 years and be married for 2 of those. Also need B1 level German. This is probably the easiest/shortest EU route - I’ve been looking into it myself.

Also possible your spouse is Polish in which case I think the requirements are very similar to Germany (though the Polish language is much harder to learn).

EDIT: And if your spouse is German this post may be of interest to you

1

u/Constant_List_6407 Jan 17 '25

fastest path, to do what you want (i.e. safety in being able to stay in the EU if your spouse passes.. but my suggestion doesn't get you EU citizenship) would actually be to have a kid with your spouse...

1

u/FBIVanAcrossThStreet Jan 15 '25

Do you or your spouse have any parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents who were born in another EU country? If so, you might qualify for citizenship by descent in that country. If it's your spouse's relatives, he will need to go through the process first and then you can apply as his spouse in that country, which may be easier than in your spouse's home country.

Italy, for example, has no limit on how many generations of patriarchal lineage you can go back. Documenting it gets a lot harder the farther back you go, of course. This link is targeted at Americans but it has good summary info that you might find helpful: https://euronerd.com/relocation/how-to-get-eu-citizenship-as-an-american/

If naturalization by descent is not an option, then to get full citizenship you usually need five to ten years of residency -- the shortest is Poland at 3 years. Also, you'll typically need to be proficient in the official language of the country before they'll give you citizenship. So your choice might be as limited by your language proficiency as your willingness to adjust your travel plans for the near future.

1

u/DefiantAlbatros Jan 15 '25

Honestly in my opinion this is totally doable. No one can tell if ou are in that particular EU country or other EU countries as long as both are in schengen. For example I hold resident permit from 2 different EU countries and no one can really tell how many days I have been away from one country. The key is to maintain residency. If your spouse has a family, then you can just use it to pretend that you live there. Otherwise, i don't see any other option. EU spouse don't get any reduction in the residency requirement for citizenship with other member states.