You have to page way down for the list of countries in Europe – there are many: Citizenship by Descent: How to Get an Ancestral Passport (globalcitizensolutions.com)
Most countries on the list grant citizenship if at least one of your parents was a citizen of their country, at the time of your birth. Some extend this at last one or both grandparents, and some like Spain go even further: “A citizen of a Latin American country who has at least one grandparent born in Spain”. Poland extends to great grandparents, Ireland to Grandparents, Romania back to grandparents and some great grandparents, Italy is based on the date of citizenship of ancestors, going back over 100 years, and Bulgaria goes back to great-grand parents.
Of course, for Americans, this creates a class-based society – those that have immigration privileges and those who do not. Even if Americans are not planning to move abroad, dual citizenship can offer other benefits
- Can automatically stay more than the usual 90-day visa limit, in fact, can stay as long as you want.
- Can work in the other country, or in the case of a citizenship in an EU country, can work anywhere in the EU. I have friends with dual citizenship in the US and EU and they work as consultants – there is no need to apply for a work visa when they work in the US or the EU.
- May be eligible to participate in the non-US countries health insurance programs.
- May be eligible for free tuition at undergrad or graduate levels at universities in the non-U.S. country.
There are about 50 countries – even longer list of countries here – Citizenship by Descent: Maximizing Your Heritage [2023 Update] (retirementrovers.com) – that have citizenship by descent programs. That list does not include countries in Africa that are offering citizenship to Black Americans who can demonstrate any ancestral link to the country.
If you have the wrong ancestors (like me) you are ineligible from obtaining citizenship elsewhere. As I said, this is creating a dual-class society of those who are more elite than us peons without immigration privilege.