European citizenship by descent

European citizenship is highly coveted:

• An EU passport carries the right to live, work, study and retire in any of the 27 EU member states — and in Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland — with no visa, no work permit and no employer sponsorship. You keep your other (e.g., US) citizenship, and the status passes to your children.
• For travel beyond Europe, EU passports rank among the strongest in the world, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to approx. 190 destinations — and at European borders you use the EU/EEA lane rather than entering as a visitor.
• EU citizens buy real estate, start companies and hold shares anywhere in the Union on the same terms as nationals, without the approvals, permits and restrictions non-EU buyers and investors frequently run into.
• Everyday life is part of the appeal: universal healthcare, public universities that are free or cost a few hundred euros a year for EU citizens, low crime, and cities that sit at the top of global liveability rankings.

Not every country we cover is an EU member state. All are European, but Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Ukraine sit outside the Union — each of the four is an official candidate for accession. The rights set out above follow from citizenship of a member state, and a passport from a candidate country would carry them only once that country joins.