- I want to give my children all the opportunities to do what they want as they grow older.
- I found out I could apply for Polish citizenship since my grandfather was born there.
- Now both of my children have dual citizenship with US and EU passports.
Long before I had children, I had a wanderlust that brought me to more than 40 countries before I was 25. I spent a few days in some and a few months in others. I saw incredible sites from Angkor Wat in Cambodia to incredible castles across Europe.
I had adventures, but I also learned that the way of life I had accepted as the norm in the United States was not a given everywhere.
I discovered that almost all Europeans get several weeks of vacation every year, guaranteed healthcare, and access to higher education at a minimal cost. Plus, many countries offered subsidies for childcare and extended, paid maternity leave. Fear of gun violence was not part of daily life.
It was hard not to want that lifestyle for myself. Although I never took any serious steps toward moving abroad, the reality of what I was missing hit hard as the years went on.
Even with the privilege of family assistance and scholarships, I racked up over $100,000 in student-loan debt. Despite having a comfortable job with the federal government, when my daughter was born with complex medical needs, I found myself having to borrow leave from my generous coworkers. This year a close friend's daughter was at a nearby school when a gunman opened fire.
As my children grew, I often found myself wondering if I could give them the chance to live somewhere that offers different, and better, opportunities.
Dual citizenship with the European Union was my first thought
I started by casually researching the benefits of dual citizenship with a European Union country.
With an EU passport, my children could live, work, and study throughout the continent. Even if they didn't want to move abroad, they would have the option of staying in most of Europe if they liked to travel or take an internship that could set them apart.
I learned that many employers favor hiring dual citizens because of the flexibility it gives them to conduct business abroad. I also liked the idea of them having strong ties to the countries of their great-grandparents and hoped that citizenship would spark curiosity and open the door to cultural opportunities.
Although my husband's family has deep roots in the United States going back to the American Revolution, my family consists of more recent arrivals, part of the vast Jewish diaspora.
My ancestors scattered across Europe and beyond, often fleeing one oppressor and then another. I started crafting a family tree and researching which of the numerous countries where my ancestors had previously settled would offer their descendants citizenship.
I applied for a Polish passport
Although there were a few potential options, I settled on applying for citizenship in Poland.
My grandfather had lived in Poland before coming to the United States, and I had inherited his nearly 100-year-old Polish passport. With this document in hand, proving that I was descended from a Polish citizen was relatively easy.
I discovered that Poland already considered me, the granddaughter of one of their own, a citizen, and I needed to obtain documentation confirming my citizenship rather than applying outright. Once I became a Polish citizen, my children's citizenship was easily confirmed. We ate pierogies to celebrate when the yearlong process came to an end.
While it's still too soon to tell if they will choose to stay in the United States, which undeniably has much to offer, or choose a different route, I am thrilled that they will have access to opportunities that were not available to me.
What was just a daydream for me can be a reality for them.