Citizenship Reclamation Specialists

Citizenship reclamation specialists (CRSs) help people regain ancestral citizenship. Such citizenship may have been revoked by totalitarian governments (for example, Jewish people who had their German citizenship revoked due to persecution by the Nazi government on political, racial, or religious grounds between January 30, 1933, and May 8, 1945). Or citizenship may have been lost if a female lost her status as a citizen, without expressly requesting it, as a result of having acquired the citizenship of her husband through marriage, or because her husband had acquired a citizenship other than the citizenship in question. Some people want to claim ancestral citizenship because they want to reconnect to their heritage, obtain personal benefits, or potentially leave their current country because of political or civil unrest or other factors.

To complete a citizenship reclamation request, a specialist conducts research to build the client’s family tree to meet the reclamation requirements for that country. Some countries allow applicants to reclaim citizenship based on their parents’ citizenship, while others allow claims through grandparents’ or even great-grandparents’ citizenship.

Each country has its own rules for who is eligible to apply to reclaim their citizenship status, so many CRSs specialize in a particular country or group of countries, or a religious or ethnic group (such as Jewish people or those of Italian or German descent). Some factors make applicants ineligible for citizenship reclamation. For example, an applicant may be ineligible if their ancestor renounced or lost their citizenship before the applicant’s birth. The applicant may also be ineligible if they have been convicted of a serious crime. These factors vary by country, and it’s the specialist’s job to understand the rules in each country and screen the applicant to ensure that they are eligible for citizenship reclamation.

The applicant for citizenship reclamation must provide documents that clearly demonstrate their lineage. Examples include their ancestors’ birth and death certificates, passports, marriage certificates, address registers, and naturalization documents. Many applicants do not have these documents, so the specialist conducts extensive research by searching online, through phone calls and emails, and via in-person visits to church registries, national archives, and local municipal offices in a particular country to help locate the documents. It helps if the specialist is fluent in the language(s) of the granting country so that they can more easily navigate the application process and translate documents and instructions for their clients. (Note: When applying for citizenship reclamation, certified translations of documents must be provided if they are not in the official language of the country.)

Many citizenship reclamation specialists assist clients throughout the entire process—initial screening, conducting research, preparing and submitting documents to government agencies (e.g., immigration departments, ministries of interior, embassies, consulates) for review, and addressing any issues that arise during the process. Specialists may need to locate additional documentation if submitted documents are rejected or they encounter other roadblocks during the process.