Over the past six months, 3,284 American citizens have applied for an Irish passport, more than twice the number of applications during the same period in 2021, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing US government statistics. The news outlet noted that a growing number of Americans have applied for EU citizenship, based on their ancestry. Americans have also been seeking Italian and German passports, looking to broaden their opportunities for work and travel, but also, obviously, in case things got out of hand at home.
Bloomberg reported that the Italian consulate in NYC has a waitlist of 3,700 people long, all seeking Italian citizenship.
Paul Prince, writing for lawoffice.org.il, which specializes in assisting Israeli and American citizens in obtaining European citizenship, noted that since the US has a liberal policy regarding dual citizenship, many Americans are interested in acquiring a second, European passport, because, as he put it: “In today’s volatile and tumultuous world, a second citizenship can come in very handy in protecting your and your family’s interests.” Luckily, many EU countries also allow dual citizenship.
Of course, one group of Americans has an additional option in today’s “volatile and tumultuous world,” its name is Israel and it accepts US Jews almost without preselection. In fact, most arrivals from the US receive their citizenship upon landing at Ben Gurion International airport.
On that front: Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata said before Rosh Hashanah this year that in 5782 close to 60,000 olim settled in Israel: 47% came from Russia, 25% from Ukraine, 6% from the US, 4% from France, 4% from South America, and 2% from Ethiopia.
I did the math, so you won’t have to: these figures mean that about 3,600 came from the US – and that’s equal to the number of Americans seeking an Irish or an Italian passport. Take that, Paul Prince.
According to The American Jewish Year Book (AJYB), the number of Jews in the world has reached about 15.3 million, of whom 7,080,000 live in Israel, an estimated 6 million (it’s a very generous estimate – DI) are in the US, and the rest are elsewhere on the planet.
But wait, the number of people who define themselves and their extended families as Jews, and are therefore entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, stands at an estimated 25.5 million.
Take that, Ireland and Italy…
