I’m thinking about traveling to Ireland in the next year or two, to reconnect with a side of my family I’ve never really known. My dad is an Irish immigrant, and because of this I have a legal claim to Irish citizenship and a passport. But enough background…
My question is: are there any objective reasons why it would be better for me to have an American passport or an Irish one while traveling in Europe (if I do this, I would try and take a little time to see something else, but who knows). For instance, if I had a heart attack or something that put me into a European medical system, would being identified as an American result in a humongous medical bill that my local private health insurer might or might not pay?
Not sure. As a slightly related matter, thanks to our country’s rather heavy-handed foreign policy, I bet an Irish visa would result in fewer and less intimate strip-searches in most foreign ports-of-call.
There is definitely an advantage to having an Irish (or other EU) passport when you’re travelling in Europe. With an EU passport you can enter any EU country without hassle (well, without much hassle). With a non-EU passport you may be subject to questions about why you’re there, when you’re leaving, how you’re going to support yourself etc.
An Irish passport (ie Irish nationality) would also let you stay and work in Europe indefinitely. If you travelled on a US passport, you would probably get a three month tourist visa.
I’m in the same position. I seriously considered working in Europe when I graduated from college, and it would have been a great advantage to have the Irish passport. But, 91 was a recesion year, and my plans were dashed. Beyond the work advantages, the only advantage I saw was picking up chick on Saint Paddies day here at home. It wasn’t worth the cost. (Back then it cost nearly $1000 U.S.) How much does it run now? I’m rethinking the chick angle…
Weirdly enough, I was having a conversation on this very topic about two hours ago.
My great aunt was an Irish citizen and served at a mission in China. The staff of the mission was arrested during the Communist takeover. She and a few other people who were Irish were detained only briefly. The majority of the staff were Americans and were held for a much longer time.
So, to repeat what has been suggested before, situations may come up where you would be treated with greater civility if you are identified as Irish rather than American. Sidney Reilly, the legendardy British spy, supposedly said he adopted an Irish name because Irish people were welcome anywhere in the world with the exception of Ireland.
NurseCarmen, where do chicks cost $1000? You could afford Vegas showgirls for that kind of cash.
I’ve thought about the harassment angle, both from customs agents or terrorists. Either thing seems to be very low probability. And if problems DO arise, and it’s discovered I’m an American traveling under an Irish passport, there might be even more trouble. Believe me, I could not pass as a native Irishman if my life depended on it.
But the border crossing bit makes sense, that “foreigners” would be subject to more delays and screenings than EU citizens.
I’m vaguely in the OP’s situation (but Aussie instead of Yank - I’m dual Aussie/British) you will that find when you turn up to an EU country’s airport/border that they will more than likely check your EU passport with about as much ‘intensity/oomph/whatever?’ as a typical bus ticket inspector would inspect a bus ticket.
Around eight out of eight times for me so far it has only taken a few seconds glance, no visas, little if any queuing at the immigration checkpoint it’s great.
For non EU european countries such as Czech Republic it takes about twice as long, maybe 20 seconds to compare passport photo against your face, then a stamp and you’re through.
Groovy and well worth the AU$80 or whatever it was I paid for my British Passport though my father being a Brit (ten pound POM).
An “EU passport” is simply the passport of an EU country. So if you have Italian citizenship, just use your Italian passport. If you don’t have one, contact the Italian embassy/consulate for information.