# U. S. citizens becoming European citizens via marriage

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizens-becoming-european-citizens-via-marriage/183426>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 21, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizens-becoming-european-citizens-via-marriage/183426 "2003-06-21T16:17:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizens-becoming-european-citizens-via-marriage/183426/1 "2003-06-21T16:17:52Z")

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If a U. S. citizen marries someone whose citizenship is that of a European country (member of the EU), does the U. S. person automatically become a citizen of the European country of their spouse? Or is there a process similar to that in the U.S., where there must be a petition, etc.?

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**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizens-becoming-european-citizens-via-marriage/183426/2 "2003-06-21T16:25:50Z")

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I am not aware of any European country that “automatically” grants citizenship to spouses - at the very least you’d have to be married for a certain number of years before you’d be eligible, and yes, you would have to fill out an application.

The exact procedure varies by country, though.

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**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-citizens-becoming-european-citizens-via-marriage/183426/3 "2003-06-21T16:31:28Z")

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In the UK, getting married to a citizen allows to you a work permit, and one year’s residence. If, after one year, you are still married (and residing!) together, you can apply for a further two years. If the two-year period passes without incident, you can then apply for citizenship (at least, that was the law when I was involved in the process), and the application can take up to a year or two.

If, at any time during the process, you are (a) divorced, (b) separated, (c) convicted of a crime, you will lose your right to stay in the UK, or, at least, your next application to whatever stage you’re in will be rejected. Something I learned to my peril when (b) then (a) applied to me. ☹