Kiss Me, I’m Irish
A couple months ago, I started down the long road to obtaining my Irish citizenship. Well, longish road. Actually, in retrospect, the road was pretty short, though marred by some ludicrously bureaucratic procedures. For those who don’t know, Ashley has her Irish citizenship and hence I was able to obtain it by making an application for post-nuptial citizenship. Lucky me, too, given that this route to Irish citizenship will cease to exist at the close of November 2005.
In a weird way, this is a return to roots. I believe my mother’s side of the family is originally from County Cork, though they’re from Scotland more recently. What goes around comes around, I guess.
What does this mean for me going forward? Well, for one thing, I now have the right to live and work in the 25 EU member states. Add that to being a Canadian engineer (which, through NAFTA, allows me to easily work in the US and Mexico), and it adds up to a pretty interesting map of places I can work with little or no hassle (image built using the World66 map tool):
Hmm. Maybe that’s not quite as impressive as I thought it would be. Then again, it’s not too shabby either. If I could regain my Australian citizenship it would be augmented a little more, but unfortunately I fail the residency requirements necessary to resume the citizenship I lost when I became Canadian (I was born in Australia, but at the time I became a Canadian, Australia didn’t allow multiple citizenships).
What I’d be really interested in know is how prevalent multiple citizenships are these days (and I’m not the only one interested in the topic apparently). It appears that more countries are allowing multiple citizenships – I know that the UN is starting to recommend that census organizations start to gather data to study the trend. Imagine the ramifications of a world in which not only do information workers have the skills required to allow them to easily find work anywhere, but also have the work authorizations to eliminate the last remaining barrier that would prevent an employer from hiring them. Interesting? Yes? Scary? Undoubtedly.
I predict we will see citizenships become a new asset class, one which is exempt from the usual inheritance taxes, but may ultimately bestow more value in the long term. I mean, just look at Ashley and I – if we spent a year in Australia, we would be up to four citizenships between us! Imagine the opportunities our kids will have because of that freedom. Then again, perhaps countries will have ceased to matter long before our kids even have need of this asset. Perhaps the dream of telecommuting will have come true already, or perhaps the EU and NAFTA trade zones will have expanded to the point where the globe is one giant free trade zone. Who knows?
That’s no excuse not to plan in the meantime. I would suggest anyone with an interest in maximizing their opportunities investigate how they might increase the number of citizenships they hold. The easiest way to do this is to look at your grandparents – where were they born? Do those countries allow you to obtain citizenships because of your grandparents’ birthplace? Check it out, you might be surprised the opportunities that await you!
You may find working in the developing world without a native passport is as easy as the countries you highlight above, though the bureaucracy is often more Byzantine.
My mother seems to be having some difficulty posting comments on my site, so I’m posting this on her behalf – Brendon
When you consider multiple citizenship consider your responsibility to the countries to which you “belong”; do they still have National Service? Remember Lars going to work in Germany on a passport he obtained as a result of his parents being German…not long after arriving he was called up for National Service in the Army!
Also consider the values of the countries to which you belong….You could easily have had Irish citizenship through one Grandparent being Irish on my side of the family….You could have remained Australian, but you changed to Canadian…why? I got you British Patriality at birth and quickly removed you to Canada…why? It’s not long ago that Australia gave language tests to non-whites and the government was allowed to choose the language the test was in!!! Can you imagine that happening in Canada? You are from Hong Kong or Iran and you apply for immigration and the entry language test is not in English or your home language, but in Swedish. I thought I could do better for you and the fact that you’re colour blind pleases me no end.
Is it enough to think only of the opportunities that you can gain for yourself or your children??? Would you really want them to get embroiled in the politics of Ireland just for a good job? And what would Ireland demand in return? Read your history and be glad my grandparents left. They didn’t leave because it was the land of opportunity and freedom!
Would you really want US citizenship? Are you prepared to be called up to fight in one of Bush’s wars? There’s the rub…”Its not what your country can do for you, its what you can do for your country” (John F. Kennedy). The world is becoming a smaller place and in time passports will be done away with, but I think we have to evolve a little farther before we’re ready for that.
Hi Brendon,
Sitting here with a copy of your excellent book “JXTA” and noting your website I thought I’d drop by. As I am Irish and using your book to prepare for a presentation here on my masters course at Trinity College Dublin – may I welcome you to Irish citinzenship!
While there are opportunties, I tend to agree that you should also consider the responsibilities you assume. Potential compulsory military service is one. More philosophically, however, I don’t believe citizenship should simply be an employment enabler. I am a Canadian and hold no other citizenships (although I could likely get an EU passport via the Netherlands if I tried). Being Canadian, however, is part of who I am. It means that I can claim a share in all that Canada does that is good in the world and it means I have to accept responsibility for a share of the things we do that are not good. Canada accepts huge numbers of immigrants from around the world. They come here because of what Canada is and what is has to offer. If they were only after work they could likely go to Australia, New Zealand, the US, or whereever. Or they could just get worker visas for a country nearer to their own. Instead, hundreds of thousands of people choose to become Canadian every year.
I (and many other Canadians) expect people who come here to become Canadian. That doesn’t mean becoming just like me but it does involve a transfer of aliegance. If I were to emmigrate I would expect to have to do the same thing.
I don’t know that I would be comfortable picking up a citizenship just so I could go work somewhere more easily. I’m also not sure how people in the county I went to would feel about me using their citizenship as a flag of convenience.
The above isn’t meant as a citicism of you, Brendon, or of anyone else who works abroad. I have to ask this, however: If you do pick up an Irish citizenship, could you ever see yourself hanging a huge Irish flag off the SFU library building at 3 AM?