CCLEX, a leading global association of immigration lawyers specialising in Residency and Citizenship by Investment, have released a new report entitled 'The Dual Citizenship Report' which explores the legal status of dual citizenship in European countries. Dr Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, one of the members of CCLEX and editor of the Dual Citizenship Report, explained that 'this report aims to offer a clear understanding of the laws and regulations of the different countries, and acts as a reference for individuals looking into attaining dual citizenship.' In order to provide a comprehensive legal analysis , this report was carried out in collaboration with a number of specialist European immigration law firms that provided information and commentary on the citizenship laws in their respective countries.

Dual Citizenship Report - analysis and findings

The findings and analysis, based on the feedback gathered, are presented in a country chapter format and through a number of comparison tables, highlighting the difference in status for the various countries. For each country the report highlights if dual citizenship is allowed, prohibited or restricted, and provides an overview of the way citizenship is granted and under which conditions dual citizenship is allowed. In cases where dual citizenship is not allowed, the report provides an alternative commentary which outlines what restrictions and exceptions are present, thus providing an all-inclusive analysis.

Dual Citizenship: where is it allowed, restricted and prohibited?

The main findings of the report outline 3 main categories that the citizenship laws of different countries fall under, namely those which allow, restrict or prohibit dual citizenship. Taken as a whole, the overwhelming majority of European countries allow dual citizenship. These include; Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The report also identifies a smaller group of countries that do not normally allow dual citizenship, however exceptions are made in certain circumstances, for example they only allow dual citizenship in the cases of birth or marriage. These countries fall under the restricted category and include; Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Slovak Republic and Spain. In Estonia, Monaco, Montenegro and the Netherlands, dual citizenship is not allowed under any circumstances and any individual who wishes to attain a second citizenship must first renounce their original citizenship. This is due to the fact that the legislation in these countries only allows an individual to be a citizen of that particular country. Complimentary to this, the digital platform dualcitizenshipreport.org was also launched so as to provide a more interactive option for online users.