u/Thin-Swan-2538

Hellloo! I’m still pretty new to Reddit, so I apologize if I’m missing anything or posting this incorrectly.
I made another post recently asking about citizenship by descent through different countries, but after doing more research and getting advice from others, I think German citizenship is by far my strongest possibility.

Here’s my family line:
Great-grandfather: born in Germany (July 1924)
Great-grandmother: born in Oslo, Norway (March 1923)
Grandfather: born in Skien, Norway (January 1946)

Family moved to Germany, then immigrated together from Germany to New York in May 1954. Their passenger records list them all as German citizens.
My mother was born in Queens, New York, in 1971

The biggest issue I’ve run into is naturalization. I’ve searched for years and haven’t been able to find any naturalization records for my grandfather. I recently contacted USCIS and submitted a request, and I’m currently waiting to hear back.

The reason I’m posting here is because someone explained that if my grandfather automatically became a U.S. citizen as a minor through his parents, he may not have lost his German citizenship because it was a derivative naturalization rather than one he applied for himself.
Is that actually true? If my grandfather came to the U.S. at age 8 and later became a U.S. citizen through his parents while he was still a minor, is there a realistic chance he kept his German citizenship and could have passed it to my mother and then to me?

I’d also like to know what the best route would be to determine whether my mother herself can claim German citizenship by descent through my grandfather, since I assume that would also help answer whether I could qualify?

I’m mainly trying to understand whether this scenario gives me a legitimate chance at claiming German citizenship by descent while I wait for USCIS to respond. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. :D

Hi everyone! I’m hoping someone can help me figure out which citizenship(s) I may be eligible to claim by descent.
I’ve been researching this for a few years now, but I always seem to hit a dead end—especially when it comes to finding out whether I’m eligible for German citizenship. I feel like that might be the easiest route since it’s almost a direct line, but I can’t seem to figure out if I actually qualify.
On my dad’s side, my great-grandparents were Italian and Irish. My great-grandfather was Italian, and my great-grandmother was Irish.
On my mom’s side, my great-grandfather was German, and my great-grandmother was Norwegian. Their son (my grandfather) was born in Norway but held German citizenship. I know my great-grandparents were German citizens at one point, but I’m not sure if they still held German citizenship when they passed away or if anything changed over the years.
I’m trying to figure out if I might qualify for Italian, Irish, German, or Norwegian citizenship by descent. I’m also wondering how I can find out exactly what citizenships my ancestors held over the years, what documents I should start looking for, and which government offices or archives I would need to contact.
This is actually the first Reddit community I’ve found that’s focused on citizenship, so if there are other Reddit communities, forums, Facebook groups, or better places to ask these kinds of questions, I’d really appreciate those recommendations as well.

I’ve been digging through Ancestry recently and have found a lot more information than I originally had. The more I uncover, the more I think German citizenship might be my best chance, but I’m still trying to figure out if I’m actually eligible. Here’s what I’ve found so far: My grandfather was born in Norway in 1946. His father (my great-grandfather) was born in Germany in 1924, and his mother (my great-grandmother) was born in Norway in 1923, though they were living in Germany at some point and later departed together from Germany to New York in 1954. At some point, the family moved from Norway to Germany, although I’m not sure exactly when that happened. I found my family’s immigration passenger records from 1954 when they arrived in New York. All of them are listed as German citizens on the records, even though my grandfather was born in Norway. I also found what looks like either a train pass or some type of identification/travel document showing travel between Germany and Norway before they immigrated. I’m not entirely sure what the document is, but it appears they traveled back and forth, possibly just to visit family. In addition, I found later records like my grandparents’ marriage certificate (from 1989), as well as my grandfather’s death record from 2024. Since my grandfather was a German citizen and my mother was born in New York in 1971, I’m wondering if German citizenship by descent is the most realistic path for me, especially since my Italian and Irish ancestry is through my great-grandparents rather than my grandparents.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I also should mention I’ve basically never used Reddit before just briefly had an account and I’m still figuring out how everything works. If anyone needs any more specific information or details from me, please let me know.