r/CzechCitizenship

▲ 2 r/CzechCitizenship+3 crossposts

If my great-great grandparents were born in Czechoslovakia and immigrated to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is there a chance my grandmother or myself would be eligible for Czech citizenship by descent?

My maternal grandmother's grandparents and other family immigrated to the U.S beginning in the late 19th century. As for evidence, I'm not entirely certain what we have as there are boxes and bags that have gone untouched for decades in her home. I do know that we have letters, post cards addressed to our ancestors (many are in Czech, though I believe most were sent between addresses in America), my great-great grandmother's American marriage certificate (as well as many photographs), and some sort of servant's work journal in German and Czech from one relative who must've been working in Austria-Hungary as I believe it is from there. I doubt that we would have any birth certificates or anything from those who immigrated, but we may have death certificates from here in the U.S. We have lots of things in the family though, so more could come up if we searched.

Additionally — and I am unsure if this would add to anything or if we have any proof behind my grandmother's word (it may be present in contemporary correspondence) — my grandmother's great-grand parents returned to Europe before the second world war and, as she tells me, had all their belongings, property, and money confiscated and spent the remainder of their days in a German concentration camp. I am certain I could get their names and some sort of documents related to them.

Would either my grandmother or myself have any luck pursuing a claim to citizenship by descent based on the information I provided? Thank you in advance for your time.

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u/CognizantCandle — 11 hours ago

Eligibility Check (with bonus adoption and unknown GGF)

Hello, before I put it to rest for good I was hoping to get final confirmation that myself or my mother are not eligible for citizenship by descent.

Below is our lineage:

GGGM

-Born 1872 Dankovice, Moravia (now CR)

-Emigrated 1880 as minor (parents emigrated in 1887)

-Married 1897 in USA to the son of Czech parents; husband was born 1869 in USA after his parents emigrated to USA in 1857

-She seemingly never naturalized

-Died 1938

GGM

-Born 1910 USA

-Gave birth to next Gen out of wedlock, father of child unknown (adoption papers confirm mother)

-Married 1935 (to man outside the lineage)

-Died 1984 USA

GM

-Born 1935 USA

-Adopted as infant (birth mother is GGM, birth father is undocumented)

-Married 1950

-Still living

Mother

-Born 1960 USA

-Married 1983

-Still living

Self (male)

-Born 1990

-Married 2014

Would either myself or (more likely) my mother be eligible for citizenship by descent? Or do we run afoul of the generational limit or loss of citizenship due to marriage/etc.? Thank you for your time, I appreciate your input!

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u/DantooineCitizen — 1 day ago

Apostille turnaround times

Hi All. First post for me. Curious how long it's taken for others to get Apostille's back from individual States, as well as D.C.? I'm still gathering documents but may have them all in hand by the end of August. So was just wondering how long the next phase might take, roughly. I'll be dealing w/NJ, PA, and D.C. Thanks in advance.

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u/Nuts4Cloe — 12 days ago

Eligibility check- GGM was a minor in 1918, but GGGM got divorced

Hi:

 

I’ve reviewed these boards and I want to make sure I am looking in the right direction. I believe that the rule is that if a child was a minor in 1918, you would like at the parents (father) to see if there was Czech citizenship. I have my thoughts at the bottom, but please tell me where I am wrong.

 

GGGF (Father of GGF)

-Born 1864 in Pisek

-Naturalized in 1896

-Died 1907

 

GGGM  (Mother of GGF)

-Born 1872 in unknown Bohemia

-Married GGGF (Paternal) in 1899

-Had GGF in 1902

-Died 1956

 

GGGF (Father of GGM)

-Born ~ 1877 in in unknown Bohemia

-Almost no records online

-Married GGGM in 1903

-Divorced GGGM in 1909

-remarried another woman in 1910 

 

GGGM  (Mother of GGM)

-Born 1871 in unknown Bohemia

-Died 1934

-Never naturalized

-First husband widowed, 2^(nd) husband (lineal descendant), 3rd husband raised GGM

 

GGF

-Born in 1902 in USA

-Died 1950

 

GGM

-Born ~1906 in USA

-Died in 1955

-Lived with mother as a minor in 1920 census, GGGF (Maternal) was out of the picture

 

GF

-Born in 1930 in USA

-Died in 2010

 

F

-Born 1956 in USA

 

Me

-Born in 1986 in USA

 ___________________________________

Thoughts –

 

 

 GGGF (Father of GGF) and GGGM  (Mother of GGF) do not count because GGGF immigrated to USA, even though they had a minor child in 1918.

 

 

GGGF (Father of GGM)  and GGGM  (Mother of GGM) are therefore the only areas of inquiry, GGM was a minor in 1918.

 

GGGF (Father of GGM) – this guy, whoever he was, wasn’t around for long, 6 years from marriage to birth of GGM to divorce of GGGF. The only records that I could find were a couple of marriage licenses, doesn’t appear in any census on FamilySearch as far as I could find.

 

 

GGGM  (Mother of GGM)- also has a complex history, first husband died making her a widow. She married GGGF had a baby and divorced him a few years later. By 1915, she remarried another man for the rest of her life, also Bohemian, and by the 1920 census, they were raising my GGM who was still a minor.

 

From what I understand, the typical rule is that it is male that counts, so I would need to find records of  GGGF (Father of GGM) in the Czech republic to make that tie that he was domovské parvo (chatgpt’s preferred term).

 

However, chatgpt seems to think that its really GGGM(Mother of GGM) that counts the most because the child was living with the mother. Here is the direct quote:

 

“The 1918 legislative proposal concerning Czechoslovak citizenship stated:

“Děti do 18 let následují státního občanství a domovského práva otcova...”

Children under 18 generally followed the father's citizenship and domovské právo. But it immediately provided an exception:

“Nežijí-li manželé ve společné domácnosti, následují děti ... onoho manžela, v jehož domácnosti nebo zaopatření žijí.”

In other words, if the spouses did not live in the same household, the children followed the citizenship and domovské právo of the spouse in whose household or care they lived.

 

 

Therefore, AI seems to think that I need to find the domovské parvo of GGGM(Mother of GGM) because if GGM was living with her and a minor, this would be my path forward.

 

Please let me know if this analysis makes sense. 

 

 

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u/NotADunce — 9 days ago

Found the ship my Grandmother sailed on

Just thought I'd share. I never truly believed that I would locate what ship my family sailed on.

1923, Hamburg -> Ellis. June 30th, 1923, aboard the Minnekahda. . Everyone listed as Bohemians, with tons of other Bohemians and quite a few Bulgarians. My Grandmother, who was 14 with a hand written note that she was a child, and an 18 year old who I do not know named Alois and listed as a laborer, and her grandmother. Seems Louis is derived from Alois, which is my fathers middle name.

Should I get an official copy of this document? Is that a possibility?

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u/Gbrsucks69 — 11 days ago

National Archives waiting time

I sent a request for ascertainment of citizenship data to the Czech National Archives. https://na.gov.cz/en/for-public/research-room/forms/application-for-ascertainment-of-citizenship-data

I wonder if other people have done this and what waiting time I should expect. I sent the application 11 days ago and only got an automated response e-mail with the information I put in the application.

I expect they will send me an e-mail before starting to look for the information, how long should I expect to wait?

Thanks in advance!

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u/enteXeye — 12 days ago