r/HUcitizenship

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to figure out whether I realistically have a basis for Hungarian citizenship by descent before I invest time in learning the language and gathering documents.

My grandfather was born in 1910 in Lika (Gospić), which today is in Croatia. At that time it was part of Austria-Hungary (the Hungarian part). My family is Serbian — as far as I know, there was never any Hungarian language or Hungarian identity in the family.

From what I've researched, the requirement isn't just that the ancestor was born somewhere in the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary; the ancestor also had to have been a Hungarian citizen. As I understand it, Lika was part of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which had its own autonomy and Croatian as its official language, even though it was under the Hungarian Crown. That's different from Vojvodina, which was part of Hungary proper, with Hungarian administration and Hungarian as the official language.

• What did the old birth/death records have to show (language of the entry, religion, place of belonging/"illetőség") for the consulate to accept the link to Hungarian citizenship — the link on which I'd base my claim, in addition to the language requirement?
• Beyond proving the family connection down to the ancestor, what do the consulate officials actually look at on those ancestral documents?
• Has anyone successfully applied with an ancestor from Lika / Croatia-Slavonia (as opposed to Vojvodina or other regions of Hungary proper)?
• Does the autonomous status of Croatia-Slavonia actually disqualify you (since the requirement is that the ancestor was a Hungarian citizen, and in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia not everyone was automatically Hungarian), or is it assessed case-by-case at the consulate?

Thanks in advance.

So I just received a response from Budapest today. I hadn’t heard anything in almost 9 months after my verification of citizenship meeting.

Out of the blue they denied Hungarian citizenship verification application by descent, and I’m waiting on the formal legal reasoning from Budapest.

Based on the wording from the consulate, I suspect they may argue that my grandfather lost Hungarian citizenship under postwar legislation affecting ethnic Germans (possibly Act X of 1947 or related laws).
I’m trying to understand how this would legally apply to a case like his.

Facts:

Grandfather born in Hungary: 29 November 1932
Ethnic German family from Hungary
Expelled/forcibly relocated to Soviet-controlled Germany in 1947, before his 15th birthday (so age 14)
He did not voluntarily move to Germany
As far as I know, he never acquired East German/German citizenship
Later records continued to identify him as Hungarian, including:
IRO / Arolsen refugee-emigration records (1951)
U.S. immigration records (1951)
U.S. naturalization documents (1957)

My questions:
If Budapest cites Act X of 1947 (or related postwar citizenship laws), would those provisions automatically have applied to a 14-year-old minor expelled with his family?

Did these laws automatically terminate citizenship, or were some of them primarily about expulsion/property/confiscation?

Would forced relocation to Soviet-controlled Germany by itself have caused loss of Hungarian citizenship, even if the person later continued to be documented internationally as Hungarian and apparently never became German?

Is there any historical/legal distinction for minor children expelled with their parents?

I’m hoping to appeal the decision and just trying to understand everything in the process.

I have requested one 3 months ago, just paid for it, and apparently it's in processing. Does anyone know when it might actually arrive?

I have a photo of the birth record for my ancestor but not an official copy (I have mailed off asking the consulate for it but it’s been weeks with no reply) is that enough for the interview?

Also, is it required to have a translator for the interview? I only know very basic Hungarian.

I’m trying to determine whether my late father was still legally considered a Hungarian citizen when I was born in February 1957.

My father:
• Lajos / Ludwig / Larry Reichman (also Klein)
• Born 26 Nov 1924 in Munkács/Mukachevo
• Holocaust survivor
• Lived in Budapest after WWII with multiple documented Budapest addresses from 1946-1948
• Naturalized in the U.S. on Dec. 10, 1956

I already have:
• postwar Budapest archival references
• immigration and naturalization records
• survivor testimony records
• family continuity records

What I still need help with is:

1. Records proving official Hungarian residency/citizenship status in 1947-1949
2. Budapest voter lists, police registration, residence registration, or citizenship registry records
3. Anyone experienced with Hungarian “verification of citizenship” cases involving postwar survivors and late U.S. naturalization

At this point I’m less focused on genealogy and more on how Hungary legally determines whether citizenship was retained at the time of a child’s birth.

Any archive suggestions, legal experience, or similar cases would be appreciated. #BrickWall

Hello,

My ancestor was born in a region of the Kingdom of Hungary which is now considered Slovakia. I was able to obtain the birth records from the State Archive but how can I get them apostilled and certified translated? I live in Canada so I'm a little confused, has anyone done this?

UPDATE: I talked to the Hungarian Consulate in Canada and they said I do NOT need a Slovakian document apostilled, but I do need it translated. They suggested that I ask the Slovakian State Archive to issue a multilingual birth certificate (Rodny list) and that should suffice. Waiting to hear back from the Slovak archive now.

Szia! I'm from America and trying to track down the place my great-grandfather was born. I have a copy of his US draft registration card from 1915, which lists his birthplace as what looks like "Sullokow, Hungary" or "Scillokow, Hungary". I'm thinking the writing was a clerk doing his best with it.

My ancestor was born in 1890 and his surname was Orosz. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi! I'm Hungarian, been my whole life. My fiancée lives in America, but they want to move here and get a life-long visa. What do we have to do for that? We are in a lesbian relationship so i don't know if getting that paper that we're together, i believe it's called smth like declaration of domestic partnership is enough for that. What do we have to do?

Of course, we want to get married, but we can't do that yet here. Still, we want to move in together and settle down for a while without having to renew their citizenship.

I am preparing my simplified naturalization passport application but getting in contact with the Bangkok Embassy has been a bit difficult. Should I go to another embassy in another country instead?

Hi everybody,

My paternal grandfather was Hungarian, he was born in Budapest in 1938 and left during the revolution. He came to England where he married my grandmother, they had children, one of which being my father.

I have their wedding certificate, as well as my father’s birth certificate and my grandfathers death certificate.

However, my father was not raised by his Hungarian father, and I only met him a handful of times. And my father (when he was alive) changed his name from the name on his birth certificate to a new one. Which means that the name on his birth certificate, does not match the name of the father on my birth certificate.

However, I’ve always been fascinated by Hungary, I’ve visited many times and would like to potentially study there. The reason I am considering applying for citizenship / a passport is to make this process easier.

Do I have grounds to apply? And if so what would be my immediate next steps?

I’m not having any luck locating a birth certificate (US - early 1900s). They’re not on the state birth index either, but I have a death certificate that lists their parents and a letter from the state saying no records were found. (The marriage is indexed so I should be getting that.)

Has anyone successfully applied with secondary birth records for one ancestor? (I’m still checking at the municipal level but struck out on the town listed on the death certificate.) Thanks!🙏

Hello! I'm trying to understand if I'm eligible for citizenship by descent. My GGF was born in Gölnicbánya, Szepes. I have all documents in chain from me to my grandmother, his daughter (her birth certificate, where he's mentioned as the father, her marriage certificates, etc.). Also, he was repressed in Leningrad in 1938, and I have got a copy of his personal Arrestee Questionnaire, where the correct place of birth, his name, and patronymic are listed in Cyrillic, and my grandmother as his daughter as well. Also, thanks to r/csaladfakutatas, I have a scan with a baptism record from Gölnicbánya, with his Hungarian name (Andor Patz / Andrej Patz in Cyrillic) and father's name (Martin / Martyn in Cyrillic), which seems to be okay. The only issue I see is the birth year. In his Arrestee Questionnaire, it's June 14, 1875, but in the baptism record, it's June 14, 1874. I'm almost sure that this is my GGF record, as I didn't find any other matching records in Gelnica from 1873 to 1878. Could this year inconsistency be an issue? I have to say we don't have any other of his documents. Thanks for any advice.