Guide on Obtaining Czech Citizenship By Descent as an American (Article 31.3)
Here are the details on getting it.
Have questions on which documents, how to get apostilles, what things cost, how to find a translator, etc.? Here’s what I’ve found so far.
You know why you’re here. Very simply, CZ now allows dual citizenship with the USA. If your family emigrated under communism, you’re invited to reapply for expedited citizenship. Some official websites, such as the New York or Los Angeles consulates, explain the documents you’re obligated to provide, but don’t go into detail about how to get them.
I was fairly confused about the requirements. This article is a collection of what I found out from combing the internet and emailing some very nice agents at the consulate. I still have not received citizenship but I am well on my way. Once I complete the process I intend to confirm or edit what I wrote here to be factual. If I am in the meantime mistaken on any of the points please correct me.
I hope that this helps illuminate your plans.
My personal story is that my father left CZ for USA in 1968 and obtained US citizenship sometime in the mid 70’s when he was 18. Because he may or may not have been considered a minor in this border-age, he may have never lost his CZ citizenship and that would make me by default already a Czech citizen. Only Prague knows. I assume I am not.
Through this law I am eligible to obtain CZ citizenship. Around 2014 he began the dual citizenship process but stopped once he learned us kids wouldn’t be eligible for the same status. It was common that his generation already had families abroad, and therefore it was rare that the law’s target audience would finish the process of repatriating themselves. The CZ government decided to loosen the criteria in 2019ish, and now all of their kids and grandkids are allowed in too.
The requirements on that website are as follows and shall be clarified:
Citizenship Declaration Form
the Czech citizenship declaration form;
This is one of two items of paperwork required. I was told the paperwork may be filled out in English or in Czech. I recommend filling these out at time of consulate visit. During my visit, the agent was surprised I had brought my own copies.
ID
a copy of his/her own valid ID (e.g. driving license issued in the USA, or data page of passport);
This is to verify your identity at your final appointment.
Lineage Documents
his/her own birth certificate (**);
his/her own marriage certificate, domestic partnership certificate, notification of divorce, death certificate of a deceased spouse/partner (all applicable documents) (**);
declarant’s parents’ birth certificates, marriage certificate, and (if applicable) notification of divorce or death certificate(s) (**);
[only if neither of declarant’s parents is/was a former Czech/Czechoslovak citizen:] declarant’s grandparents’ birth certificates, marriage certificate, and (if applicable) notification of divorce or death certificate(s) (**);
1. Get Missing Documents
To gather documents from their respective States, there is only one way to place orders — through a middle-man called Vitalchek. The turn around time is about a week or two (and that’s during pandemic induced staffing shortages). A guess-timate of the costs are about $10 per document and $20 for shipping.
If you need to get your parents’ documents as well, you may do so through the same service, but you may need to complete some additional documentation for authentication. In my case, I also needed to go to a notary before Vitalchek would advance my order, which added another week or two. I was surprised that there was no real barrier from me obtaining my parents’ documents, once you prove who you are. Vitalchek should step you through this.
Note that birth certificates “must be at least half a sheet length”, that they “can still apostille or authenticate a County issued birth certificate, but not the wallet sized ones.”
2. Get Apostilles from States
The original, American documents must then be submitted back to their home states’ Secretaries of State for apostilles. An apostille certifies to foreign governments that the American document is legitimate. The procedure is straight forward — Send each original document through the mail with a printable cover letter, a check, and a ready-to-go return envelope. Presenting yourself in person to do the same is largely forbidden due to a pandemic. Be sure to track your shipped items.
This example cover letter can be found on the states’ websites (search “Apostille for State X”), and may be hand written if you do not have a printer (you need just the main info). They include such information as your name, phone number, email, the foreign state requesting the documents (Czech Republic), which document you’re applying for, and some bill info (ie, # of documents x cost). Apostille costs can range from Free to $20 or higher depending on the state. In general it’s cheap.
Non-Czech parents birth certificates “do not have to be apostilized. Translated please yes.”
3. Translate
These documents with their associated apostille letters must be translated into Czech. You may pay a professional to do it, you may find a friend to do it or you may do it yourself.
Here is a quote from an email from the DC embassy, “The translations do not have to be from a professional translator, but it must be correctly translated to Czech language with accents.”
The important thing is that you provide legible documents which one can easily match to the texts of the official documents. You could make translations in a word processor and print them as .pdfs for example. No stamps or other arcane signs of professional legitimacy are required.
I had my friend in Prague do my translations for me. The agent at the Chicago consulate immediately knew my friend was actually a Slovak and not a Czech and took a highlighter to the translations, charging me $50 to edit the mistakes herself. But everything ended up okay.
4. No “expiration” of apostilles
I read somewhere that the consulate required apostilles within one month of submission. This is not true, you may gather and submit them at your leisure. From the DC embassy, “there is no time-frame. If the documents and forms come complete, we send the application to the Czech Republic. If something is missing, you will be asked to add.”
Naturalization Certificate
document that certifies the date and the basis on which declarant’s parent(s)/grandparent(s) ceased to be Czech/Czechoslovak citizen(s) (e.g. original of the US Certificate of Naturalization, original on the Czechoslovak Listina/Osvědčení o propuštění ze státního svazku);
This naturalization document does not need an apostille or translation, you “just need to send it in”. You may buy it from the Dept. of Homeland Security. Be prepared, it’s very expensive to obtain, sitting at $555. I did not personally do this, so please email them for confirmation, I could have the acquisition details wrong.
The “You Aren’t Slovak” Form
a completed declaration of non-acquisition of citizenship of the Slovak Republic — Form of declaration of non-acquisition of citizenship of the Slovak Republic;
Simple, see the first listed item.
Money
consular fee, item 159b, paid in cash, by a money order or banker’s cheque;
The fee is 500 CZK or $21.00. If you go in personally to the consulate, they may recommend you pay the birth certificate fee as well. This is similarly priced. There may be other fees tacked on to your visit depending on your situation. You can pay by cash or credit card (at least in Chicago). My visit to the Chicago consulate ended up costing me around $105 everything included ($50 for them to clean up translation mistakes).
Return Envelope
a pre-paid self-addressed UPS or USPS envelope (in case of USPS with affixed regular stamps, no USPS QR/barcode stamps).
Not sure what this is for, but maybe they’ll mail your certificate back to you using it.
The gist of this chart is that the American documents related directly to you and the direct lineage to the Czech must be apostilled. Every document except the ID’s and the Certificate of Naturalization must be translated. Czech documents are accepted as is.
Concluding remarks:
Passport
Citizenship is a preliminary step to getting a CZ passport, and you won’t be able to travel as a CZ until you obtain that as well. You will need to wait for Prague to get back to you with a confirmation of citizenship. I believe then you need to apply for a birth certificate. On reception you may then apply for a passport. Until told otherwise, expect to arrive personally to the consulate/embassy to receive these documents.
Is this all?
There is other information which the consulate would like to see. They wanted…
1) a photocopy of ID and a document signed by my American mother.
2) the address of the last residence of my father’s before he left.
3) a photocopy of my father’s childhood CZ passport.
4) information on the circumstance of my father applying for American naturalization, which consisted of knowing the date/age that he naturalized.
If you cannot provide any of these, it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it makes their lives easier. Call the embassy and ask them directly what they’d like.
These are just about the complete requirements. There are some other explicitly stated requirements from the consular’ websites on Article 31.3 which I’ve neglected out of brevity’s sake, but there are no language, cultural, civics, or financial examinations. The otherwise standard rules for citizenship do not apply if you are applying under 31.3. If you fall into the target audience of this law, then it is purely a question of gathering together the correct paperwork and proving lineage.
Final cost
I haven’t counted my costs, but I would say you can probably do it for as cheap as $100 if you have all of your documents and envelopes ready, but definitely less than $1000 even if things get really hard. Mine cost around $250.
Final time
A ballpark figure is not quicker than one month for document collection, one month for apostilles, one month to visit the consulate, 2–5 months for the certificate of citizenship, and X months for a passport. That’s like a year in total. When I called the consulate of Chicago, I personally was able to schedule an appointment almost immediately. The appointment itself took me 1.5 hours, but it could take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
Final thoughts
I heavily recommend arriving in person at the consulate to present your documents. Bring every document that you have just in case. Small errors can be corrected in person, official paperwork can be filled in properly.
The consulate was very welcome and friendly. Expect curious questions on why you’d like to get citizenship. I never felt as if they were interrogating me to evaluate my legitimacy. Obviously you look the best if you come prepared and well put together.
One small surprise was that it was recommended that I do not keep my middle name. My middle name in the USA is my mother’s last name. Apparently the Czech authorities do not recognize such abuse of middle names, and may deny your application. At the consulate, I was given a well rehearsed 5 minute lecture on the dangers of trying to keep my original name. Middle names of a common given name are okay (John Michael Šmith for example). Additionally, I was able to submit my name with the proper háčeks slapped back on. Good news.
The process was much easier than I expected. Even with all of the shutdowns, US and CZ bureaucrats were uniformly friendly and patient. The main hardship I encountered was myself being worried about the quickly growing tree of tasks. I was told, “To do A you must do B, C, D. To do B you must do E, F, G, etc.” There are arbitrary choices I had to make about what services to use, which departments to talk to (CA has a few strange hiccups). In the end, my procrastination vastly outweighed the turn around time of even the most burdened departments.
I hope my experience will calm some of your uncertainties so that you can move forward.
You may email my junk email: bitsinthesky at gmail, which I occasionally check, or preferably write a comment below.
Cheers
P.S. if you are reading this with the intention of applying, this law student has found that very few people, around 280 between 2019 and 2021, have successfully received citizenship from this law. Presumably because it’s so straight forward, it’s due to lack of demand.
Update Oct. 20 2021
I heard back from the embassy. My application was returned because my father never officially lost his citizenship. Before I can get my own, I will need to submit his life event documents, which he never did. I will need to request Czech marriage, death and my birth certificates. This will require visiting the embassy and signing a few papers.
