FAQ: Why not show the embassy your mom's Romanian passport?

Question
If you knew that your mum was Romanian by birth, why did you not bring this (irrespective of your mum's PERCEIVED citizenship) to the attention of the Romanian authorities at the very beginning?
As one who greatly appreciates the irony in a situation, it indeed brings a smile to my lips that an American would be striving so hard to get Romanian citizenship, when the average Romanian would die (or among the clearer thinkers among them, kill) to get US citizenship.

Answer
My mom's passport expired about 40 odd years ago. First she has to register her name change, then her marriage and then she can get a passport. She has to prove to the Romanian authorities that she is Romanian for them to believe her. And yes, most Romanians would die to get US citizenship, you 'd think that it would be easier to get Romanian citizenship, but we started last Oct, and it will proabbly be another year before I have a RO passport.

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FAQ: How could you not know your mom's Romanian?

Question: You wrote that on Oct 30 2004 you just found out that my mother is Romanian.How did you not know before that? This is what puzzles me!! Even if you hadn't known that she retained her citizenship, would you not have known she was Romanian by birth? And with this knowledge, would it not have been the most logical step to go to the Romanian authorities at the beginning (instead of agonising for ages in this forum, as you appear to have done), and deduce from them at that point that in the circumstances, she was indeed still a citizen, thus making you elibigble? I am utterly bewildered by this!

Answer: My mother thought that if she became American, she would give up previous citizenship. This whole time she was under the impression that she had given up Romanian citizenship. The truth was that in America's eyes, she was only American, However, Romania did and still does recognise dual cit, so this whole time, she was Romanian.

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FAQ: Why didn't you approach the Romanian authorities?

Question
I have indeed read NG's original posting. However, after making many enquiries...some of which appear rather unlikely and indeed less than rational...it FINALLY dawns on her that maybe her mother being Romanian MIGHT be of help? Christ, it's the FIRST thing I would go for...ASKING the Romanian authorities! Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears that she didn't pursue this avenue. When you trying to get citizenship of a country, the most logical step would appear to be to go to the relevant authorities and say " My mother (or whoever) was once a citizen of the country", to be told, I would assume "Oh, really? Then you are eligible as she is still a citizen."

Incidentally NG, why do the Romanian authorities concern themselves so much with your marriage cert, if you are marrying a Peruvian? If you were marrying a Romanian, that in itself would in time...is it four years?...qualify you. But why are they concerned with a Peruvian?

Answer:
I've contact the Romanian consulate in Chicago. We're going through the long process, It's take about two years. They are concerned with my mother's marriage cert, as her name on birth cert is different than her marriage cert and her naturalisation cert. My mother was born a Romanian citizen and has always been one.

They're concerned with the Peruvian docs, because I'd have to register my Peruvian marriage with the Romanian authorities.

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FAQ: How can your mom not know she's Romanian?

Question
Naturegirl, How can anyone not know what nationality they are?

Seriously, I take your point about your mum not realising she still retained Romanian citizenship, but if you had any real desire to get Romanian citizenship, and knowing your mum HAD BEEN Romanian, wouldn't it have been perfectly logical to ENQUIRE? You know, TRY ALL ANGLES? Surely, it must have occured to you that having a parent born in a country MIGHT get you citizenship? At least, find out?

Answer
Ok, My mom came to the States when she was a little over a year old and became a citizen when she was nine. Under Romanian law at that time, my grandmother lost her American citizenship when she married a Romanian. My mom thought that when she became an American, she lost Romanian citizenship. However, she didn't know that although under USA law, she was only an American, under Romanian law she was Romanian (in 1991 when they gave citizenship back to her. Since she left under the communist regime she was considered to have committed treason and her Romanian citizenship was revoked.)  I'm currently in the process of getting citizenship, it just take forever as my mom has to register her marriage, register her name change, get a passport, then I have to register my birth, my marriage (hopefully this year), and then I can get a passport.

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Too many names

So my mom is trying to change her name. Because she has four different names. NOw she has to send her naturalisation papers to Romania, because they say that they need to verify that she is a Romanian citizen. I don't see what that has to do with a name change in Romania.

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