If Scotland votes Yes tomorrow, would it allow the descendants of emigres to re-immigrate

[KamaAina]

the way Ireland does?

Two Scottish great-grandparents here.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Lucky you if it does.

Grabbing dual citizenship with another country would be great.

If you wanted to travel in dangerous areas, you could go as a Scot, not an American, and be a lot safer.

[KamaAina]

5. "Don't shoot! I'm Canadian!"

[grahamhgreen]

2. Me too!

[LiberalAndProud]

3. It didn't know that was the case for Ireland.

Because I'm too lazy to google, what percentage of Irish heritage is required?

[KamaAina]

6. Here you go

http://genealogy.about.com/od/ireland/a/citizenship.htm

Come to think of it, I have an Irish-born grandmother as well.

[lpbk2713]

4. Both my maternal grandparents were Scots.

I wonder what kind of documentation I need?

[bettyellen]

9. the consulate will help you- for Ireland you need copies of all the birth certificates involved

and they send you info where you write away for copies them, and the fees. Hardest part is getting a check in foreign currency.

[lpbk2713]

11. Thanks.

I might look into this if we have to go through anything like BFEE again.

[bettyellen]

23. of course! and me too!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

7. Mine are too far back.

Part of the Stuart clan, one couple that came over in 1756.

Scotland Forever!

[sharp_stick]

8. I thought the UK already allowed that

or is that just back to grand parents?

[Cleita]

17. I thought so too but don't know how far back it goes.

Seems it should be retroactive to colonial times.

[mwooldri]

42. As far back as UK born citizens.

My sons have British citizenship through me. Under present law, their children would normally need to be born in the UK to have British citizenship. Being born in the UK does not give anyone British citizenship automatically the way it does here.

[IDemo]

10. My descendants date from the 17th Century

I think currently the rule is only your Scottish parents or latest generation of grandparents will qualify you for immigration.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. From the campaign:

Citizens of any country, who have a parent or grandparent who qualifies for Scottish citizenship
– Can register as a Scottish citizen (will need to provide evidence to substantiate)

https://www.scotreferendum.com/questions/what-different-routes-to-citizenship-will-exist-under-the-scottish-governments-proposals-and-who-will-qualify-for-these/

Presumably that doesn't mean you can say "my grandparent had one grandparent who was born and lived in Scotland, therefore my great-great grandparent was Scottish, therefore my grandparent was Scottish, therefore I qualify" - or a single Scottish ancestor would do, however far back they were (my example above would apply to me).

[KamaAina]

13. So Mom could go for it

followed by me.

Or perhaps Grandpa qualified for Scottish citizenship through his parents.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. I'd read it that way - if you have a living parent or grandparent

and they get citizenship, you'd then be able to follow; and perhaps if they would qualify but haven't actually done it themselves. But I suspect you wouldn't be able to apply on behalf of deceased ancestors to get it extended to you.

[KamaAina]

15. In Ireland, you can

but you need to track down their birth certificates.

[Cleita]

19. I was told by an expat Brit that once a Brit always a Brit and if

you have one British parent you are a Brit. So it seems to me that could go back to the original emigre if what I was told by that English gentleman was true.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Not in law, now, anyway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nationality_law

Very complicated, but the concept of "a British citizen other than by descent" comes into it. This must apply, in some form, to most countries, otherwise an awful lot of people could get multiple citizenships by tracing ancestry back to, say, 1800 or so, when birth registries and certificates started becoming common.

[Cleita]

22. Yeah, it would get complicated especially people whose ancestors were

the first English settlers to come here or to places like Australia.

[CTyankee]

29. My guess is the Brits did this to keep all these folks from the countries they conquered

from saying they wanted in on the deal in the UK.

Funny that...

[Matrosov]

16. A better question would be..

Should we allow Texas and like-minded states to vote for independence

[KamaAina]

18. False equivalency

For one thing, the short-lived Republic of Texas was formed with the express intent of being annexed by the U.S., whereas Scotland had centuries of history as an independent nation before being conquered by England. For another, obviously, the relevant provisions in the U.S. Constitution do not apply in Britain.

[CTyankee]

37. Wasn't that because of the Battle of Culloden in the 18th century?

that was an awfully long time ago...

[KamaAina]

40. In what century did the Revolutionary War take place?

[CTyankee]

21. well, there's no way I could prove my Scottish ancestry, even if I tried...

my forebear, a Campbell, emigrated to the U.S. in 1790, probably due to The Clearances.

Besides, Scotland if freaking COLD. Oh, sometimes I wish I had enough Italian in me (I have none so no dice) to scoot over there...but no, everybody in my family was Scottish, Welsh and/or English. Dang...

[bettyellen]

24. but if you had any close EU ancestry, you'd have more options since they opened the borders

at least in terms of residency. At least I hope so, Ireland is a bit cold for me.

[CTyankee]

25. I don't know how I could do that. My father's grandfather was from Wales but I wouldn't

know how to verify that, except that my birth certificate would identify him as "Williams," a very common Welsh surname. So with my mother named Brown and my father named Williams I still don't have much else to go on...

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. That wouldn't be enough, even with certificates

see #20.

[CTyankee]

27. But I can't be the only American who has that kind of heritage, so if I wanted to

repatriotate myself, it would be nearly impossible?

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. Well, it might be possible, but your ancestry wouldn't count towards it

You'd need special skills, a marriage to someone British, or something like that.

[bettyellen]

34. work back to it- you need your Dad's birth certificate, then you get his Dads....

usually the birth certificate gives more specific info that will help you take it to the previous document. A fuller name and DOB for grandpa. Do you have any idea the part of Wales? Ireland centralized their records but I think place of birth helps.

I put in a query on an Irish genealogical website listing everything I knew about my Dad's family- which was not too much.
It took about 6 months, but some other amateur genealogists were researching a family of which I am a very distant limb. They answered, and eventually sent me records which has put me in touch with many distant relatives. One thing we found out was that American records had my father's DOB wrong- it was actually his baptismal date we celebrated. They were really very happy to share and only wanted to know if they had all my Dad's siblings, and if I had names of any other descendants and appx DOB, place of residence and DOD for as many people as possible. I did not do ancestry.com, but want to try it someday too.

[CTyankee]

36. I've thought of doing ancestry.com but I despaired because my family names are so

very common. My little grandson is now the descendant from my son but also his mom who is a McKenzie/Smith. Wow. Double duty Scot/English.

My two daughters, who have my other grandkids, are married to 1) ethnic Italian and 2) Jewish. I love the diversity!

[JustAnotherGen]

28. I'll have my Italian Citizenship next year

I shall adopt you! You will fit right in - my husband and I discuss art a lot!

[CTyankee]

31. Oh, wonderful! My husband might have something to say about it, tho...

BTW, I have an art blog in GD for Friday Afternoon if you are interested! Drop in...(psst, it's Italian art!)...

[JustAnotherGen]

39. We'll adopt him too!

[bettyellen]

35. me too...Bella!

[JustAnotherGen]

38. Gelato for everyone!

[bettyellen]

41. how do you say two scoops?

[WinkyDink]

32. Proud bearer of English, Irish, and Welsh blood.

[CTyankee]

33. Hey, maybe we're related...

Williams, Campbell, Hardy, Brown, Amacker....all in my family history...

[kcr]

44. Williams and Campbell here, too

[WinkyDink]

45. I've got a Wall and an O'Boyle. Mainly from Cty Donegal and Land's End; don't know about Wales,

though.

My father's side of 4 brothers and 2 sisters all got the thick black Welsh hair. Alas, I didn't (more like Prince William, ha!).

[Matariki]

43. Ireland does that?

Do you know the details? How recent does a person's ancestors have to have left Ireland?

[KamaAina]

47. See post 6

upthread.

[hifiguy]

46. I am out of luck

though my dad always said the thought there might be some Scots on his side of the family. Mom's side was 100% German.