What is the New Citizen of The Old Country blog about?
The Old Country
Like millions of people in the United States, several of my ancestors were born in the Kingdom of Hungary. But unlike most, I was lucky enough to know two of my great-grandparents, and remember them speaking about The Old Country.
As a child, The Old Country always seemed like a magical place to me.
But where exactly is The Old Country? It was hard for my ancestors to explain.
There is an old joke about a man from Eastern-Central Europe who lived in five different countries in his lifetime, but never left the home he was born in.
Shifting borders in the region means that my great-grandparents' villages changed nationalities several times. I'll explain this history in later blog posts.
But in a way, borders didn't matter, because The Old Country was about culture, family, food and nature.
I remember my great-grandmother Anna, who would always give me candy when visiting her after church. She spoke about her birthplace with strong, albeit mixed feelings. She was born in Hungary and like others of her generation had a difficult life there. But she still always loved The Old Country.
New Citizen
In 2010 Hungary started the simplified naturalization procedure for people who had ancestors from Hungary.
Though "simplified" it's not at all easy. Applicants need to prove their ancestry with a strong paper trail, including original Hungarian birth records.
And there's the minor detail that you must speak Hungarian to become a citizen via the simplified naturalization route.
In 2017, I was researching dual citizenship, and found out about the Hungarian law. Because The Old Country was part of my history, I thought I might have a chance.
In 2018, after a lot of luck, I found a person who was able to find my great-grandmother Anna's Hungarian birth record in her village, (now in Ukraine.)
In 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced us all to stay home, I took the time to dedicate to my goal of Hungarian citizenship.
In 2023, after nearly a thousand hours of language study, hundreds of hours researching and organizing my paperwork, dozens of masked and socially-distanced visits to courthouses to get original documents, two trips to Hungary to get as close as possible to my ancestors' homes, and two intense interviews, in Hungarian, with government officials, I took the oath and became a dual Hungarian-American citizen.
It was awesome, not only for the achievement, but because of the internal and external journey I took to get to get here.
The Blog
My goal with this blog is to share tips, advice and stories about the process of becoming a New Citizen of The Old Country.
I'm hoping the blog will:
Help others who are considering this (there are so many of you eligible!)
Inspire those who have already started the journey (it can be tough, I know, but keep going!)
Entertain those of you who have no reason to become Hungarian, but who love a good story.
Highlight some of the fascinating Hungarian people, places and things (and the complicated but beautiful language.)
And finally, encourage others to find out more about their own ancestors, from anywhere in the world. I can attest that learning about them will help you better understand your own life.
Happy reading! Please reach out on my contact page with questions or suggestions. And please to subscribe to the blog. I will write a new post about once a week, and let you know via email when a new story is published.
Üdvözlettel,
Tara
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