Hungarian Citizenship via descent - Questions

It is complicated.

For example, the current nationality law does not have a retroactive effect (prior citizenship laws may apply at different times) -- i.e. before 1929 if one left Hungary for more than 10 years one lost their Hungarian citizenship thus breaking any rights to citizenship for their decedents. See for more details:

http://washington.kormany.hu/hungarian- … ip-general

In short, every case is different. And the best solution is to contact your local Hungarian Consulate for advise and procedures.

klsallee wrote:

....For example, the current nationality law does not have a retroactive effect (prior citizenship laws may apply at different times) -- i.e. before 1929 if one left Hungary for more than 10 years one lost their Hungarian citizenship thus breaking any rights to citizenship for their decedents. ....

This has happened even in relatively recently times.  There was a time when certain people in Australia lost their citizenship simply because of either a drafting error or nationalist tendency in their laws (forgotten which).  But  they were eventually restored to full nationality.

However, there's almost no chance of anyone becoming stateless in an EU country as it would infringe their civil rights. 

The UK for example does not allow people to become stateless (refugees are an exception). It can withdraw British citizenship but only if the person has another citizenship at the same time.

fluffy2560 wrote:

there's almost no chance of anyone becoming stateless in an EU country

True, but not relevant here. The author's Father became an American citizen. The author is thus an American citizen. No one today risks being stateless.

The issue is not about statelessness today, but about Jus sanguinis, or nationality by decent. And the Hungarian Embassy in Washington indicates such older laws may have broken Jus sanguinis in the past for the applicant, so it can be an issue for some. No details by the author were provided on timing of his family moving to the US. So I simply provided a section of the Hungarian Embassy to show details matter, that it may be complicated, and the Hungarian Consulate can provide the best answers and ways forward once the documents and full information on this issue are disclosed to the staff at the local Hungarian Consulate.

Further, while the OP says his father never renounced his Hungarian citizenship, he also says he became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and the U.S. naturalization procedure includes a renunciation, though I don't know whether Hungary recognizes it as a renunciation of Hungarian citizenship.

And around 1938/39, Hungarian citizenship law was amended to automatically revoke citizenship from those who acquired citizenship elsewhere; this provision was ultimately removed after the war, though I'm not sure precisely when.

Point is, in any particular case problems can arise out of nowhere, which is why Simpified Naturalization is indeed much simpler: just show your descent from someone who, at least for a time, was a Hungarian citizen. And speak Hungarian to some degree.