Your great-grandparents may have left you an EU passport. Most people never check.
You've probably already gotten a quote. $5,000. $10,000. Maybe more, with a vague promise that it "depends on complexity." Nobody tells you what you're actually paying for, and you're left wondering if a law firm is the only way through a process that's already confusing enough.
I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not going to charge you like one for paperwork you can be guided through. I'm someone who went through this exact maze myself, filing my own Polish and Romanian citizenship applications, in person, at the consulates, with my own family's documents on the line. There are things you don't find out until you're standing at the window and a single missed instruction sends you home to start over. I found most of those out the hard way, so you don't have to. Now I research, document, and guide clients through the same consulate-ready applications, at a fraction of the cost, with none of the opacity.
I specialize in Poland and Romania specifically, and the Guided Process and Done For You tiers are built entirely around what actually works for those two countries. That said, the core of this process is similar across most of Europe. If your ancestry is elsewhere in the EU, the Roadmap Call is still genuinely useful: I can map your eligibility, flag the country-specific traps I know to look for, and give you a real starting plan. Poland and Romania are where I've lived this journey myself and where I can promise the deepest expertise, but you don't need to be eligible for either one to get real value out of that first call.
Take the 2-minute eligibility quiz See how it worksItaly proved it: this gift can be revoked overnight.
In March 2025, Italy ended its famously unlimited citizenship-by-descent program with a decree that took effect the next day. For most foreign-born applicants who already hold another citizenship, current recognition generally requires a parent or grandparent who held exclusively Italian citizenship, or a parent whose qualifying Italian residence came after acquiring citizenship and before the applicant's birth. In March 2026, Italy's Constitutional Court upheld the core restriction, though protected earlier filings and statutory exceptions can still matter. And Italy isn't alone.
The middle path between DIY confusion and lawyer pricing.
Firsthand, not theoretical
I filed my Romanian application at the New York consulate and Polish applications in Toronto, for myself, my brother, and my father. Every checklist I give you came from doing it, including the mistakes that cost me money and months.
Document strategy that holds up
Archives in Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. Apostilles. Sworn translations. Name discrepancies across a century of records. The application is won or lost in the paperwork, long before the consulate appointment.
The Romanian language pathway
Romania now expects B1-level Romanian, on paper and for the oath process after approval. I've made that exact journey from zero, and I guide clients through the fastest realistic route, including oath-readiness coaching, based on firsthand experience rather than secondhand research.
From "I think my family was Polish" to a submission-ready file.
Find out if you qualify
Take the free quiz, then book a Roadmap Call. We reconstruct your family timeline and flag the events that require closer review before you spend a dollar on documents.
Build the document chain
We determine which categories of civil, immigration, archival, and supporting evidence may be needed to connect each generation, across every country your family's records touch.
Plan authentication and translation
Document formats, apostilles, certifications, and translations are not interchangeable. Getting this wrong costs months and real money. I help clients avoid unnecessary orders, duplicate costs, and preventable delays.
File at the consulate
You walk in with a complete, organized application and, for Romania, a language plan. Decisions rest with the government authority, but you'll have given yourself the strongest possible file.