Citizenship by Descent: the most misunderstood path in investment migration

By Audra DeFalco, Latitude Group Director – Citizenship by Descent

In recent years, interest in citizenship by descent (Citizenship by Descent, CBD) has grown significantly across the global mobility market. For advisors, this is both an opportunity and a challenge: there are more requests, but clients’ expectations often don’t match the reality of the process.

Unlike residency by investment (RBI) or citizenship by investment (CBI), CBD doesn’t fit comfortably into the usual program-based models. There is no minimum investment threshold, no mandatory state contribution in the way these programs typically work, and—more often than not—no fixed, standardized processing timeline.

At the same time, CBD can deliver one of the most enduring outcomes in the industry: full citizenship, often with the possibility of continuity across generations.

The problem is different: CBD is too often approached using the same assumptions applied to RBI and CBI. The result is a chain of misunderstandings—incorrect expectations, confusion about timing, and disappointment that affects both clients and advisors.

Key point to understand: CBD is not a “lighter” version of investment migration. It is a fundamentally different legal mechanism that requires a separate approach and specialist expertise.

Citizenship by Descent is not an investment migration program

The first difference is conceptual.

RBI and CBI are forward-looking models driven by government policy and economic objectives. Criteria are published in advance, and once eligibility is confirmed, expectations around timelines and outcomes are usually more predictable.

CBD is the opposite. It is backward-looking and governed by citizenship law rather than immigration policy. The question is not what investments or fees the applicant is willing to make—it is whether they have a legal right to citizenship through descent.

CBD is not a discretionary “granting” decision. The state is not “bestowing a privilege”—it is recognizing a status that, under the law, may already belong to the applicant. That is why there are no clear “application windows” or expedited tracks: the outcome depends primarily on the evidence package.

Why CBD can feel more complex (even though it’s not about “difficulty,” it’s about the nature of the work)

From the outside, CBD can seem almost straightforward: the idea is clear—to restore citizenship through parents or grandparents. But in practice, it is rarely that simple.

Complexity arises from several factors:

• changes in national citizenship laws over time;
• gender-based rules for transmitting citizenship in earlier periods;
• incomplete or contradictory civil status records;
• surname and given-name variations, anglicization, and transliteration errors;
• migration histories that span multiple jurisdictions;
• changes to borders within the EU and the related legal consequences.

In many cases, the question is not “can citizenship be passed on?” but “can it be proven to the required standard for a specific authority?”

That is why CBD is less about a “legal interpretation on the go” and more about carefully reconstructing a person’s history and documents across time. This work typically starts long before any formal submission.

Timelines: why CBD cannot be compared to investment migration timelines

One of the most common points of friction around CBD is timing.

RBI and CBI timelines are often more predictable: after filing, you can estimate how long each stage will take. With CBD, the process behaves differently—the progression is diagnostic in nature.

Progress depends on:

• the availability of documents;
• their accuracy;
• access to archives and records;
• the need for corrections, additions, or engagement with judicial procedures.

Sometimes everything moves quickly—when the evidence chain is coherent and complete. In other cases, the process stretches over years not because of “bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake,” but because before citizenship can be legally confirmed, you must locate, correct, or validate the core documents.

CBD is not automatically “long.” It simply becomes uncertain until the evidence picture is assembled and properly structured.

Where advisors most often go wrong in CBD cases

As CBD demand grows, many advisors encounter it without a clear assessment framework. Typical mistakes include:

• treating CBD as a “easier” or faster alternative to CBI;
• discussing timelines before real feasibility has been established;
• underestimating the role of document correction and data completion;
• assuming that ancestry automatically equals a right to citizenship.

These errors are usually not about bad faith. It’s simply that CBD lives outside the standard framework of investment migration, and many advisory practices were not originally built around genealogical analysis.

The strongest approach in CBD is to start by understanding whether the case should be pursued at all—and on what legal grounds.

CBD as a separate advisory discipline

In its best form, CBD work is systematic, evidence-based, and always tailored to the individual.

It requires:

• early assessment of legal feasibility;
• a precise understanding of citizenship laws across different historical periods;
• linguistic and document-related competence;
• careful expectation-setting from the very beginning.

A good CBD advisory approach does not promise an outcome. It explains possible scenarios, limitations, and risks—including the possibility that a real legal path may not exist.

That kind of honesty is not a weakness. It protects both the advisor and the applicant.

CBD and investment migration are not interchangeable—but they can complement each other

It’s important not to position CBD and RBI/CBI as competing solutions.

For some families, CBD creates a deep, long-term legal connection to the country of origin—sometimes with the possibility of passing citizenship to future generations. For others, investment migration is valuable because of speed, flexibility, or access to jurisdictions where there is no direct citizenship right through descent.

In practice, many families explore both directions—sometimes sequentially, sometimes in parallel. The best results appear when each route is understood in its true role, rather than trying to force CBD into the same advisory template.

Bottom line: CBD does not replace investment migration, and investment migration is not a “workaround” for the law of citizenship by descent.

Treat CBD with respect for its legal nature

As citizenship planning moves beyond purely investment-driven routes, interest in Citizenship by Descent will keep growing. This is a positive trend for the industry—provided CBD is discussed clearly and with respect for its legal foundations.

CBD is not “more complex” than RBI or CBI, and it’s not “simpler.” It is different.

Advisors who recognize that distinction and build CBD as a separate evidence-focused discipline gain the ability to support clients more responsibly and sustainably.

At Latitude, our Citizenship by Descent practice operates independently of investment migration routes precisely because these paths require different expertise, timelines, and advisory models.

In an industry increasingly oriented toward long-term planning—not one-off transactions—understanding the true nature of CBD is no longer optional. It is necessary.

To learn more, contact Latitude via the website or directly through the form below.

About the author

Audra DeFalco is the Director of Citizenship by Descent at Latitude. She has helped more than 2,000 clients obtain citizenship by descent across different jurisdictions. She holds degrees in law and political science, is a certified translator and interpreter, and has completed a master’s program in Italian immigration law.

If you’re exploring Citizenship by Descent, it’s crucial to know that it’s not a “lighter” version of CBI/RBI—it’s a fundamentally different legal pathway with distinct expectations around documentation and timelines. At Digital Nomad, we help you interpret the real requirements and build a strategy tailored to your case, so the process stays clear and predictable. Start here: https://digital-nomad.gr/en/goldenvisa

Our Telegram channel about various types of Greek residence permits, digital nomad programs, and the Greek Golden Visa: @digitalnomadgr