Your village of origin in Luxembourg

I plan on it as well. I am in love with all of Europe. Haha. Lux especially.

seblux - That is awesome! I am so happy for you! How long have you lived in Lux? Was it hard/easy to find a job?

Do you know of anyone hiring for a digital marketing/social media internship or entry-level position I could apply for? I thought maybe as an intern I could get my foot in the door sooner than waiting for my citizenship. I applied at Amazon but haven't heard back yet.

I will check monster.lu and try and find some recruitment agencies. Thanks for the suggestions!

I just got my great-gran's birth certificate from Luxembourg in the mail yesterday. Woohoo! It came quicker than the certificates I'm waiting on from Iowa. I am going to send in my Phase 1 documents asap. I'm not sure how long it takes to get the Luxembourg Certificate but I'm hoping I will be ready for Phase 2 in December. I imagine Luxembourg transforms into a magical place at Christmas time! Sigh. Maybe then I could meet with some recruiting agencies or do some interviewing (fingers crossed).

When are you going to submit your Phase 1 documents 'asap'? When is 'asap'?

Add 8 - 10 months to receive your certificat relatif à l’aïeul luxembourgeois from the date that the Ministry of Justice receives your materials. 

So, for example, if you submit your Phase 1 documents today, April 24, 2015, then you would not likely receive your certificat relatif à l’aïeul luxembourgeois until January 2016. Maybe even later.

You seem to have unrealistic expectations about the length of the process. In fact, the process will take roughly two years, and you have not even finished obtaining your family documents, yet. 

After you receive your certificat relatif à l’aïeul luxembourgeois and then travel to Luxembourg to submit your Phase 2 documents, you will then likely have to wait another 8 - 11 months for confirmation that you were successful.

If you start now and submit your Phase 1 documents within the next 2 or 3 months, you will likely not receive confirmation of your citizenship until well into 2017.

One final note about working in the EU Schengen Area. It is virtually impossible for Americans to get hired over EU citizens for positions in Europe. So without an EU passport, you will likely not find any company willing to hire you or sponsor a work permit, etc. for you. 

Thank guys! Am I reading the "Some interesting stats" correctly in that a total of 80 Americans have reclaimed their citizenship since 2009? That seems absurdly low.

seblux,

I agree with you, there are exceptions for those with high level qualifications and unique talents.

However, let's be realistic, she won't get an EU work permit to fill an internship. If she holds a Ph.D, is at the top of her field and an international scholar, then yes, it is not impossible. Universities, for example, can justify hiring non-EU citizens in such cases, and so will petition for a work permit on the grounds that they could not find an individual similarly qualified in the EU.

For example, this can be seen with young wanna be US English instructors. Many young Americans hope to spend a gap year teaching EFL in Europe, but cannot, at least legally, since there is already a massive supply of highly qualified British and Irish TEFL teachers available to take those jobs. This is just an example, however.

I think many of the US nationals that are in the EU working are either transferred to Europe with their companies from the US or they are at the top of their fields in areas of management, banking and investment, or academics.

In sum, I would not want to give anyone false hope. It is extremely difficult to find an employer in the EU that would or could justify hiring a US citizen over an EU citizen for many or most jobs.

But of course, she should ask around. Learn more about it and understand what the hurdles are to finding employment in the EU for a US national.

Or, she could just marry an EU citizen!

Bous, Remich, Grevenmacher for me!