Thinking about a second passport and not sure whether to choose citizenship by descent or citizenship by investment? In this in‑depth conversation, JH Marlin Global founder Jennifer Harding‑Marlin sits down with Shantonia, Head of Ancestry & Research, to break down how citizenship by ancestry really works in 2026, who actually qualifies and why documentation matters far more than DNA test results. You’ll also hear real anecdotes from complex cases (adoptions, name changes, altered documents) and how clients often discover unexpected eligibility after proper genealogical research. Shantonia explains how JH Marlin Global provides a true white‑glove, end‑to‑end service: from early eligibility assessment and multi‑country record searches to coordinating apostilles, translations and working alongside law firms to build complete citizenship files.
What This Video Covers
Shantonia explains citizenship by descent as a rights-based process where an applicant proves they are already entitled to citizenship through a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or other qualifying ancestor.
The video emphasizes that family stories and DNA results are not enough for most European cases. A successful case depends on documented genealogy and a complete legal chain from the ancestor to the applicant.
Jennifer and Shantonia discuss birth, marriage, death, divorce, naturalization, migration, census, and ship records, along with apostilles and translations across multiple jurisdictions.
The discussion clarifies that children and siblings may often apply through the same bloodline, while spouses usually need their own ancestry route or must qualify through separate country-specific rules.
The video references Ireland, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Canada, and Romania, while noting that citizenship-by-descent laws can expand or become more restrictive over time.
JH Marlin positions its ancestry work as a white-glove process that includes eligibility assessment, research, document retrieval, apostilles, translations, coordination with legal teams, and final submission support.
Speaker 1: It's Jennifer Harding Marlin, founder of JH Marlin Global. We help with Citizenship by Investment, Residency by Investment, citizenship by descent. I'm here today with a very special guest, Shantonia. Hi everybody, it's nice to finally make the YouTube. Yeah, so there's a lot We have people behind the scenes that aren't necessarily featured on our YouTube channel so we're hoping to highlight more people so you get different perspectives of people that are assisting with Citizenship by Investment, Citizenship by Descent, Residency by Investment and so Shantonia's specialty is Citizenship by Descent so let's get into it. So maybe you could tell us a little bit more about yourself and how you became interested in citizenship by descent work?
Speaker 2: So my background started in banking. From banking, I felt like I was well suited for this role. I saw a vacancy for Citizenship by Investment as a processing officer. And I was like, you know, this kind of sounds like me. So I went for it, I got the job, and I really liked it. And that was my entry into global mobility. From there there was COVID and during that time I transitioned to citizenship by descent and I absolutely loved it. I loved the research, I loved figuring it out. I loved helping the clients reconnect to their ancestry and ultimately reclaim their citizenship in their ancestral home. So yeah, that is how I started.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so maybe you could highlight a little bit the difference between Citizenship by Investment and citizenship by descent. How are they different?
Speaker 2: So Citizenship by Investment is when you make a qualifying investment to a government program. And in that transaction you get their passport. Citizenship by Descent however is basically reclaiming a birthright so it's something that the country that you're applying to already sees that you're entitled to. It's just you providing the documentation from yourself all the way back to that ancestor linking you to that country saying that hey I'm eligible this is my ancestor and I'd like to reclaim that birthright.
Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit more about the documentation requirements and how the process works if you are doing citizenship by descent?
Speaker 2: So for citizenship by descent, for most of the country frameworks, the documents are very extensive. So it's from yourself all the way back to your ancestor. And let's say your ancestor was from Slovakia, we have to find a birth record or any kind of life event that took place in Slovakia for that ancestor. Let's say your ancestor after is your parent and your parents moved to Canada then we have to go to Canada and get those documents. But then your parent went to the U.S. And had you, then we have to get your documents from the U.S.. So it's really about retracing that line, finding all of the documents for every life event that took place, especially the birth records that prove that this is, I'm me, my parent, and my grandparent, all of our names are on the birth records.
Speaker 2: So maybe you can tell us a little bit more what first drew you to ancestry and genealogy? Honestly, it was the investigative side of it. It felt like solving a puzzle. It still feels like you're solving a puzzle. You're working with fragments of history, records, migration, name changes, and then you're piecing that all together. And those stories have real consequences today for our clients. I've always loved research, and so it felt like a natural fit.
Speaker 1: And so what is your role as head of ancestry and research at JH Marlin Global? What is your day-to-day life look like?
Speaker 2: So day-to-day, it's a mix of strategy and detail. I assess new clients as they come in on a rolling basis. We determine eligibility, research, I work with genealogists, expert teams, and oversee documentation from start to finish. I'm also building systems because ancestry work can get complex quickly. There's always changes that you have to assess in the law.
Speaker 1: And maybe just to be clear, so a lot of times we aren't like legal counsel in this specific country for citizenship by descent, but in fact legal firms hire us to conduct research because it's really across multiple jurisdictions. So we can't give legal advice in this specific country, but we do and help legal firms with all the research. We do. And document gathering because it is very, very complex and especially if you have multiple family members and it's across multiple countries, it's a very complex process.
Speaker 2: It is, yeah. And well, I think what sets us apart really is that we help with the entire process. We don't just give you like the list of the documents that's needed and tell you, you know, go on your way. We actually help you to acquire every piece of document and build your full case. So I think that's why a lot of people come to hire us.
Speaker 1: I know. It's interesting because a lot of people will first go and hire a firm, like a law firm, and the law firm will tell them all the documents that they need. But then the law firm doesn't specialize in genealogy or research and is incapable or doesn't have the capacity to go and get those documents. So we really do offer white glove service from start to finish. We do. And we can coordinate everything from start to finish. I mean, I literally just spent like the entire day at the post office, mailing out request forms for documents, various states, sending out documents for apostille for various states.
Speaker 1: So we really do offer a fully integrated service for our clients. So if you were to go into more detail, can you talk a little bit more about what Citizenship by Descent is?
Speaker 2: Right. So what exactly is Citizenship by Descent? Citizenship by Descent means you are claiming citizenship through your ancestry. Usually through a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or even sometimes further back, depending on the country. Every country has a different framework, different sets of rules, different document requirements. It's not something you're applying for in a traditional sense in terms of other programs if we were to compare it, whereas it's more you're proving that you're already entitled to this claim.
Speaker 1: And so just this morning, it just makes me think of someone who emailed and said, you know, I'm willing to make a financial contribution to the country to grease the wheels. How is this not accurate? And what would you say in response to this?
Speaker 2: Yes. So you can't make a financial contribution for any citizenship by descent cases. It's strictly document-based. So we really have to just simply prove your lineage. It doesn't matter any organization that you make. It's not going to you know, tip any scales.
Speaker 1: So how is it different from Citizenship by Investment or even Residency by Investment programs?
Speaker 2: Right, so Citizenship by Descent is rights-based. You qualify because of who your ancestors were and where they were born. There's no investment requirement. Citizenship by Investment or Residency, on the other hand, is a forward-looking process where you qualify based on capital, time, or relocation. And so why are more people becoming interested in this today? Yeah, we have so many people that are interested and I think it's because people are thinking more globally now. They're thinking about mobility, opportunity, security, and also identity. I think identity is a really big one. They're looking back and they want to go back to their ancestral home. They want to relocate there, they want to have a sense of where they came from, and that's like a really big one for them.
Speaker 1: And so what are some of the main benefits if someone were to go through and do citizenship by descent?
Speaker 2: I would say greater mobility, access to different education systems, the ability to live and work in other countries, and long-term security for your family because you can pass these citizenships on to the next generation.
Speaker 1: And so a lot of us will sometimes come and ask like can I include my spouse or can I include my children in an application? Can you maybe really talk about that and like you want to include their siblings as well?
Speaker 2: Yeah. So anybody with the same bloodline as yourself would be able to apply under that same framework. So your siblings and your children, yes. Your spouse will have to look into their own ancestry or certain countries after being married for X amount of years, let's say three years, and having children could actually reduce the time, then they would be able to apply. But it's not immediate for your spouses. Only people with the same bloodline as yourself can apply.
Speaker 1: And how far back can someone go in terms of their ancestors to be eligible for such a trip?
Speaker 2: It depends entirely on the country. Every country has a different framework. So it varies and we have to review your case in its entirety to see what the eligibility would be.
Speaker 1: And just one comment there because even just looking into my own ancestry sometimes it's really based on documents and not on information that someone tells you and even information that might have been passed on from years to years over time. Like you realize that dates are wrong, like the country's wrong, like there's a lot of things that are wrong with the documentation. So that's why I think the research component is really important and it's something that you can't skip because you might be relying on what someone or your ancestor told you and in fact maybe want to comment on that.
Speaker 2: Yes, in fact we were literally looking into Jen's ancestry last night and so this is actually factual like some of the dates were incorrect obviously we got the right dates but if we were to hinge the application on the correct dates then it would be an application that would fail so genealogy is really important and it's always the first step sometimes you think you have the whole picture.
Speaker 1: And you really don't. Yeah, yeah. So what are some of the common countries that we've been helping a lot with?
Speaker 2: I would say Ireland, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, a lot of the European countries. A lot of people have European ancestry and a lot of people are looking for additional pathways.
Speaker 1: And so some people, because I get this question asked a lot, like in terms of showing DNA versus documentation, like how does DNA play a role in citizenship by descent and is it even needed?
Speaker 2: It's not needed and it doesn't play a role. It does not affect your case and I know a lot of people come and they're like, oh my DNA says it does nothing. The only thing that can prove is if your ancestor was born there and if you have documentation to prove that.
Speaker 1: But for Africa, DNA would play a role.
Speaker 2: It does play a role for Africa, yes.
Speaker 1: So for European citizenship, if you do a DNA test, it is based on documents. Yes. And so what surprises clients the most when doing citizenship through their ancestry?
Speaker 2: I would definitely say how detailed the process is. A lot of them think it's like, oh, my ancestor was born there. I know my grandmother was born there. Let's do the application. Well, the application involves getting documents for you, your parents, your Grandparent, we have to look into when your grandmother migrated, when she got married, what was the nationality of the person that she got married to, did she naturalize, did she renounce citizenship, did she take another citizenship? So we have to look into all of these things, we have to get documentation to prove all of these things. All the documents come from different offices, we have to wait on the timelines of each office. Now, when we finally get all of the documents, we have all the documents in front of us, they have to be apostilled because they were issued in the country that they're going to be used in.
Speaker 2: Let's say all of the events took place in three different states, that's three different states that we have to send the documents to be apostilled for. When the documents come back from apostilled,
Speaker 2: Then we have to get them translated if the country, the official language is not English. A lot of the countries want you to use special translators that have special processes and it varies literally per country. So it's a very extensive process and I want people to grasp this. It's not just you have an ancestor and let's push forward with submitting. It's a very extensive detailed process.
Speaker 1: And do people discover eligibility unexpectedly? Like all of a sudden, like, oh wow, I could apply for citizenship here?
Speaker 2: All the time. We've had many cases where someone comes in unsure and, you know, after proper research, they actually qualify through a line they've never even considered.
Speaker 1: And so maybe you could talk a little bit more about the documentation process. I know that we help gather all the documents, so just maybe talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2: So typically the documents that are needed are birth, marriage, death certificates, divorce certificates, if the person was divorced, across the entire generation from yourself all the way back to the ancestor in question. The real key of collecting these documents is proving an unbroken legal chain from the ancestor to the applicant Apart from the birth, marriage, death certificates, depending on the country, you're going to need naturalization certificates, you're going to need migration, you're going to need census, you're going to need ship manifests, so it really varies.
Speaker 1: So maybe you could describe about the level of difficulty in locating records and how that works.
Speaker 2: So it can range from straightforward to very complex. Some records are easily accessible, others require deep archival research. Across multiple countries. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's straightforward for you because you do it every day, but it's definitely not straightforward. Probably not.
Speaker 2: So what happens if records are missing or like, how does that work? So that's where the real work begins. If records are missing, we reconstruct the lineage, locate alternative records. We work with archives to fill in gaps, Missing documents doesn't necessarily stop the process, but we do have to find a way to make up for those documents. In some programs, they would accept an affidavit of proof. Let's say we were trying to find a birth record in New York that couldn't be located. Every time you apply for this birth record, you're going to get like, oh, they couldn't find it, so we would attach those to affidavits saying that we tried and give alternative documents that prove date of birth, place of birth of the person.
Speaker 1: And so how long does it take? I know it varies from country to country so maybe could share a little bit more about the processing timeline.
Speaker 2: It does vary from country to country. I would say anywhere from six months to a few years depending on the program. And that's from submission. You still have to factor in gathering all of the documents and getting it apostilled and translated.
Speaker 1: So basically if someone's looking for a really quick turnaround and get citizenship, like within a few months, probably it's best to go with Citizenship by Investment with programs that are known to have quick processing time because depending on the program, some citizenship by descent, it does, it could take one year to three years. Yeah, unless you have Irish ancestry, then that could take about nine months. If you have Irish ancestry, it's one of the quicker Citizenship by Descent options available and we process quite a few Irish. So what's the most interesting case or can you talk about an interesting case that you've had for Citizenship by Descent?
Speaker 2: The most interesting cases are usually the ones that seem a little bit impossible at first. They always have some quirky twist. Those are really the cases that stay with you. I would say some of the complex ones that I've worked with are the ones where there's adoptions involved and some of them where ancestors maybe intentionally altered documents. Maybe they were born in Hungary, but for whatever reason when they came to the U.S. they said they were born in Michigan, but they weren't born in Michigan. So having to decipher that and get to the bottom of why things aren't adding up, those are the interesting ones.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So maybe you could talk about the impact that doing citizenship through descent and how it changes lives and how it impacts people. Maybe you could talk a little bit more about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It definitely has a big impact on the clients. I've had clients cry when they've read about their family, especially older clients. And let's say their parents, maybe they're going through their parents and their parents are the ancestors that they're looking into. And when they hear stories about their life and stuff that I gathered, it really touches them so it has like a really big impact on a lot of people to hear about their family especially stuff they've never heard or maybe stuff they have heard but forgot about.
Speaker 1: Just like an off-note story about my own family history so there's a chef because a lot of the times the documents will state the profession and there's a chef in my family and it's inspired me to want to one day be a better cook.
Speaker 2: Well, Jen actually made us pasta and it was delicious so I think she's moving in the right direction.
Speaker 1: So funny. So how do clients feel more connected? Maybe talk about the connection aspect of citizenship by descent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. For many people this is the first time they really, you know, explore their family history in depth and, you know, learning about all these things it gives them a reconfirmed sense of identity.
Speaker 1: And how do you think that pursuing citizenship through your ancestors fits within global mobility planning?
Speaker 2: I'd say it's one of the most efficient and powerful tools available. And to me, if you're eligible, it's a no-brainer to reclaim something that is already your birthright. So unlike investment programs, it's often lower costs, and it creates long-term value for entire families.
Speaker 1: And maybe you could talk a little bit more about who's driving demand for citizenship through ancestry services.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say Ireland is a really big one. There's like a big global Irish diaspora, especially in South Africa. There's a lot of people in South Africa that's driving the demand for Irish citizenship by descent. Australians also have a lot of Irish descent and Slovak roots. We've had a lot of Israelis with Slovak roots as well. North America on a whole, you know, that's a major hub for us with people with ancestry and, you know, of varying ancestry, of varying European ancestry, a lot of Latin Americans as well, Brazilians. Yes, they have a lot of Italian ancestry. And maybe you could talk a little bit more about what makes our services unique compared to others. So I think we don't take a one-size-fits-all approach. We assess every case individually because we know every case hinges individually on its own everything.
Speaker 2: We look at each client's full background, map out multiple potential pathways, and that's something that we do with our genealogical service.
Speaker 2: We look at your entire family history, and we don't just look at the pathway that you initially come with. We look at any viable pathway that's available. And we guide you through the process end to end. We also bridge the gap between genealogy and expertise which is where many firms, I would say, fall short.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we've got a lot of clients that have hired others and weren't able to get the documents and then we were able to get a lot of the documents for them. So if you're having trouble getting documents, we'd be happy to help, potentially help you.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: So can you describe more how we support clients throughout the process?
Speaker 2: from coordination of eligibility to document collection, apostille, translation, all the way to final submission and then subsequently receiving their passport. We basically stay with the client from their first inquiry to getting their passport in their hand.
Speaker 1: And so sometimes if it is one of the options where it does take a long time, you could be dealing with us for to two years to three years depending on the option that's available to you. So what should someone do if they think that they qualify? What should they do?
Speaker 2: Definitely start with what you know. Get a pen and a paper. We have a family tree. You could ask us for a family tree where you could input the information. Input anything that you remember, names, places, put together any documents that you have, even small documents. Even small details, you know. But also, if you do not have anything beyond a name and you do not have any documents, that also does not deter you from starting the process. Through our genealogical services, we are able to help retrieve all of those digital documents and give you a really good foundation on if any path is viable in your ancestry. So if viewers want to get started, how can viewers get started? Reach out to us for coordination of our eligibility assessment. And from there, we can help determine if, you know, any path is viable and the best path that you can take.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for your time today, Shantonia. Thanks for having me, Jen. And I hope this gave you a more generalized overview of citizenship by ancestry. A lot of people aren't familiar with the pathway so I hope this clarified a lot of your questions. If you have further questions feel free to reach out. We'll put our email in the description below or you can comment in the description below as well. Looking forward to hearing from you. All the best. Bye for now.
Answers From This Video
Citizenship by descent is a process for claiming citizenship through ancestry. Instead of making an investment, the applicant proves a legal family connection to a qualifying ancestor under the rules of the relevant country.
No. The video stresses that citizenship by descent is document-based. A financial contribution does not replace the need to prove the family line and satisfy the country’s legal framework.
Children and siblings may be able to apply if they share the same qualifying bloodline. Spouses usually need to look at their own ancestry or country-specific spouse rules, which may require marriage duration or other conditions.
For most European citizenship-by-descent cases discussed in the video, DNA is not enough. The key evidence is documentation showing the ancestor, each generation in the family line, and any relevant citizenship or naturalization events.
Timelines vary by country and case complexity. The video mentions that some cases may take six months from submission, while others can take one to three years, especially when documents must be gathered, apostilled, and translated first.