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In depth
The anchor ancestor is the earliest ancestor in the citizenship chain who was a citizen of the target country, from whom the applicant's eligibility derives. The anchor ancestor must have been a citizen at the time of the next child's birth in the chain.
Identifying the anchor ancestor is the first step in any CBD case. For Italian jure sanguinis, the anchor is typically the Italian-born great-great-grandparent who emigrated. For Irish FBR, the anchor is the Irish-born grandparent. For Polish cases, the anchor is the pre-war Polish citizen.
The anchor ancestor's documentary trail is the most important evidence in the case: their birth certificate from the country of origin, their naturalization (or no-record) documentation in the destination country, and the chain of vital records linking them to the applicant.
Related terms
The citizenship chain is the unbroken line of citizenship transmission from an ancestor to the applicant, which must be proven to claim citizenship by descent.
Citizenship by descent (CBD) is the legal right to acquire a country's citizenship through one's ancestors — typically a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent — without being born in that country, based on the principle of jus sanguinis.
Jus sanguinis (Latin for 'right of blood') is the principle that grants citizenship based on the citizenship of one's parents or ancestors, regardless of where one is born.
Jus soli (Latin for 'right of the soil') grants citizenship based on being born in the territory of the state, regardless of the parents' citizenship.
Dual citizenship (also called multiple citizenship) is the status of being a citizen of two or more countries simultaneously, with the rights and obligations of each.
Naturalization is the legal process by which a non-citizen acquires the citizenship of a country, typically after meeting residency, language, and integration requirements.