== 1 of 5 == Date: Fri, Mar 6 2009 4:44 pm From: Pat West
I have a question. Has anyone else found their ancestors changed their nationality? On my Grandfather's Ellis Island Manifest he listed his nationality as Great Britian, but his country of origin as Portugal. Hi Pat, The difference between Nationality and Citizenship is the right to vote or participate in the political process of a country. I have always believed that Nationality is where you are born. I may be wrong but that is my belief. I am an American Citizen but I am also an Irish Citizen which makes me an EU Citizen. Before recently becoming an EU citizen I was legally considered an American National with no voting rights. I hold American and Irish Passports. However, my Nationality is American and will always be American as that is where I was born. Some people also confuse Nationality with ethnic background. My feeling is your grandfather was misunderstood when he named his nationality. From what port did he arrive in America? That may be the key to your answer. If he arrived in America from Britain then he may have been misunderstood when answering the questions asked. I doubt he was a British National unless he spent a long time in Britain. If he was a passenger on a ship then he wouldn't have been considered by Britain to be a National. It is the country you reside in that determines your status. Being misunderstood at immigration is easily done. When I moved here they recorded my birthday as August 1st. My birthday is January 8th. Irish write their dates backwards from how Americans do. I would look at his passage to America for your answers. If his Port was British then it was an error. Unless you can find him residing for a length of time in Britain and establishing residency. Regards, Laura Fitzpatrick --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---