Compare the Cost of Citizenship by Descent Across Seven Countries

Canada and Hungary are the cheapest, Italy is by far the most expensive, and Poland, Portugal, Ireland, and Germany sit in the middle. For dual-eligibility applicants, this gap is large enough that cost alone can meaningfully influence which path to pursue first. All figures below are DIY estimates for a typical three-generation US applicant, sorted by the ordinary case rather than by the floor.

Two of those orderings recently changed. Canada and Hungary used to be quoted as level; they are not. Hungary has the lower floor, because it charges no application fee at all, but Canada has the lower ceiling and the cheaper ordinary case (~$233 against ~$265). And Germany, whose floor is well below Ireland's, overtakes Ireland on the ordinary case (~$626 against ~$583) and on the ceiling, because sworn German translation is charged on every US-issued record ($30–$85 per document) while Ireland accepts English documents untranslated.

Italy's 1948 judicial track adds $3,000–$10,000 in attorney fees on top of the consulate-track base. Full-service firms charge $5,000–$15,000+ for any country — a markup that is rarely worth it for standard cases.