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, Ireland, Portugal, 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 with no marriages, divorces or deaths in the chain, sorted by our typical estimate rather than by the floor, and computed by the calculator above rather than typed in by hand.

Two of those orderings are worth calling out, because the obvious guess is wrong on both. Canada and Hungary used to be quoted as level; they are not. Canada is cheaper at the floor, at the ceiling and on the typical estimate (~$158 against ~$253) even though it is the one of the two that charges an application fee — Hungary's free filing is outweighed by the apostille and consular-certified Hungarian translation the estimate prices on every US record. And Germany, whose floor ($310) is well below Ireland's ($389), overtakes Ireland on the typical estimate (~$624 against ~$484) 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.

Every figure above is a DIY total — government fees plus documents, apostilles and translations. None includes professional help, and we publish no price for it, because nobody publishes one. Italy's 1948 judicial track is the one route that normally requires an Italian attorney; its published court costs are a €600 contributo unificato charged per applicant joined to the petition (DPR 115/2002 art. 13 co. 1-sexies) and a €27 forfait per proceeding (art. 30), with the attorney's own fee on top.