Hi Tomas,
A person does not need Citizenship in Ireland to avail of National Health
Insurance. National Health insurance is available to everyone that resides in
Ireland. In addition anyone residing in Ireland one year can apply and will be
given an EU Insurance Card for use when traveling throughout Europe. The card
is free. The EU card covers emergency treatment in another EU country.
Regards,
Laura Fitzpatrick
In response to some of the questions and statements regarding
Portuguese citizenship:
Reason for wanting citizenship:
My reason is purely sentimental, a greater connection with my Azorean
grandfather and the family there. In fact, I already possess Irish
citizenship and passport via my mother's father, so I have EU status.
The U.S. "ignores" other citizenships rather than accepts them. To the
U.S., a citizen is a citizen and that's that. Because of the
relationship with Israel and that country's granting of citizenship to
anyone Jewish, the U.S. has ignored the dual-citizenship issue. As far
as the U.S. is concerned, I am only an American citizen.
How I found what I needed:
I knew my grandfather's village--Flamengos, Faial--and thus knew the
parish. All parish records from those years are stored in the new
library in Horta. All I had to do was look up his baptism record by
the date. He was baptized a few days after his birth, so I easily
found the original document. Because I still have a way to go with
citizenship, I have only a photocopy for my own interest, not an
official copy. When I need that, I will get it.
Because of the strong position of the Catholic Church in Portugal, a
baptismal record counts as a birth certificate. In fact, there is no
birth certificate for most people of that time. When getting Irish
citizenship, I used a certified copy of that grandfather's baptism
certificate, and that was all that was needed to prove Irish birth.
Because my grandparents immigrated (separately) to the U.S., they
married in San Francisco, where my mother was born and married and
where I was born. The paperwork proving my connection was easily
obtained--took about five minutes.
My Azorean grandfather also immigrated to San Francisco, where he
married my grandmother. My father was also born here. Thus, once I
have the Portuguese document, I will easily have everything I need to
prove my connection.
"Benefits" of EU citizenship:
Having EU citizenship allows me to live and work within the EU.
However, it does NOT make available all the benefits. I have never
paid into any European health plan; thus, I cannot get national health
insurance anywhere in the EU. For that, I must be employed and pay the
taxes. In 2010, I had a medical emergency and had to pay completely
out of pocket. Fortunately, medical care in the EU is nothing close to
what is in the U.S. Treatment that would easily have cost over $1,000
cost me about $175. My own medical insurance reimbursed my
prescription costs less my co-pay, and the ER cost was less than my co-
pay, so I got nothing.
An additional reason for pursuing Portuguese citizenship is there are
some work possibilities for me there. Should something come through, I
would go into the tax system and thus contribute to the various
programs such as health care. I could then, possibly, get some kind of
coverage.
Tomas
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