Brexit chaos More and more Britons using DNA testing to regain access to the EU

More than 40 million people globally have taken the DNA test to verify their ancestry and lineage. Companies such as Ancestry, 23 and Me, and My Heritage have been providing the services to the commons since the genetic genealogy test was offered to the public in the year 2000.

However, analysing recent trends suggests that the test results are being used to apply for other countries’ citizenships, especially that of the European Union and the USA. 

According to DNA experts like Prof Turi King, director of Milne Centre of Evolution at Bath University, ancestry DNA testing will become an easy and more widespread way for Britons to gain dual citizenship in the future. She stated, “The more people take tests and find out about ancestry and who their biological parents are, the more they can use that for getting citizenship of a particular country.”

This has been observed in case of people residing currently in England applying for Irish passports. Going back in time, unmarried Irish mothers were forced to give up their children for adoption in Britain. Ireland has membership of the EU and according to the Dept of Foreign Affairs, Irish citizens have already started using their DNA evidence to prove their entitlement to citizenship of the country. It is being used as submissible proof in passport applications. 

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There was a TV show made on this subject titled DNA Family Secrets where presenter Prof Turi King once interviewed a person named Richard Sayers. In that episode, Richard was seen stating that he had traced back his half sibling through a DNA test and also that he got to know his passed away father who was born in Galway and was an Irisman by origin. After getting to know about his lineage, he applied for the Irish passport and upon getting that sold off his house in England and went off to Spain with his family.

In 2023, former Great Britain Olympian Sarah Claxton, 44 at present, traced her American father with the help of DNA testing. Claxton has native American ancestry lineage and she is using this report to get her US citizenship.

According to legal experts in the UK, most cases are coming after knowing the lineage and second is to apply for citizenship of other countries. If this continues, we can expect stricter rules for passport application and immigration rules.