Client story
Client's Story
Where they started
Andrew knew that his grandfather on his father's side was Hungarian, from the historical homeland that was once part of Hungary. However, his father's passport and Andrew's own passport bore an ordinary Russian surname. The Hungarian surname remained only in family stories.
Why the standard route did not work
When Andrew began gathering documents for an EU passport, the obstacle became clear. Citizenship by descent requires an unbroken line: grandfather—father—Andrew, and the surname must match in each generation. But it did not: grandfather had a Russian surname in his later years and his descendants likewise, while the roots showed a Hungarian surname. Formally, this appeared as two different family lines.
What BRIDGES had to solve
The reason was typical of its time. During Soviet years, grandfather changed his Hungarian surname to Russian—many did this to avoid suspicion and trouble. For the family, it was a minor matter; for the descent procedure, it was a rupture precisely where origin must be proven.
Why a standard answer would not do
Andrew turned to BRIDGES, understanding that the task was not to search for lost papers, but to prove: the person with the Hungarian surname in the roots and the grandfather with the Russian surname were one and the same.
My passport shows a Russian surname, and my Hungarian grandfather bore a Hungarian one and changed it during the Soviet Union. It appeared that these were two different people, and I could not prove my roots. Anna found the actual surname change record in the archive, and grandfather's pre-war document with the Hungarian surname. They matched in name and year of birth—and it became clear that this was one person. After that, I obtained my passport.
