Italian or Not Italian?

One of the recurrent questions when talking to an Italian American fellow here in the USA is: "How do I get Italian citizenship?". When it comes to requirements for citizenship of the Belpaese, there is a lot of confusion for the applicant. As usual, Italian bureaucracy makes no process easy to understand and to execute. So here is a concise explanation of what to check before applying.

An Italian law that came into force on August 15, 1992 states that Italian citizenship can be conferred by bloodline (jus sanguinis): in simple words, the descendant of an Italian citizen is already an Italian citizen; therefore the citizenship is recognized by the Italian government upon submitting application and related evidence. The applicant must produce documentation that everyone in his/her direct line of ascendants maintained uninterrupted Italian citizenship until he/she was born.

It sounds easy, but it is a little more complicated than that. A few conditions make some people scratch their head when dealing with the Italian consulate or municipality offices in Italy. Here is what they have to consider:

·        The Italian ancestor (parent, grand-parent, great grand-parent) had to be alive after March 17, 1861, since Italy was unified on that day. Before then, there was not an Italian country and therefore no Italian citizens.

·        The Italian ancestor must NOT have become a citizen of the United States (a process called “naturalization”) before July 1, 1912. Prior to that date, the Italian law was different and did not allow passing citizenship.

·        The Italian parent must NOT have naturalized American before both the applicant’s birth date and the date of August 15, 1992. So Italian citizens naturalized before the above date lost their citizenship at that time and cannot pass it anymore to their children, either they were born before or after that date.

·        The Italian ancestor must NOT have naturalized before the birth of the immediate descendant or any of the ascendants in the direct lineage of parents through which the applicant is eligible.

·        There is also a difference related to the gender: no limit on the number of generations is in place for paternal line. However, in case the ancestor in the direct lineage of the person applying for citizenship is a woman born before 1948, she can only be considered Italian through her father (provided he did not naturalize before she was born). This woman can pass jus sanguinis only to her children, male or female, who were born after January 1, 1948.

However, there have been challenges and appeals for cases that would be excluded by this last rule. In these cases, the application can be presented directly to the Civil Court in Rome, since the Italian Supreme Court has declared this rule unconstitutional. The Italian consulates are still bound by this restriction and cannot grant citizenship under these conditions.

If born in or after 1948, having one qualifying Italian parent is sufficient for deriving citizenship, even if the other Italian parent naturalized or otherwise became unable to pass on citizenship. Sometimes that qualifying parent is the foreign-born mother, because foreign women who married Italian men prior to April 27, 1983 automatically became Italian citizens and, in many cases, retained that citizenship even when their Italian husbands later naturalized.

Also a girl of minor age could keep her Italian citizenship after the naturalization of her father, but she still might not be able to pass her own citizenship to her children, particularly if they were born before 1948.

 In conclusion, everything is much smoother if the ascendants who emigrated in the USA never naturalized and remained only Italian. In that case the citizenship is passed to the descendant by each Italian parent in line with the principle of jus sanguinis. If instead an ascendant in the direct lineage became American and gave up the Italian citizenship (in the USA this was mandatory a few decades ago), it is a matter of birth date, gender and laws that have changed in time.
An Italian who has acquired a foreign citizenship (such as American) after August 15, 1992 does not lose his or her Italian citizenship and can retain both (dual citizen).

The process of acquiring Italian citizenship takes not less than two years from the date of application, also depending on the consulate that handles and reviews the papers. Often it is necessary to prove the uninterrupted lineage by requesting certificates of birth, marriage, death to the municipal office of the Italian town where the ancestor was born. This can require additional time, especially in case of big Italian cities.

All documents must be in Italian language or translated into Italian. If a document is issued by an American authority, the applicant must get an apostille from the Secretary of State where the document was issued. This document validates that certificate outside the USA.

Since 2015 the application with all documentation is submitted online through the website of the Italian Consulate located in the applicant’s circuit of residence. 
In bocca al lupo! (Good luck!)