Today’s article is dedicated to those of you who are interested in Italian citizenship by descent and have to go the “1948 route”. There seems to be a lot of confusion in regards to what the process entails. in this article, we will review, try to demystify and shed some light on what actually happens throughout the process. We will also briefly compare the “1948”/judicial process and the “normal”/administrative process.
First, let’s quickly cover when it would be necessary to make a 1948 case:
If your Italian ancestral line includes a woman, you should first check if your female ascendant gave birth to her child before or after 1948.
– If she gave birth before 1948 – it was not possible for women (born in Italy or of Italian descent) to transfer Italian citizenship to their children, the reason being is that Italian women did not have the same rights as men before 1948 (including the right to vote and pass citizenship to their heirs).
– However, if your female ancestor gave birth during or after 1948 – Italian women were granted the same rights as men to pass down Italian citizenship (along with the right to vote) on January 1st, 1948. Due to this “new” set of rights, any child born to an Italian-born woman, or woman of Italian descent born abroad, can be considered able to receive Italian citizenship at birth.
If your case falls into the “1948” category, because your family line back to Italy involves a female ancestor who gave birth to the next person in your family line before January 1st, 1948, you will need to pursue Italian citizenship in the Italian courts
If you feel you are in need of help determining how you would be eligible to make a petition or a case to be recognized as a citizen of Italy, please feel free to get in touch with us and ask about our eligibility evaluation service which is completely free of charge and obligation. We’ll be more than happy to assist you and be there for you during the whole process from start to finish.
Having to go the “1948” route through the judicial process does not necessarily mean that the overall process will be longer or more difficult, but what sets it apart is that you are making your claim to Italian citizenship in a different manner than the more common administrative process. The biggest difference being that you need to petition the Italian Court to achieve recognition as an Italian citizen during the 1948 process (the judicial process) whereas the administrative process involves getting your documentation evaluated either by an Italian Consulate or Italian Municipality. At this point in time 1948 cases are only handled by Italian courts.
To clarify, what’s difference about the administrative process and a 1948 case, is that you’ll need to file a proper claim before the Civil Court in Rome (“Tribunale Ordinario di Roma – Sezione Civile”) in order to have your case examined by an appointed judge. This does mean a court proceeding is necessary, however it does NOT mean you or any family members need to be present during the hearing(s). ICA is able to be present at the proceeding(s) on your behalf so that it isn’t necessary for you to travel to Rome. During the proceedings in Rome, the aim is for the court to determine if you and any other family members you are petitioning with in fact have the right to be granted recognition of citizenship by right of descent. This is expressed to the court through the claim that the 1948 Italian Constitution amendment and rights given need to be applied retroactively. Even though it’s necessary to go to court and argue these points this does not mean that it’s any less likely or more difficult to successfully complete the process. In fact, hundreds of cases have been positively judged since 2009 and the Italian State is generally no longer representing itself in court anymore or make counterclaims against the above point – meaning that the retroactivity of the Constitution with regard to Women’s right to transmit their Italian citizenship is widely recognized as a “Case Law”, which means the previous judicial judgments have strong legal authority.
*** Please note that the Italian Government approved a law on November 26, 2021 (but effective from December 24,2021) that states that when “the petitioner resides abroad, the lawsuit can be filed at the court that covers the jurisdiction of the Italian father, mother or ancestor’s municipality”, The new measures only apply to cases filed 180 days after the day on which the law becomes effective. All cases presented before that date must be filed at the Court of Rome.
The most frequent question we are asked when it comes to 1948 cases is how the actual judicial proceeding works. Here’s an overview of all the steps (start-to-finish) to file a claim for Italian citizenship by descent with a 1948 case and how to register as an Italian citizen once you’re recognized. Again if you need any help through any step process, please feel free to contact ICA. For more information about our services and how we can help you through the process CLICK HERE. One other point of interest which many ask about is multiple family members petitioning together. Yes, it is completely possible and legal for multiple family members to a claim through the same shared ancestor. Many people are interested in making a claim as a family at once so that the expenses can be shared and to save on the associated expenses.
STEP 1: Procurement of the supporting vital record documents
It will be necessary to retrieve all the records of birth, marriage and death records pertaining to each person in your Italian family line.
For example:
*You* – Birth and marriage certificates (and any birth certificates of any children you have and vital records of any of their major life events)
Your parent – Birth, marriage and death certificate (if applicable)
Your grandparent – Birth, marriage and death certificate (if applicable)
Side notes:
*presenting just the documents pertaining to your ascendants in the Italian line is sufficient. This does not mean that also presenting “non-line relative’s documents” is wrong. In fact, to support your petition, you can present all the documents that you deem appropriate to build a strong case. This just means that courts are generally satisfied with the “in-line relative’s documents”.
*In Lieu of a birth certificate a baptismal record is sometimes acceptable. However, if a birth certificate can be presented it is preferred.
*if you or anyone in your line have had a legal name change or divorce, it may also be important to have the documents which show those events to justify potential modification of names or last names.
STEP 2: Legalize all the documents retrieved
Every non-Italian document will need to bear an apostille*, which is a special authentication seal enabling a document to be used in Italy. Please note that for some documents it may not be required to acquire an apostille stamp (for instance the naturalization records issued by USCIS, if your ancestor naturalized in the US). The general rule is: get an apostille seal for all documents which can bear one.
Side note:
What is an apostille*?
“An Apostille is an authentication of a public document issued pursuant to the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. The Convention provides for the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention. Under the Hague Convention, signatory countries have agreed to recognize public documents issued by other signatory countries if those public documents are authenticated by the attachment of an internationally recognized form of authentication known as an Apostille. The Apostille ensures that public documents issued in one signatory country will be recognized as valid in another signatory country.”
Source: New York Department of State
STEP 3: Certify all of the translations
Translations for documents which are not in the Italian language will need to be certified for accuracy before they can be used for your judicial proceeding.
There are two ways of having your translations certified:
- Translations can be certified by an Italian judicial authority through a special procedure called “Asseverazione delle Traduzioni”. This process has two parts. The first is that the translations will need to be performed by a well-acquainted translator in Italy, and second, the translator will need to swear to the accuracy of the translations in front of a Judicial authority in Italy.
- Translations can be certified by your local Italian consulate through a special procedure called “Certificazione di Conformità di Traduzione”. The related fee can be found under article “72A” in the trimestral chart of the Consular Fees (available through any consulate’s website). The consulate will generally accept “plain” translations accompanied by the corresponding original documents. Some consulates will provide you with a “Certification of Translation Request Form”. We always recommend checking your consulate’s policies on the matter before mailing any original documents to them.
STEP 4: Appoint an Italian attorney to represent you in court in Italy
When it comes to 1948 cases you will definitely need to rely on an attorney with relevant experience, since these cases are very peculiar and not every Italian attorney will have the necessary expertise or the experience to assist you in this process. In addition, being represented by an attorney means your presence in court will not be required at any time.
When working with ICA, your case will be handled by our team member Andrea Permunian, an Italian attorney who is extremely familiar with the intricacies of the 1948 judicial process and will be the one who will be representing you in court.
STEP 5: Sign a P.O.A. for your attorney
The Power of Attorney (PoA) will allow ICA in Italy to represent you in court for your citizenship petition/claim. The original POA notarized document will need to be mailed to your attorney. Every co-petitioner (meaning a relative who shares the same ancestor and participates in the lawsuit) will also need to grant power of attorney to your chosen representative.
Side-note: if you have minor children, you will also need to sign a POA on their behalf. This way they will be included in your claim. If filing a claim with multiple adult petitioners, each adult petitioner will need to sign his/her own separate POA and an additional POA for each of their minor children (if applicable). Typically the attorney will file just one petition, and enclose all the POAs together with the petition.
STEP 6: Mail all the documents and original POAs to your attorney
All vital record documents to support your case, as well as each necessary POA must be sent to your attorney.
*Originals of all documents mentioned are necessary – photocopies are not useable.
STEP 7: Preparing your petition
With all the documents in hand, Andrea will run through all the details of your case and prepare the actual petition to be filed in court. The petition will thoroughly explain your eligibility for Italian citizenship by descent explaining all of the focal points of your family history, citing all the Italian and foreign laws that will prove your right to Italian citizenship and the legal precedents that support your claim.
STEP 8: E-filing
When the petition will be ready, Andrea will submit your petition to the Italian Court, along with all the supporting documents, through the recently introduced e-filing system. The claim will also be served to the counterparty: the Italian Ministry of Interior’s office in Rome.
STEP 9: Waiting for case number and judge to be assigned
After a couple of months from the e-filing, your case will be assigned a case number, and after a few more weeks, a judge will be assigned to your case. Roughly one more month after, the judge will inform Andrea what the date of the first hearing will be. Please keep in mind that the judge will set the hearing date at their discretion based on his/her schedule and will be entitled to change the hearing date in the event they are unavailable on the scheduled date.
STEP 10: ”Your” day in court
The first hearing serves just to preliminary evaluate the case. At this time, the judge assesses the main focal points of the case and asks Andrea if any clarifications are necessary. In the majority of the cases one hearing is sufficient. However, it is possible a second hearing is required by the judge if further clarifications or documents are deemed as necessary.
*In some cases, the second hearing could be a few months apart from the first hearing depending on the judge’s schedule.
STEP 11: Final judgment
The final judgment is generally issued within 2-3 months from the (final) hearing. In the final judgment the judge will explain why the petitioner is or isn’t entitled to Italian citizenship. If the decision is favorable (which is the vast majority of cases), it will order the vital statistics office (generally the one of the municipality of birth of the Italian ancestor) to record the judgment itself and all the vital record documents pertaining to the petitioner(s).
STEP 12: (ON THE HOME STRETCH!) Registering the vital records
Once your citizenship is recognized with a court order, all the vital records pertaining to the applicants will need to be registered in the Italian Municipality where your ancestor was born.
The actual court order is the document which will entitle you to have your records registered in Italy.
Side-note: It is the responsibility of each newly recognized Italian citizen to register his/her own vital record documents at the municipality (comune). Which comune is necessary to register with will be determined during the process but the municipal body which you will need to register with will almost always be the same as where your Italian ancestor was born. Without such registration, it is not possible to apply for an Italian passport but again this is another step we at ICA will be able to assist you with.
Being recognized as an Italian citizen by descent means that you are considered to have been an Italian citizen from the day you were born, and this is the reason why all your vital records (birth, marriage, divorces if applicable) are required to be registered in Italy. Having your records registered in Italy will also entitle your future children and possibly spouses to file for their own citizenship at a later time.
Hopefully, this article has been helpful to you and if you know anyone else who might find this info of interest be sure to share the link to this article with them.
If you have any questions about anything covered in this article or any other info feel free to get in contact with ICA HERE and we’ll do our best to help and we may even base an upcoming article on your question.
