Are you interested in pursuing Italian citizenship by descent but are not 100% sure as to whether the ancestor through whom you would like to claim citizenship was ever naturalized? This article will provide you with an overview of the evidence you need to collect in order to prove that your ancestor was never naturalized. As a matter of fact, your Italian ancestor’s naturalization plays a key role in determining your eligibility to claim Italian citizenship by descent. In other words, one of the eligibility requirements to apply for Italian citizenship by descent is that your ancestor who was born in Italy was never naturalized, or was naturalized after the birth of the child who was born in the U.S. So, what are the key elements to determine whether your ancestor was ever naturalized as a U.S citizen? If he was never naturalized, how do you prove that? What does “naturalization” actually mean?
Firstly, after a number of years in the U.S. many Italian immigrants could choose to renounce their citizenship and acquire American citizenship instead. Naturalization in the U.S. was a multi-step process which began with a foreign citizen filing a Declaration of Intention. Afterwards he or she would be able to file a Petition for Naturalization. Finally, once the petition was granted and the person was admitted to become a citizen of the U.S., a Certificate of Citizenship was issued. If you would like to learn more about the naturalization process and the documents that are needed to prove that your ancestor was naturalized click here. It is worth pointing out that a Petition for Naturalization could be rejected if the applicant did not meet the necessary requirements, therefore, you might find that the ancestor through whom you are claiming citizenship filed a petition but he never completed the process, thus there are no naturalization records pertaining to him.
So, what are the documents you need to retrieve to prove that your ancestor was never naturalized as a U.S. citizen?
When our clients contact us enquiring about their eligibility we always carry in-depth genealogical research as part of our free initial assessment to determine whether their ancestors did in fact naturalize. While browsing genealogical websites you can find useful documents such as draft cards which indicate your ancestor’s citizenship status and whether he was enlisted in the army for either WWI or WWII. A-files (i.e., Alien files), are also useful documents which may include additional information on an individual’s citizenship status and the stage he/she had reached in their process of naturalizing. A-Files were created in April of 1944 and they included all records regarding active cases of legal aliens residing in the U.S., such as alien registration forms, visas and deportation documents, petitions for U.S. citizenship, photographs, vital records and identification documents.
Finally, censuses will typically show details regarding where a family lived, their names, age, level of education, year of marriage, profession and their citizenship status, which is divided as follows:
- “na” (naturalized),
- “al” (alien),
- “pa” (first papers), which means that the individual had filed his or her declaration of intention and was in the process of naturalizing but had not yet fully naturalized.
If naturalized, the census will also list the year of naturalization. A census will also typically state the country or town of birth of your ancestors and the date of emigration.
When applying for Italian citizenship at an Italian consulate or municipality, you will be required to provide a census which shows that your ancestor was “AL” at the time of the birth of his child but this alone will not suffice, and you will need supporting documentation, which we will describe in detail in the following paragraph.
In order to prove whether an individual was naturalized or not you might need to place an Index Search through USCIS (United States Immigration and Citizenship Services). In order to place an Index Search request you will need to provide your ancestor’s name, date and place of birth, approximate or specific year of emigration to the U.S., and you will also be given the option to provide further information, such as your ancestor’s spouse and children’s names and their list of addresses in the U.S. USCIS will then analyze the information you provided, search through their records and will ultimately send you an email or a letter stating whether they were able to find any naturalization records pertaining to your ancestor. Processing times can vary but complex requests may even take up to 6 months to be processed.
If your ancestor was naturalized you will need to provide the municipality in Italy or the Italian consulate abroad that covers the jurisdiction where you reside with certified copies of your ancestor’s naturalization records. These documents can be retrieved from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), or the county in which the naturalization took place. On the other hand, if the census you found or the Index Search you placed provide evidence that your ancestor was never naturalized you will need to apply for a Certificate of Non-Existence of Records that certifies that no naturalization records were found pertaining to your ancestor. The request can be mailed to USCIS. It is worth pointing out that if the ancestor for whom you are retrieving the letter used aliases throughout his life you will need to ask USCIS to include your ancestor’s aliases in their Certificate of Non-Existence of Records as the Italian authorities will need as much evidence as possible to determine that you are eligible to claim Italian citizenship by right of descent. You will also need to request a Letter of Negative Search from NARA or the county in which your ancestor lived in order to provide additional evidence to support your claim.
Besides proof of naturalization or no naturalization you will also need to retrieve your family’s vital records which need to be authenticated with Apostille and translated into Italian. Finally, you will also need your Italian ancestor’s original birth record from Italy, which can be retrieved from the registry office (“stato civile”) of the Italian municipality in which the event occurred. If your ancestor’s name was misspelled when he or she moved to the United States, or if the Italian name was changed into the English version (e.g. Giovanni – John; Maria – Mary) you can also request a specific certificate from the municipality called “certificato di esatte generalità” which certifies that your ancestor was the only individual born with that specific name and on that specific day. As stated previously, this document – together with the aliases provided to trace your ancestor’s naturalization records, or proof that he or she was never naturalized – will be useful in providing the consulate with as much information as possible to assess your application.
Please bear in mind that if you find that your ancestor was indeed naturalized prior to the birth of his child, but there is a woman in your Italian lineage who gave birth to her child who was born abroad before January 1, 1948, you may not be able to qualify for Italian citizenship by descent through an application at the consulate. However, you might be able to apply for Italian citizenship via the court system and file a 1948 case.
If you would like a free eligibility assessment of your case or further information regarding applying for Italian citizenship by descent, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to help you.
