Italian citizenship by descent is one of the easiest citizenships to obtain compared to other countries for a number of reasons. Among these are the lack of generational restrictions, the time line within which the mass migration waves from Italy to the United States occurred, and the efficiency of the Italian and U.S. record keeping system starting from the late 1800. As a result, thousands of people in the U.S. today find themselves eligible to obtain Italian citizenship by descent.
Tracing one’s lineage can look like a rather complex task, however, this article will provide you with some of the reasons why many U.S citizens are likely to meet the eligibility requirements to apply for Italian citizenship by descent. The article will also explain why locating one’s ancestors’ vital records is a relatively easy process by emphasizing the helpful nature of genealogical websites and databases. In conclusion, the article will reflect on the laws that govern the acquisition and transmission of Italian citizenship by descent.
Why do many U.S. citizens meet the eligibility requirements to apply for citizenship by descent?
In order to apply for Italian citizenship by descent your ancestor who was born in Italy must have been alive at the time Italy was unified as a nation on March 17, 1861 or he/she must have been born after that date. In addition to this, your Italian ancestor must have never naturalized or must have naturalized after his child’s birth. Finally, none of your ancestors in your direct line of descent must have ever renounced their right to Italian citizenship. If the requirements mentioned above are met, citizenship can be passed from one generation to another. As previously mentioned, there is no generational limit to apply for Italian citizenship by descent. The number of generations between you and your Italian ancestor will only determine the number of documents and vital records you will need in order to prove your eligibility. Notably, many U.S. citizens have an Italian ancestor who was born after 1861 (or was alive in 1861) and who left Italy after 1880. In fact, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States between 1880 and 1924, and approximately half of them emigrated between 1900 and 1910. Furthermore, many U.S. citizens of Italian descent have at least once ancestor who was naturalized after the birth of their child, which makes them eligible for Italian citizenship by descent. In fact, in the U.S., naturalization was a multi-step process, which in most cases would take a few years. After residing in the country for a specific amount of time and learning English, a foreign citizen could file a “Declaration of Intention”. Afterwards he or she would be able to file a “Petition for Naturalization”, and once the petition was granted and the person was admitted to become a citizen of the U.S., a certificate of citizenship was issued. Therefore, it was not uncommon for many young Italian immigrants to marry and have children in the U.S. prior to becoming U.S. citizens[1].
It is worth pointing out that many individuals of Italian descent may have several Italian ancestors, and one ancestor in particular who naturalized thus breaking the Italian chain; nevertheless, this does not prevent the potential applicant from claiming Italian citizenship via a different ancestor. Furthermore, thanks to the recent rulings it is possible to qualify via a female ancestor via an Italian court, provided that she was born in Italy. More specifically, if there is a woman in your Italian lineage who gave birth to her child prior to January 1, 1948 you might be able to apply for Italian citizenship by filing a lawsuit in Italy. This is due to the fact that when Italy became a republic on January 1, 1948, its constitution granted women and men equal rights. As a result, Italian women could pass their Italian citizenship to their children but only if they were born after January 1, 1948. This is why if your female ancestor gave birth to her child prior to January 1, 1948 you can only claim citizenship retroactively via a judicial proceeding and file a 1948 case .
So how can you find the information to prove that you are eligible to apply for Italian citizenship by descent?
Some people find it difficult to track down their Italian ancestor’s birth certificate; however, this is not as difficult as it may seem. Firstly, when Italy was unified as a nation in 1861 all municipalities in Italy started filing individuals’ vital records, therefore, if you know your ancestor’s name and approximate date of birth, it is very likely that the clerk in the municipality in Italy will be able to find his/her record. In particular, vital records in Italy can be retrieved from the Ufficio di Stato Civile (registry office) in the town hall of the comune (municipality) in which the registration of the event occurred. Generally speaking, you will need to mail the municipality a written request and apply for the “Estratto per riassunto dell’atto di nascita” (a certified extract of the birth record). The information will be typed into a standardized format and will show the registrant’s date and place of birth, his or her parents’ names, and the number of the volume and page of the registry of birth from which the information was extracted. These birth registries were once used in Italy, and you can find book copies of them on genealogy websites like ancestry.com and familysearch.com. If you cannot locate your ancestor’s birth record our team at ICA will carry out extensive research for you in order to track down your ancestor’s details. This can be done by checking passenger lists, which can be found on genealogy websites, and which typically show name, age, port of departure and arrival, ship name, nationality, occupation, last residence overseas, but also your ancestor’s hometown and destination. Therefore, if you do not hold many details regarding your Italian ancestor’s date and place of birth, a passenger list can potentially provide you with that information. Finally, if a birth certificate cannot be found you may use church records such as a Certificate of Baptism, which according to Italian law can be used to file a citizenship application only if birth registries did not exist when the birth occurred. According to Italian legislation, towns have a maximum of six months to provide a certificate; however, the processing period may differ depending on the municipality to which you apply for the record.
Italian laws are in favor of the recognition of citizenship by descent
The right to Italian citizenship by descent is an undeniable right which is based on the principle of “jus sanguinis”, which means “right of blood”, and it denotes the ability of an individual to claim the citizenship of a country by virtue of being born to a parent who is a citizen of that country, regardless of his/her place of birth. Indeed, the Italian law (91/1992) states that Italian citizenship is granted if an individual’s father or mother are or were Italian at the time of the child’s birth. This means that a child of an Italian citizen who was born in the U.S. is considered to be an Italian citizen and can transfer his/her citizenship to next generations provided that none of the individuals in the Italian lineage renounced their Italian citizenship.
It is worth mentioning that Italy also adopts the principle of jus soli, however only in exceptional circumstances; in fact, individuals who are born in Italy to stateless or unknown parents are recognized as Italian citizens.
Having said this, applying for Italian citizenship by descent only entails providing the relevant Italian authority with proof that Italian citizenship was passed from the ancestor who was born in Italy down to you without any interruption. In this sense, individuals who apply for Italian citizenship by descent are de facto Italian citizens and they are only applying for the recognition of that right.
We hope that this article has answered your questions; if you would like a free eligibility assessment or further information about this topic, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
[1] The loss of Italian citizenship occurred only when the petition for U.S. citizenship was approved, regardless of when the declaration of intention was filed.
