Italian Citizenship Court Cases

There are various pathways through which you can obtain citizenship by descent. However, in respect of the automatic naturalization of female Italian-born ancestors, which means women who involuntarily acquired a foreign citizenship status citizenship status, there are certain laws and specific sets of circumstances that you need to be aware of because they are relevant if you are seeking citizenship this way.

1948 cases: legal basis and relevant laws

1912 Italian citizenship law regulated the acquisition of Italian citizenship by descent Italian citizenship by descent (Jure sanguinis, meaning “right of blood”), and permitted only men the right to pass Italian citizenship on to their children. Children born to Italian men were automatically granted Italian citizenship, whilst those born to Italian-born women were not. Children born to Italian women were not deemed Italian citizens. It was only when the Italian Constitution came into effect on January 1, 1948, that women were granted the same right, which meant Italian women could pass their Italian citizenship on 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 after January 1, 1948, you can file your citizenship application at an Italian consulate or at a municipality in Italy. However, if your female ancestor gave birth to her child before January 1, 1948, you can only claim citizenship retroactively via a court proceeding by filing a 1948 case. With that being said, in order to have a case you must prove that your Italian-born female ancestor either never naturalized, naturalized after her child was born in the U.S., or naturalized involuntarily.

The automatic naturalization of Italian women

The U.S. Expatriation Act of 1907 inextricably linked the citizenship status of women residing in the U.S. to that of their husband. When women married a U.S. citizen male they automatically acquired U.S. citizenship- simply by virtue of that marriage and without taking the oath of allegiance, which simultaneously meant losing and relinquishing their Italian citizenship under Italian law, and with it the right to pass it on to their children. Similarly, Italian women who were married to Italian men would acquire U.S. citizenship involuntarily when their husbands became U.S. citizens by naturalization.
The U.S. Cable Act of 22, 1922, changed this, and women no longer automatically acquired U.S. citizenship based solely on marriage to a U.S. citizen or due to their husband’s naturalization. Following the 1922 Cable Act, Italian women had to autonomously petition to become U.S. citizens. With this considered, Italian women who married non-Italian men, or who were married to an Italian citizen who obtained U.S. citizenship through naturalization, prior to the Italian Constitution of 1948 were clearly discriminated against, losing their citizenship status and rights due to automatic naturalization because of marriage to a foreign spouse. In 2009, the Italian Supreme and Court argued that the legal precedents set forth in the 1948 Italian Constitution that advocated and made central principles of gender equality and non-discrimination based on gender had to be applied retroactively. Courts also argued that events that happened prior to the advent of the Italian Constitution be included. Therefore, individuals of Italian descent can claim citizenship via a female ancestor if she was born in Italy, and if she became naturalized automatically and involuntarily by marriage.

The Italian Supreme and Constitutional Courts rulings 

The Italian Constitutional Court judgment n. 87 of 1975 and the Italian Supreme Court judgment n. 4466 of 2009 set forth that women who obtained foreign citizenship “involuntarily and automatically” because of marriage keep their Italian citizenship, and therefore retain the right to pass citizenship on to their children.
The relevance of this is that it held that Italian women who automatically acquired citizenship through her husband (prior to the 1922 Cable Act), in accordance with the 2009 court precedent, should have kept her Italian citizenship status, on the basis that it was not voluntarily relinquished.
In such cases, a lawsuit against the Italian Ministry of Interior can be filed on the basis that previous laws were discriminatory against women and that the Italian-born female ancestor obtained U.S. citizenship involuntarily and automatically, and therefore could and should be transferred to the next generation and subsequent descendants.

The 2022 change in the citizenship law

The Italian government implemented a law on June 22, 2022 that made it feasible for applicants who live abroad to file a petition at a court that sits in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Italian female ancestor, whereas prior to that date all citizenship related cases had to be filed in the court of Rome.
When filing a court case related to the automatic naturalization of women, on the basis of their husbands becoming naturalized U.S. citizens prior to September 22, 1922 (The Cable Act gave women the right to apply for U.S. citizenship on their own), it is always best to consult with an experienced attorney who can advise on the best way to prepare a case to be filed in a local court. This is because judges in the local court may not be aware of the above referenced rulings and the claim might require an extensive explanation of the case and its legal basis. The high success rate of ItalianCitizenshipAssistance.Com in regards to such cases is widely  recognized, and if you are in need of assistance to file your case do not hesitate to contact us.  

Duration of the process and fees associated with it

All 1948 citizenship cases are deemed complaints (ricorsi) rather than petitions (atti di citazione). The court and filing fees amounts to €518.00, plus the revenue stamp duty fee of €27.00. Additional fees relate to the translations of the documents into Italian, which can either be certified in Italy (through a sworn translator) or in the country from where they originate, either at the local Italian consulate or via a local sworn translator whose signature will then be legalized with an Apostille. Once all the documents have been gathered, legalized and duly translated a citizenship case can be filed electronically at a court that sits in the jurisdiction of the municipality where the Italian ancestor was born. The average duration of a citizenship case filed in an Italian regional court is 12 months.

Conclusion 

Since the 2009 precedent was set, the 1948 rule has provided a pathway through which descendants of female Italian-born ancestors can claim Italian citizenship, and opened an avenue for a successful outcome in the case of automatic naturalization of the woman. If you would like further information about Italian citizenship by descent, you can visit our homepage, or contact us directly and one of our friendly experts will be in touch to answer your queries.