Retrieving the Italian vital records of your Italian-born ancestors is a critical step in preparing your Italian citizenship by descent application. Genealogical research plays a fundamental role in this process to determine where documents are filed and how to obtain them. Vital records are required for everyone in your Italian line, however, locating the vital records pertaining to your Italian-born ancestors might be particularly challenging. This article aims to serve as a comprehensive guide to conducting genealogical research on your Italian lineage, suggestions on where to find missing details about your Italian-born ancestors, and how to retrieve their vital records from Italy.
Italian Immigration to the US
The “American Dream”, a belief that the United States is a land offering freedom, opportunity, and prosperity for every person, was one of the most important reasons that pushed millions of Italians to emigrate from the poorest and most disadvantaged parts of post-unification Italy. An estimated 40,000 Italians left Italy to move to North America in 1861, the year in which Italy became a unified nation. By 1920, more than 4 million Italians had come to the US and made up about 10 percent of the nation’s foreign-born population. Most Italian immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, New York, which opened in 1892, and were subjected to mental and physical examinations, known as “six-second physicals”. The consequences of failing a health examination or seeming incapable of manual labor could cause someone to be sent back to Italy and the family to be separated.
Italian immigrants had to state their full name and age upon arrival and verify the information listed on the ship manifest. Most of these immigrants could not speak or understand English well. Ellis Island did in fact employ interpreters, knowledgeable in the major languages, to assist in the screening process and mitigate issues. However, during this time of increased migration, they found that the number of interpreters simply wasn’t sufficient to assist with each new arrival’s documentation.
Discrepancies
Applying for Italian citizenship by descent necessitates demonstrating an unbroken lineage from the Italian-born ancestor to the applicant. Genealogical research is instrumental in establishing this lineage through essential documents such as birth, marriage, and death records, as well as naturalization records. Oftentimes, during the naturalization process, Italian immigrants would choose to take a different first or last name. It was common for Italians to Americanize their first name (e.g. Antonio to Anthony) or legally change to a misspelled last name which they used for years, since arriving to the US. This was due to many factors, ranging from the language barrier, as many Italian immigrants did not speak much English when they arrived, need for integration, or simple human error when recording information.
Additionally, individuals misreported their year of birth to appear older or younger, or simply misremembered their details. All of these factors can increase the difficulty in locating Italian vital records pertaining to your ancestors who were born in Italy and immigrated to the US.
Genealogy Research
If you find yourself unable to locate fundamental information on your Italian ancestors, engaging genealogists or a citizenship expert can be a valuable option. Furthermore, accessing digitized records through online platforms such as FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com, which offer extensive collections of Italian civil registration records and genealogical research tools, can be of great help. It’s important to gather comprehensive information about your ancestors who were born in Italy, including their full name, place of birth (comune or town), birthdate, names of parents or spouse, and any other pertinent details. Knowing the exact town where they were born is crucial because Italian vital records are primarily held at the town level. As you begin gathering vital details, it’s a good idea to see if your ancestor’s Italian vital records are on Antenati.cultura.gov.it, which will help verify that the records will in fact be found in that location. This website, available in Italian and English, is a database of Italian records that have been digitized, including birth, marriage, and death records. Not all provinces have been completely indexed, and in some locations, the records are only available up until the 1860s. Furthermore, if you are unsure of their marriage details but can locate a birth record for your ancestor, there will usually be a notation on the birth record if they were married in Italy, stating when and where the marriage took place and the spouse’s name.
Cross-referencing Information
Census Records, Draft Cards, Naturalization Records and Passenger Lists
When first beginning your genealogical research, some of the first documents you may find are US census records. While at first, they might not seem helpful in determining your ancestor’s Italian place of birth, there is much information held in a census record that can help paint the picture of your ancestor’s life. The first federal census was taken in 1790 and has been taken every 10 years since, with the most recent year publicly available being 1950. Additionally, some states, like New York, conducted census reporting in 1905, 1915 and 1925, providing additional interim information helpful for your genealogical research. Because census records are self-reported, there is the possibility of errors and name misspellings. Therefore, it is advisable to cross-reference the address of your ancestor, their job, and the family members they live with when locating census records across multiple years, to identify the correct ancestor and connect census records to other records pertaining to your ancestor. Furthermore, census records generally indicate the age of the individuals listed on the census, which can help determine the year of birth of your Italian-born ancestor. It’s important to remember though, that census records are not vital records and are not used as part of your citizenship application. Therefore, the information is used for research purposes only.
Another record commonly found is your ancestor’s World War I or World War II draft registration card. Subject to occasional misconception, these are in fact not enlistment records and did not mean that the individual served in the US armed forces. The information listed on the card varies slightly between the WWI and WWI registration, but generally includes the individual’s date and place of birth, which may have been simply written as “Italy” but occasionally was more specific. Additionally, they reported their occupation, citizenship status, and nearest relative, which was oftentimes a spouse or parent, allowing you to cross-reference this information with other records you have found.
Additionally, locating naturalization records can provide significant amounts of information about your Italian-born ancestor and their family. These records can be found on genealogy websites or from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or the county where the naturalization took place. The process to acquire US citizenship involved first filing a Declaration of Intention. An individual who had filed a declaration of intention was indicated as “PA” on a census record, meaning “first papers filed”. Then after meeting a residency requirement, which was generally 5 years, they could file a Petition for Naturalization. After the petition was approved, they would sign the Oath of Allegiance and were issued a Certificate of Naturalization, on which date they became a US citizen, meaning up until this time, they were still Italian1.
Before 1906, individuals could file for naturalization in any of the authorized federal, district, state, or local courts, generally going to the one most geographically convenient to their residence. After 1906, the naturalization process was handled by federal courts, and duplicates were made of all records with the copies held by USCIS. In some cases, an individual filed the Declaration in one court, and years later, the Petition in another court. Cross-referencing with census records to see where your ancestor was residing will aid in determining where their naturalization records may be held and where to locate them.
The Declaration and Petition both include many details about the individual, including their current residence, date and place of birth, and occupation. Additionally, they usually include their date of marriage and spouse’s date and place of birth. They would also list their children’s names, along with their dates and places of birth.
Finally, the ship passenger list is your Italian-born ancestor’s last connection between Italy and the US, allowing you to piece together the US-based records you have located and connect them back to your ancestor’s home in Italy. If you have your ancestor’s naturalization records, they often indicated the name of the ship they immigrated on and the date they arrived to the US, making it easier to locate the exact ship manifest. The majority of immigrants passed through Ellis Island, and there is an online database that holds the information of passengers who arrived through the Port of New York from 1820 to 1957. Locating your ancestor on a passenger list will provide many details such as the exact town of birth, their last foreign address, as well as their final destination in the US.
It’s important to also notice their marriage status, because if they are arriving to the US as married, then most likely they married in Italy. Alternatively, this may not have been your ancestor’s first trip from Italy to the US. There are instances where an individual immigrated to the US, married and returned to Italy, and then traveled back to the US again. However, passenger lists also included a column on their second page called, “Whether before in the United States? If so, when and where?” This will tell you if your ancestor immigrated to the US previously and in what year, helping you to locate additional ship manifests pertaining to them.
Another point of note is that the name listed on the passenger list is generally the individual’s Italian birth name before they anglicized it. This will help in identifying them and matching them to their Italian birth record. If your ancestors married in Italy, it was common for the husband to travel first to the US and the wife to travel a year or two later, sometimes with their first-born children. This information would be indicated on the passenger list, helping you to connect the dots of your family tree.
Marriage and Death Records, U.S. Social Security Cards, and Obituaries
If you are unsure of the details of the marriage between your Italian-born ancestors, there are a few places to begin looking. First, determine whether it occurred in Italy or the US. Some census records, like the 1930 US Federal Census, indicate the age at which an individual was first married. Therefore, a calculation can be done to determine the year your ancestors were married. When comparing that to the year they emigrated, you will learn whether they married in the US or Italy. If both ancestors were born in Italy, in many cases they came from the same town or province. Also, if they married in Italy, they most likely married in the comune where the wife was born, as that was common practice for catholic couples, so locating her place of birth can lead you to their marriage record.
Death records can often give insight into an individual’s birth. Death certificates will include all vital information for an individual and sometimes will include the specific place of birth. Many states have searchable databases online for older death certificates or there may be other societies or associations that have digitized vital records for the state.
Additionally, the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index is a database of individuals who submitted an application or filed a claim for U.S. Social Security between the years of 1936 and 2007, and these records include the individual’s date and place of birth as well as parental information.
Lastly, when conducting genealogy research online, you may come across newspaper obituaries for your ancestors, or you may be in possession of physical copies of these articles. This is another recommended place to look to find a brief biography of your Italian-born ancestor, including where they were born and their immigration story. There are also many digitized cemetery records that can include memorials and biographies written by family members that can give further insight into your ancestor’s date and place of birth and details about their spouse and family members.
The Town of Birth of Your Ancestor
Identifying the specific town (municipality) or comune in Italy where your ancestor was born or married is often challenging because this information isn’t often listed on many US records. They may have simply written “Italy” or the region or province where they were from. It’s important to remember that Italy is currently divided into 20 regions, all of which are divided into provinces, which contain many municipalities or comuni. For example, records may report that your ancestor was born in Naples. They may have been born in the city of Naples; however, Naples is also a province that is currently comprised of 92 comuni or smaller towns. Furthermore, throughout history, these regional and town borders may have changed and comuni names may have also changed. Another example is the region of Calabria, sometimes confused with the province of Reggio Calabria. You may see a document reporting your ancestor was born in Calabria, however being able to narrow down to the specific municipality where they were born takes further research. This, again, is where the ship manifest is highly useful because it was generally more specific regarding the actual town or municipality where the individual resided or was born. If you aren’t able to locate the passenger list for your ancestor, it may be possible to locate one for other family members, a brother or parent. Check the census records you have already found to see if they are living with or neighbors to other family members and search for them on a passenger list, calculating their birth date based on their age on the census record. It is likely that immediate family members were born in the same municipality, so locating their passenger list can give insight into where your ancestor was from.
Another challenge that may arise is if you are unsure of the maiden name of your female Italian-born ancestor. Having her given birth name will help when locating ship manifests and Italian birth and marriage records. While of course, if you locate her marriage certificate first, you will have the full names of both spouses, but commonly the date and place of marriage is a missing piece of the puzzle. Because it is customary in the US for married women to take the last name of their husbands, there may be few US records that include maiden names. However, locating her death record may give insight into her maiden name if it lists the full names of both of her parents. Another place where her maiden name might be listed would be on her children’s birth certificates. Remember, if you are unable to locate the record for her child that is in the direct line to you, try other siblings as well, referencing census records to find other family members. Additionally, locating her on a ship manifest might list her maiden name, regardless of whether she was married or not, because women in Italy do not take their husband’s last name. Therefore, if she was traveling with her husband, she would have been listed right under him with her maiden name or both of her surnames, and sometimes a bracket was added next to the husband and wife to link them as a couple.
Requesting Italian Vital Records
Once you have gathered all the relevant information about your Italian-born ancestors, it’s time to retrieve the vital records from the Italian comune. Vital records can be retrieved from the ufficio di stato civile (vital statistics office) in the town hall of the municipality where the event took place, and in some towns, the ufficio anagrafe (registry office). The birth record required for a citizenship application is the estratto per riassunto dell’atto di nascita (certified extract of the birth record) which will include the parents’ names and may be issued in a bilingual format. The information found in the book copy of the registry will be printed into a standardized format showing the registrant’s date and place of birth, his or her parent’s names, and the number of the volume and page of the registry from which the information was extracted.
It is important to note that civil registration in Italy commenced at differing times across the regions and there are some instances where records have been destroyed or are missing. Therefore, it’s advisable to also check with the archivio di stato (state archive), of which there is one located in each province, where copies of vital records from certain years are held. Antenati.cultura.gov also has a list of resources and contacts for the various State Archives. Lastly, in some cases, records may be held by the Italian courts. For early records, consulting local church authorities for baptismal records may be necessary due to Italy’s historical religious practices. However, Italian law dictates that for a citizenship application, a certificate of baptism may be used only if birth registries did not exist when the birth occurred.
To request the Italian vital records, first search for the applicable contact at the vital records office in the town where you believe the record is held. Depending on the municipality, they prefer to be contacted either by phone or email. Then submit a request for the specific records needed. In most cases this will be in the form of a detailed written letter sent via certified mail or registered mail, or some municipalities will take a request via phone or email. The written request for a vital record needs to be written in Italian, outlining the nature of your inquiry, required documents, the exact format needed, and a copy of your identity document. It’s important to note that most clerks at registry offices do not speak English, so the use of a translator may be necessary to communicate with the records office and draft the request. Additionally, some comuni require the payment of an administrative fee to release such documents. It is also advised to provide a self-addressed envelope including enough money to cover postage costs so that the clerk can mail you the records. In regards to processing time, by law, municipalities have a maximum of six months to issue a certificate. However, this time can vary depending on the size of the municipality and its current workload.
Once you have received the record, be sure to verify its compliance with the required format for a citizenship application and check for possible discrepancies against other records you have retrieved. If you notice several name changes and misspellings, you can request a certificate from the municipality called a certificato di estatte generalità. Some municipalities may alternatively issue a positivo-negativo document.This certificate will state that the individual named on the records is one and the same and that your ancestor was the only individual born with that name on that specific day.
2025 Fees Update
The budget law that was passed by the Italian Parliament on December 28, 2024 (legge di bilancio 2025), which came into effect on January 1, 2025, established that a municipality can charge up to €300 per vital record. This only refers to records that are older than 100 years, and which do not pertain to the applicant. So, for example, if your Italian-born grandfather was born in the 1930s, no fee is required.
With that said, municipalities can reduce the above-mentioned fee if the name and year of birth of ancestor are provided, on account of there being less research to do to locate the records.
Conclusion
This article has provided detailed guidance on how to conduct genealogical research into your Italian lineage in order to compile the relevant details about your Italian-born ancestors. This information will be crucial in order to retrieve Italian vital records and prove your eligibility for Italian citizenship by descent. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the citizenship application process, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].