What exactly does it entail to apply for Italian citizenship via the Italian courts? In this article, we will outline all the details pertaining to Italian citizenship cases at the Italian courts, including the relevant Italian citizenship laws, requirements, and application procedure.
Citizenship by Descent Eligibility
The first Italian Citizenship Law (No.555/1912) took effect on July 1, 1912 which established that Italian citizenship would be passed down jure sanguinis, or “right of blood”. This means descendants with Italian ancestry can obtain recognition of their Italian citizenship, proving an unbroken chain between the applicant and their Italian-born ancestor. This 1912 law just permitted men to pass their citizenship down to their children. Only with the ratification of the Italian constitution on January 1, 1948 did women gain the right to transmit Italian citizenship to their children born after this date. Therefore, in order to apply at an Italian consulate or in an Italian municipality, if there is a female in your Italian lineage, she must have had her child (the next descendant in line) after January 1, 1948.
Also, when applying at an Italian consulate or Italian municipality, your Italian ancestor must have acquired foreign citizenship after July 1, 1912 and after their child was born. Furthermore, a memo released by the Italian Ministry of the Interior on October 3, 2024 outlined additional guidelines for Italian citizenship eligibility based on recent Supreme Court rulings. If your Italian-born ancestor voluntarily naturalized while their child was still a minor (before March 9, 1975, the age of majority was 21 in Italy), the child automatically lost their Italian citizenship, causing an interruption in the chain of citizenship. This means that if your ancestor naturalized during the minor age of their child, you will no longer be able to apply through them at an Italian consulate or in an Italian municipality. However, you may still have a path to apply through the Italian courts if there are extended wait times at your local Italian consulate. In fact, regular jure sanguinis cases can be petitioned to the Italian courts instead of the Italian consulate if the wait times to secure an appointment exceed 730 days. It’s important to note that the Italian courts are not bound by this memo and are still approving a majority of these “minor age” cases.
“1948 Case”
If you have a female ancestor in your Italian lineage, either your most recent Italian-born ancestor or any ascendant in your lineage, who had her child before January 1, 1948, you will not be able to apply at an Italian consulate or in an Italian municipality. However, a few years ago, an Italian court case challenged this as unlawful and discriminatory. Now, legal precedent states that the principles enacted in the Italian constitution (including gender equality) should be applied retroactively, including events that occurred prior. This is why if you have a “1948 case”, you have very good chances of obtaining Italian citizenship when filing a case via the Italian courts under this claim. It’s also important to remember, to be eligible to apply through your female ancestor, she must have voluntarily naturalized after her child was born or never naturalized.
1922 Cable Act
You may also fall into another category of a 1948 case (applying through a female ancestor who had her child before January 1, 1948) where your female Italian ancestor acquired US citizenship involuntarily through her marriage. In fact, prior to the US Cable Act of 1922, women followed the status civitatis of their husband and automatically acquired US citizenship through marriage. However, the Italian Constitutional Court judgment n. 87 of 1975 and Italian Supreme Court judgment n. 4466 of 2009 established that women who acquired a foreign nationality “involuntarily and automatically” because of their marriage did not actually lose their Italian citizenship, because they did not willingly renounce it, and could validly transmit it to their children.
Filing Process
After determining you are eligible to file a claim for Italian citizenship by descent via the Italian courts, it’s then necessary to start compiling the records for your application. These will include vital records (birth, marriage, divorce and death) for the individuals in your Italian lineage and your Italian-born ancestor’s naturalization records or proof they never naturalized. The records will also need to be legalized with an apostille and translated into Italian. The translations will also need to be certified.
For petitioners living abroad, according to Italian law effective June 22, 2022, lawsuits must be filed at the court that has jurisdiction over the municipality where the Italian ancestor was born. Before this date, only the court of Rome was processing these cases, but by addressing the regional courts in order to relieve a significant backlog in Rome, wait times to secure a hearing date have been reduced.
Your physical presence in Italy is not required for any step of the legal process. By signing a Power of Attorney, you are able to have an Italian attorney represent you during the proceedings. Your attorney will file the case and submit payment of the required fee, which is currently set at €600 per petitioner. A unique case number is assigned (ruolo generale or R.G.) and then a judge is appointed to the case. The first hearing is scheduled, depending on the court and availability of the judge, within 3 to 9 months. In some cases, the judge will then schedule a second hearing.
Applying with Family
When filing a citizenship by descent case via the Italian courts, it’s advisable to include any immediate family members who share the same Italian-born ancestor and who are interested in acquiring Italian citizenship. Multiple petitioners can be included in the claim, and when the judge rules positively on the case, all petitioners listed are granted Italian citizenship.
What happens after the case is won?
After a positive ruling, the decision is filed with the court clerk’s office, after which there is a 60-day waiting period before the decision can become final and no longer subject to appeal. Then, your attorney will be able to request a certified copy of the final judgment (sentenza con passaggio in giudicato) which then gets registered at your local Italian consulate. They will then send the final judgment along with your vital records to the municipality where your ancestor was born to be registered. If multiple family members applied together, they will send the vital records for every petitioner listed on the claim. This final step marks the official recognition of your Italian citizenship.
As an Italian citizen living abroad, it is necessary to be registered with AIRE (Registry of Italian Citizens Residing Abroad). You can register with your local Italian consulate, where you will always be able to access services for Italian citizens living abroad, such as passport renewal and registering vital records (marriage certificates, children’s birth certificates, etc.). Technically, there is no further action required at this point, but many people proceed with applying for an Italian passport. An appointment can be made at your local Italian consulate. Also, if you have minor children, be sure to register their birth certificates before they turn 18 years old so they can be recognized as Italian citizens as well.
This article has outlined the relevant details pertaining to an Italian citizenship application via the Italian courts, from eligibility to the legal procedure. Should you have questions or would like to learn more about Italian citizenship, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.
