Tom’s and Karen’s families both have origins in Sicily. Tom’s family came from Tortorici, Ucria and San Piero Patti in the province of Messina. Karen’s family came from Serradifalco, Mussomeli in the province of Caltanissetta, and Caccamo in the province of Palermo.
Each family took the same approach in immigrating to the United States in 1910-20: silence. Tom and Karen both received little information during their upbringing from the individuals who immigrated, nor from the subsequent generation. There was also no attempt to teach Italian or Sicilian to the following generations. Consequently, they became increasingly interested in Sicily. Previously, they had visited Italy on numerous occasions, but Sicily was only visited once for a couple days. During the citizenship process they visited Sicily four times with stays of two to four weeks each. Last January, Tom and Karen each visited two ancestral home villages.
The journey began in 2020 when, during the health emergency, they found and subscribed to Rafael Di Furia (Not Your Average Globetrotter podcast) and gathered perspective from an expat. Soon after, they subscribed to the Italian Citizenship Assistance podcast hosted by both Rafael and Marco Permunian. The information gleaned was invaluable and convinced them to investigate dual citizenship. After a face to face Zoom call with Marco, Tom and Karen decided to pursue dual citizenship. After further discussion, it was decided to give the opportunity for dual citizenship to the rest of the eligible family. The family’s total was nine individuals, ages between eight and sixty-five years. Tom and Karen sponsored and administered the process. They hoped it would give the family options for the future as dual citizens.
“The process was intense for document acquisition and the need for organization. Thankfully, ICA’s staff—including Andrea Zeljeznjak and Ines Cossalter—were wonderfully professional, attentive, and responsive. We couldn’t have asked for better support over this four-year-and-four-month bumpy journey”.
Karen’s case was a classic jure sanguinis application. The other seven members of the family were attached to her application to achieve their acknowledgment of their citizenship. Tom’s process had to be a “1948 Case”. His father’s name was incorrectly placed on his birth certificate and, therefore, no direct blood connection could be confirmed through documentation. The “1948 Case” provided an avenue for his citizenship acknowledgment. In years past, the case would have been filed in the Court of Rome. The law was changed before the case was filed and, therefore, it then had to filed in the home province. Tom’s case was filed in the Court of Messina. Luckily, the result was successful.
At present, eight of the nine family members have Italian passports. In the near future, they plan to return to Sicily and begin the next step—getting a long-term apartment lease. There is no plan to move to Sicily but time will tell.
“ICA was essential to the process. The staff was, as previously noted, professional, attentive, and responsive. Success would not have been possible without ICA!”
Tom and his family have agreed to serve as the subject of this success story and have granted ICA the right to use their names and image. All in the photo received their Italian citizenship in the last year. From left to right: Lydia C., Karen C., Karen G., Matthew G., Alexis C., William G., Hannah C., Anne G., Thomas G.
