Everything you need to know about your ancestor’s naturalization.
Law 91/1992, introduced important changes in the citizenship law. After this date, Italian citizens who naturalized in a foreign country no longer lost their Italian citizenship and could transmit it to their children. Before this law was passed, the voluntary acquisition of a foreign citizenship caused the loss of Italian citizenship.
A large number of people of Italian descent are eligible to apply for Italian citizenship by right of their bloodline. When claiming Italian citizenship, your lineage has to be documented so that it can be demonstrated to the Italian government that you are indeed eligible to make such a claim. The status of your ancestor’s naturalization (or lack thereof) will be an important piece of the puzzle that will be necessary to ascertain. Your Italian ancestor’s naturalization plays a key role in determining your eligibility to claim Italian citizenship by descent.
But what exactly does naturalization mean? What does it entail? How does your ancestor’s naturalization in a foreign nation fit into your claim to Italian citizenship? In this article we will explain the answers to these questions, and provide you with a thorough overview of the different cases of naturalization which you need to be aware of when claiming Italian citizenship by descent.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE NATURALIZATION PROCESS
Generally speaking, in the U.S.A., naturalization was a multi-step process, which in most cases would take a few years. After residing in the United States for a specific amount of time, a foreign citizen could file a “Declaration of Intention” to start the process of becoming an American citizen. Afterwards he or she would be able to file a “Petition for Naturalization” (the number of years between the filing of the Declaration and the filing of the Petition varied depending on the changes in rules that were made throughout the years). Once the petition was granted, and the person was admitted to become a citizen of the U.S., a certificate of citizenship was then issued. However, a petition for naturalization could be rejected if the applicant did not meet the necessary requirements.
There is a substantial difference between a Certificate of Naturalization and a Certificate of Citizenship.
A Certificate of Naturalization declared that the foreign citizen would be an American citizen from a certain moment in time and onward. The naturalization involved the renunciation of the foreign (non-American) citizenship in order to become an American citizen. On the other hand, a Certificate of Citizenship acknowledged that an individual is/was an American citizen. The document did not specify if the citizenship was in fact by naturalization or birth and was released to people who acquired US citizenship from a parent or husband to certify that the person was in fact a US citizen.
The two certificates are very similar in appearance, but how can you tell them apart?
A Certificate of Naturalization has a number with 7 digits on the top of the certificate whereas the Certificate of Citizenship number starts with the letters AA or A.
An AA Certificate of Citizenship was issued to individuals who were born outside the United States, e.g., the child of a U.S. citizen who was born abroad and to document that the person was an American citizen from birth, whereas an A Certificate of Citizenship documented derivative or acquired citizenship subsequent to birth, i.e., though the naturalization of a parent or a husband.
When petitioning for recognition of Italian citizenship by descent there is one straightforward rule: if your ancestor naturalized after the birth of their foreign-born child through whom you are making the claim (or never naturalized), then you qualify for Italian citizenship. On the other hand, if your ancestor naturalized before the birth of the child through whom you are making a claim, then it is not possible to claim citizenship by descent. This is also true for Italians who naturalized in a foreign country (for example Argentina) and then moved to the United States.
PROVIDING INFORMATION ON YOUR ANCESTOR’S NATURALIZATION
In practical terms, if you are eligible to apply for Italian citizenship because your ancestor naturalized after the birth of their child through whom you are making the claim, you will need to provide the Italian Consulate with the following documents pertaining to your ancestor: Declaration of Intentions, Petition for Naturalization and the Certificate of Naturalization. These documents can be retrieved from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) which hold government and historical records, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), or the County in which the naturalization took place.
On the other hand, if your ancestor never naturalized you will need to prove this by providing the Italian Consulate with a Certificate of Non-Existence of records that certifies that no naturalization record was found pertaining to your ancestor. The certificate can be retrieved from both NARA and USCIS. Additionally, you will need to retrieve supporting documents that can prove that your ancestor never naturalized. In particular, the Italian Consulate requires a certified copy of a census listing your ancestor’s citizenship status. In fact, every census has a section which features one of the following three variables that were used to determine an individual’s citizenship status: “na” (naturalized), “al” (alien) and “pa” which stands for “first papers”; this means that the alien had filed his or her declaration of intention and was in the process of naturalizing but had not yet fully naturalized. The certified copies of a census are issued by the National Archives (NARA).
SCENARIOS
Here are some examples of actual scenarios we see on a regular basis:
- If your ancestor’s naturalization in the U.S.A. took place before the birth of his child in Italy, then that child would automatically have only been an American citizen because the parent renounced their Italian citizenship.
Italian citizenship can only be acquired by birth to the child of an “Italian” parent who still had Italian citizenship, regardless of the location of the child’s birth.
- If a minor naturalized at the same time as their parent(s), they would have been issued an “A” numbered Certificate of Citizenship and their descendants would not be able to claim Italian citizenship jure sanguinis (by descent).
It is important to bear in mind that in the United States, before the Cable Act of 1922, if an Italian woman was married to an Italian man who naturalized as the citizen of the USA, she would have acquired US citizenship automatically. If this is the case in your family, it might be possible to claim Italian citizenship through this female ancestor via a lawsuit because the citizenship laws that were once passed are now retroactively considered to be unlawful and discriminatory against women.
To learn more about “1948 cases” see: https://italiancitizenshipassistance.com/court-cases/
Keep in mind that if you are claiming citizenship through an Italian-born parent, if he or she became naturalized after 1992 but prior to your birth, he or she would have maintained their Italian citizenship and would have been able to transfer their citizenship to their children born after a naturalization.
If you are interested in learning more about the eligibility requirements for Italian citizenship check out episode 6 of the Italian Citizenship Assistance’s podcast at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Z0cB59XgA
To watch the other episodes of The Italian Citizenship Podcast click here
