by Michael Chiaravalloti

I've visited Italy just once in my life, but I felt an instant connection to the country when I stepped foot in the Milano Centrale train station in late September 2012. In March, my father and I will make our first ever pilgrimage to the remote "comune" of Polia. There, my family can trace its history back for generations.

Recently, I learned I could use my Italian ancestry to apply for Italian citizenship through Italy's nationality law, which allows "citizenship by descent." If you can prove an Italian national exists in your recent ancestry, Italy considers you to have been a citizen since birth. To be sure, many hurdles can get in the way of obtaining dual Italian-US citizenship.

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Source: http://uk.businessinsider.com/