If you are pursuing Italian citizenship by descent, the first step is determining your eligibility. However, you may have multiple Italian-born ancestors and are unsure which is the best ancestor to apply through.

Therefore, it’s crucial to begin with a preliminary step of piecing together the details in your family tree, including dates and places of all vital events, and whether your Italian ancestors acquired a foreign citizenship.

By thoroughly evaluating your Italian lineages, you can determine which ancestor you may be eligible through and which is the best path. This article will explain how to do just that.

Jure Sanguinis vs 1948 case

It’s common for those with Italian ancestry to have multiple Italian-born ancestors and therefore different avenues to consider when evaluating their claim to Italian citizenship by descent. As a reminder, to obtain recognition of your Italian citizenship by descent, your Italian ancestor must have been born after March 17, 1861 or still living after this date, when Italy became a unified country. It’s important that if they acquired foreign citizenship, they did so after June 14, 1912 and after the birth of their child, the next descendant in line. If they naturalized before the birth of their child, this breaks the line of citizenship and you would be unable to apply through that ancestor. It’s also important that none of your ancestors in the direct line of ascent ever renounced their Italian citizenship.

Additionally, the 1912 Italian Citizenship Law only permitted men to pass citizenship down to their children. This changed when the Italian constitution went into effect on January 1, 1948 and women were granted the same rights as men, giving them the ability to pass citizenship down to future generations. Therefore, if you have a woman in your Italian lineage who gave birth to her child outside of Italy before January 1, 1948, you may qualify for what is called a 1948 case. Now the legal precedent states that the principles in the constitution should be applied retroactively, including events that occurred prior, and your citizenship claim can be petitioned to the Italian courts via a judicial proceeding. If your case is not a “1948 case”, you will apply at your local Italian consulate or alternatively can apply directly in an Italian municipality.

Determining Your Eligibility

To understand whether you have a regular jure sanguinis or a 1948 case, start by gathering all the relevant vital information pertaining to the individuals in your Italian line. Detailed genealogical research may be required to piece together your lineage and determine which ancestor you qualify through. Your application will only include one of your Italian-born ancestors, so it’s important to thoroughly evaluate each lineage to determine the best path. Your application will also include vital records for everyone in your Italian line, including birth, marriage, and death (if applicable) certificates. One key piece of information will be the exact date and place of birth and for your Italian-born ancestor so that you can successfully locate their birth and marriage record (if they were married in Italy). It’s important to remember that Italian vital record registries are held in the municipality where the event took place, not at the provincial or regional level. For example, you may know that your ancestor was born in Palermo, Sicily. However, they may have been born in the city of Palermo or the province of Palermo which is currently comprised of 82 comuni or smaller towns. Therefore, if you are missing significant amounts of information in one of your lines, it will be challenging to gather the required records and build a successful citizenship application.

Naturalization

Another piece of the puzzle is whether your Italian-born ancestor acquired a foreign citizenship and when they did so. You may be in possession of an old passport or certificate of citizenship. It may also be possible to find digitized copies of their naturalization records. It’s important to remember that a “Declaration of Intention” does not indicate a date of citizenship. These were simply their first papers, which were followed by the petition for naturalization and an oath of allegiance which was signed and a certificate of citizenship issued on the same date. Also, US federal census records would report on individuals’ citizenship status. However, these documents were self-reported and may contain errors. They are not used as vital records for your application, but can aide in your genealogical research.

Another consideration is whether your ancestor acquired foreign citizenship when their child, the next descendant in line, was a minor or adult. In some cases, when applying through the Italian courts, the judge has interpreted the law to mean that the minor child (prior to 1975, the minor age was 21 in Italy) automatically lost his or her right to Italian citizenship when their parent acquired US citizenship. Therefore, if you have multiple Italian-born ancestors through which you are eligible with a 1948 court case, it is advised to avoid the lineage that would have this “minor age issue”. However, it’s important to note that this interpretation of the law in regards to the age of the child at the time of their parent’s naturalization only applies when petitioning the Italian courts, and not if you are applying at your local Italian consulate.

Discrepancies

Assessing your records for discrepancies and inconsistencies is another crucial step, verifying the accuracy of names and dates on each record. While name changes, anglicizations, and simple errors in reporting vital information were very common, significant discrepancies may affect the success of your application. When processing your application, the citizenship clerk will scrutinize the details in your vital records, ensuring names and dates match across all the documents. Discrepancies and inconsistencies in names and dates can make it difficult for the clerk to verify your Italian lineage and confirm your claim to citizenship. It's best to address any discrepancies before submitting the application because the clerk may request additional amendments to records, which will add delays to the entire process. Therefore, it’s advisable to choose a lineage with the least number of discrepancies and inconsistencies.

What if you qualify for both a consulate and a 1948 case?

If you have determined that you are eligible through multiple ancestors, with the possibility of addressing your Italian consulate or applying via the Italian courts, which is the best option? In most situations, the path that requires you to apply at your local Italian consulate needs to be taken first. Also, it’s important to remember that when petitioning the Italian courts, while many claims are successful, there is no guarantee the judge will rule in your favor. Therefore, you have a greater chance of success when applying to an Italian consulate.

Conclusion

Many people with Italian ancestry will find that they have multiple Italian-born ancestors and therefore, must evaluate these different paths when deciding to pursue Italian citizenship by descent. The first step is to determine through which ancestor you would be eligible and then if you qualify through multiple ancestors, which is the best path to citizenship. This article has explained how to undergo this evaluation process and the various considerations when claiming recognition for Italian citizenship. If you have further questions or need assistance in determining your eligibility for Italian citizenship by descent, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].