Italian Citizenship
If one of your parents, grandfathers or great-grandfathers were born in Italy, you may qualify for Italian citizenship! Obtaining dual citizenship through Italian decent is known as jure sanguinis. In recent years, this has become a very popular item of interest to many people with Italian ancestry.
ProGenealogists has assisted many clients in this endeavor. While we cannot complete or submit the actual application for you, we can help you obtain and assemble all of the necessary documentation that you will need when submitting your application.
Do I Qualify?
This is the most important step in the citizenship process. There are several ways in which a person may qualify for Italian citizenship through jure sanguinis (by decent). They are as follows:
1) Your father was born in Italy and was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth, and you never renounced your right to Italian citizenship.
2) Your mother was born in Italy and was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth, you were born after January 1st, 1948 and you never renounced your right to Italian citizenship.
3) Your father was born in the United States, your paternal grandfather was born in Italy and was an Italian citizen at the time of your father’s birth, neither you nor your father ever renounced your right to Italian citizenship.
4) Your mother was born in the United States, your maternal grandfather was born in Italy and was an Italian citizen at the time of your mother’s birth, you were born after January 1, 1948 and neither you nor your mother ever renounced your right to Italian citizenship.
5) Your paternal or maternal grandfather was born in the United States, your paternal or maternal great grandfather was born in Italy and was an Italian citizen at the time of your paternal or maternal grandfather’s birth, neither you nor your father/mother nor your grandfather/grandmother ever renounced your right to Italian citizenship.
The biggest qualifying factor can be the date of an ancestor’s U.S. naturalization since the Italian Government views this as renouncing one’s Italian citizenship. A person who renounces their Italian citizenship, according to Italian law, also renounces it for any unborn children.
If you are unsure whether or not you qualify, please contact our office at 1-800-596-3230 to speak with one of our Italian specialists. You may also fill out our online estimate form to receive a response via email.
I Qualify! What Next?
If you find that you qualify to apply for Italian dual-citizenship, congratulazioni! There are a few things that you will need to do in order to apply. Your application must be presented in person, along with all of the supporting documents, at the appropriate Consulate General’s Office. There are several offices throughout the United States and each state falls under the jurisdiction of a particular office. There are also many Vice Consulate offices throughout the United States. However, these offices do not conduct citizenship application appointments.
Because dual citizenship is of such great interest, the Consulate General offices are heavily booked. Therefore, before you begin gathering appropriate documentation, you may want to call or email your Consulate General’s office to find out the current waiting time. If it is more than nine months to a year, you may want to consider booking your appointment immediately. To find the appropriate Consulate General’s office for your area, CLICK HERE.
Assembling Documentation
In addition to your application, you will need to provide documentation of birth, marriage, death (if applicable) and naturalization for each of your direct ancestors back to the person that you are claiming citizenship through. This can be a tedious process and depending on the agency you need to obtain records from, it can also take several months to assemble the needed records. We recommend giving yourself no less than six months to obtain your documentation before a scheduled appointment. Since appointments with the consulate are hard to come by, you will want to make sure that all of the documents have arrived and that everything is correct.
All of the vital records must be certified copies of the originals issued by either the state or county where the events took place. Some records will also require an Apostille Seal issued by the Secretary of State in the state where the event took place. Naturalization records must be obtained either from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) or the National Archives.
For Italian-born ancestors, certified copies of appropriate birth and marriage records must be obtained from the town, or comune, where these events took place. These records are called formato internazionale or estratto di riassunto.
For a full description of the records that you will need for your application, visit the following page on the Italian Consulate General’s website. Click “Download the information kit here” link.
How Can ProGenealogists Help?
ProGenealogists is a team of experienced professionals who can assist you in obtaining the necessary documentation to submit with your Italian Citizenship Application. Our network of Italian agents can help us to retrieve necessary Italian documents, plus, we can assemble most of the needed U.S. records.
The cost for such research can vary depending on how far back you may need to document, as well as the places your family’s vital events took place. If you are interested in hiring ProGenealogists to assist you assembling the needed documentation for Italian citizenship, contact us for a free estimate and let one of our experienced professionals review case and determine how will best be able to serve you!
