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RECOGNITION OF ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP FOR PEOPLE OF ITALIAN DESCENT BORN IN THE USA
The general framework governing Italian citizenship is Law 91 of 5 February 1992; particularly Article 1 of Law n.91/1992, reaffirms the principle of "jure sanguinis" (continuity of blood), by which any children born of an Italian father/mother instantly inherit the Italian citizenship. However, the inheritance of the Italian citizenship through the maternal line is only possible for those born after January 1, 1948.
Determination and recognition of Italian citizenship is subject to the demonstration by the applicant that his or her direct ascendants uninterruptedly maintained their Italian citizenship. The power to make this determination is the Authority with jurisdiction over the place of residence of the applicant: outside Italy it is the Consular Authority for that jurisdiction; in Italy, it is the Ufficiale di Stato Civile of the Comune.
If you were born in the United States (or any other Country where citizenship is acquired by birth, and any one of the situations listed below pertains to you, you may be considered an Italian citizen. (For each category all conditions must be met).
PLEASE NOTE: ANCESTORS NATURALIZED BEFORE JUNE 14, 1912 CANNOT TRANSMIT CITIZENSHIP (EVEN TO CHILDREN BORN BEFORE THEIR NATURALIZATION)
1) Your father was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth and you never renounced your right to Italian citizenship. (click here for documents required)
2) Your mother 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. (click here for documents required)
3) Your father was born in the United States, your paternal grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your father's birth, neither you nor your father ever renounced your right to Italian citizenship. (click here for documents required)
4) Your mother was born in the United States, your maternal grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of her birth, you were born after January 1, 1948 and neither you nor your mother ever renounced your right to Italian citizenship. (click here for documents required)
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 (please note: a person born before 01/01/1948 can claim Italian citizenship only from his/her father (who was not a naturalized citizen of another country before his/her child's birth), and a woman can transfer citizenship only to her children born after 01/01/1948 (if she was not a naturalized citizen of another country before her child's birth). (click here for documents required)
NOTE: "Italian citizen at the time of birth" means that he/she did not acquire any other citizenship through naturalization, before the descendant's birth.
Additional requirements and Discrepancies
IF N. 1 APPLIES TO YOU, YOU MUST OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS, ALL IN ORIGINAL:
1) YOUR FATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE (the birth certificate must be either in "formato internazionale", or in "estratto per riassunto" showing his father and mother's names).
2) YOUR MOTHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE (see above, or, if in the U.S.A., request a "certified copy" or a "long form" or a "full form"; (not "certification" or "abstract").
3) YOUR PARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE (if the marriage took place in Italy, follow the procedure above). If it took place in the U.S.A., you must obtain a "certified copy" of the license and certificate and an APOSTILLE from the Secretary of State of the State in which it was issued.
4) YOUR FATHER'S CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION or his Italian passport and permanent resident card ("green card").
If the above is not available, you must request the following:
A) A statement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, P.O.Box 648010, Lee's Summit, MO 64064-8010 AND from the County in which he resided. The statement must show his full name (and any other names he went by on any official documents), place of birth and date of birth, date of the naturalization, certificate number (or, if a legal alien, his permanent resident card number).
B) If the above-mentioned U.S. authorities return a statement of "no record", you must request from the National Archives ( www.archives.gov) a full search under his name and nicknames, possible dates of birth which he may have declared, for a certified copy of his "first" and/or "final papers", that is, the "declaration of intention" and "petition for naturalization". If he was naturalized the "final papers" will also show the date and number of his naturalization.
C) If the record is still negative, you need to request the National Archives a certified copy of the census report dating after your birth. In the cases covered by categories 2, 3, 4 and 5 the census report must of course be dated accordingly - i.e. covering the period of the Italian born ascendant's child's birth.
5) YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE (you must obtain a "certified copy" a.k.a. "full form" or "long form" (not abstract), with an APOSTILLE from the Secretary of State of the State in which it was issued;
6) YOUR FATHER'S DEATH CERTIFICATE (if applicable) (in certified copy and legalized with Apostille) OR HIS CURRENT ADDRESS;
7) YOUR APPLICATION AND YOUR DECLARATIONS THAT YOU AND YOUR ASCENDANT NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY, LISTING ALL THE PLACES OF RESIDENCE (see attachments (PDF): 2A - 2B)
8) COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT AND DRIVER'S LICENSE
All US certificates must be in "CERTIFED COPY" a.k.a. "LONG FORM" or "FULL FORM" Certificates reporting only the "County" of birth can not be accepted. You must request the Vital Statistics Authority to state the CITY OF BIRTH.
IF YOUR FATHER BECAME A NATURALIZED U.S. CITIZEN BEFORE YOUR BIRTH, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP (unless you fit into another category);
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IF N. 2 APPLIES TO YOU, YOU MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS LISTED ABOVE (N.1), BUT IN REGARDS TO YOUR MOTHER.
IF YOUR MOTHER BECAME A NATURALIZED U.S. CITIZEN BEFORE YOUR BIRTH, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP (unless you fit into another category);
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IF N. 3 APPLIES TO YOU, YOU MUST OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING:
For instructions on the proper documents, see information under n. 1)
1) YOUR PATERNAL GRANDFATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE (from Italy)
2) YOUR PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
3) YOUR GRANDPARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
4) YOUR GRANDFATHER'S CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION (or other - see above)
5) YOUR FATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
6) YOUR MOTHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
7) YOUR PARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
8) YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE
9) DEATH CERTIFICATE/S RELATING TO ITALIAN BORN ASCENDANTS ONLY
10) OUR APPLICATION AND DECLARATIONS THAT YOU AND YOUR ASCENDANTS HAVE NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY (see attachments (PDF): 2A - 2B)
IF YOUR GRANDFATHER BECAME A NATURALIZED U.S. CITIZEN BEFORE YOUR FATHER'S BIRTH, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP (unless you fit into another category);
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IF N. 4 APPLIES TO YOU, YOU MUST OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING:
For instructions on the proper documents, see information under n. 1)
1) YOUR MATERNAL GRANDFATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE (from Italy)
2) YOUR MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
3) YOUR MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
4) YOUR MATERNAL GRANDFATHER'S CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION (or other - see above)
5) YOUR MOTHER' S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
6) YOUR FATHER' S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
7) YOUR PARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
8) YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE
9) YOUR APPLICATION AND YOUR DECLARATION THAT YOU AND YOUR ASCENDANTS HAVE NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY (see attachments (PDF): 2A - 2B)
10) DEATH CERTIFICATE/S RELATING TO ITALIAN BORN ASCENDANTS ONLY
11) YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE
IF YOUR GRANDFATHER BECAME A NATURALIZED U.S. CITIZEN BEFORE YOUR MOTHER'S BIRTH, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP (unless you fit into another category);
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IF N. 5 APPLIES TO YOU, YOU MUST OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING:
For instructions on the proper documents, see information under n. 1)
1) YOUR PATERNAL GREAT GRANDFATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE (from Italy)
2) YOUR PATERNAL GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
3) YOUR PATERNAL GREAT GRANDPARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
4) YOUR PATERNAL GREAT GRANDFATHER'S CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION (or other see above)
5) YOUR PATERNAL GRANDFATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
6) YOUR PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
7) YOUR PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
8) YOUR FATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
9) YOUR MOTHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
10) YOUR PARENTS' MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
11) YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE
12) YOUR APPLICATION AND YOUR DECLARATION THAT YOU AND YOUR ASCENDANTS HAVE NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY (see attachments (PDF): 2A - 2B)
13) DEATH CERTIFICATE/S RELATING TO ITALIAN BORN ASCENDANTS ONLY
IF YOUR PATERNAL GREAT GRANDFATHER BECAME A NATURALIZED U.S. CITIZEN BEFORE YOUR PATERNAL GRANDFATHER'S BIRTH, YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP (unless you fit into another category);
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ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL CATEGORIES (please read very carefully):
1) If you are or were married, you must submit a certified copy of your marriage certificate with the APOSTILLE along with a copy of your spouse's birth certificate. If you have previously been married and divorced or you are a widow(er), you must also submit those marriage, divorces and/or death certificates, in certified copy, with APOSTILLE. The divorce decree must also include the "certificate of no appeal". If your marriage certificate lacks information such as dates and places of birth, you must also obtain a certified copy of the marriage application/license.
2) If you have minor children (under the legal age of 18) you must also submit certified copy of birth certificate/s, legalized with the APOSTILLE of the Secretary of State. If you have adult children who want to be recognized as Italians, you cannot apply for them.
3) Birth, Marriage, Divorce certificates in other languages than Italian, relating to Italian born spouses and to you and your minor children must be translated into Italian. Documents that do not need to be translated into Italian are those relating to the "non-Italian" side, death certificates relating to the Italian side, marriage, birth and divorce relating to "intermediate" ancestors who are not applying for citizenship and the U.S. Certificate of Naturalization or any statement releasing information on the naturalization status of the ancestor. APOSTILLE do not need to be translated.
Documents issued in Countries other than U.S.A. or Italy must comply with the local regulations on the legalization of document, they must be legalized in the Country of issue and must be accompanied by a translation into Italian. To find out how a document should be legalized in its country of origin you may contact the competent Italian Consulate/Embassy. A list of all Italian Consulate/Embassies abroad is available at www.esteri.it.
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DISCREPANCIES:
Check all documents word by word to make sure that there are no discrepancies or changes in the names, last names, dates and places of birth. All documents issued outside Italy must bear the name or family name of the interested parties exactly as issued on the original Italian birth certificate; eg. (Brambilla and not Brimbilla)
All variation or errors must be corrected with an official "affidavit to amend a record" to be requested from the Vital Statistics Office that issued the document or with other appropriate official document.
Please have a list of all the discrepancies that you found in the documents. This is required for the Citizenship Office to expedite your request.
When all the required documents have been translated into Italian, you can either mail them to the Italian Consulate of the state where you reside or deliver them in person after having made an appointment with the Citizenship Section, along with the application form completely filled out and with a notarized signature.
(USEFUL TIP!: your can download the citizenship applications for some consulates HERE.)
Please enclose a xerox copy of a valid I.D., showing your current address and return the application form mentioning the Comune in Italy requested for the registration of your civil status documents. It could be either your ancestor's Comune of birth, or the Comune where you intend to establish you residency, or the Comune of Rome.
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED THAT ANY OF THE ABOVE PROCEDURE MAY AFFECT YOUR U.S. CITIZENSHIP YOU SHOULD CONTACT THE LOCAL U.S. AUTHORITIES.
Please note: Information above is provided courtesy of "The Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco"
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