Married couples often want to apply for their Italian dual citizenship at the same time, even if only one of them is qualified for citizenship jure sanguinis. In order for a spouse to apply through marriage, the couple must first be married three years and one spouse has to have Italian citizenship.
 

As Italian-Americans, most of us have an understanding that our ethnic background is mixed — you might consider yourself to be half Italian, a quarter German, and a quarter English. In reality, Italy and other nations have their own dynamic histories. Your Italian ancestors may have migrated from France a thousand years ago, or from Turkey three hundred years ago.

Before Ellis Island went into service, people coming to the U.S. would be processed through Castle Garden. 

For 34 years, from August 1, 1855, when it opened, to April 18, 1890, over 8 million people entered the U.S. through Castle Garden. Among them, was Mother Cabrini, later canonized as Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, from the village of Sant'Angelo Lodigiano in Italy, who worked tirelessly to help Italian immigrants.

When applying for Italian Dual Citizenship or researching our Family History, the starting point is the official Italian birth record of that first Italian born ancestor who migrated to the U.S. We have to remember that all family documents in Italy are only maintained in the exact town where the person was born. Surprisingly, many Italian Americans today often don’t know the exact town of their Father or Grandfather or Great Grandfather. The good news is that there are a number of U.S. records that may shed light on the town of birth of the ancestor(s) who left Italy.