Italian Dual Citizenship: An Introduction

 About Italian Dual Citizenship

Italian citizenship operates on the principal of “jure sanguinis,” that is, it is passed to the next generation by “right of blood.”  The child of an Italian citizen is automatically an Italian citizen at birth, no matter whether the child was born in Italy or elsewhere (or whether the parent was born or ever lived in Italy, so long as they themselves are an Italian citizen when their child is born).  Note that if the Italian citizen parent naturalized in another country before the birth of the child (prior to 1992), that “breaks the line” and the Italian citizenship cannot pass to that child.  There are a few more caveats to be aware of based on dates of citizenship, naturalization, birth location, parental gender, etc.; as none of these apply to my specific case, I won’t get into the weeds of all that here – but you can learn more about them here.

In contrast, US citizenship operates on the principal of “jure solis,” that is, birthright citizenship (literally, “right of soil”) – a person born in that country is a citizen by virtue of the fact that they were born there, regardless of whether their parents are citizens of that country (with a few minor restrictions, anyway).  In my case, I am an Italian citizen via jure sanguinis (though unrecognized, at the time of this writing).  My citizenship came to me via my great grandfather (bisnonno), Cesare Pesaresi.  Born in 1899 in Corinaldo, Italy, he arrived in the US in April 1915.  He met his Italian-born wife Emma Grandi in Northampton County, PA, and they had a son, my grandfather (nonno) Alfonso, in 1919.  Cesare did become a naturalized US citizen – but not until 1939 – long after my grandfather was born and thus Alfonso was an Italian citizen from birth (although so far as I know, he never knew this).  My grandfather passed his Italian citizenship on to my mother, who passed it to me.

I’m an Unrecognized Italian Citizen

Currently, I’m an unrecognized Italian citizen:  the Italian government doesn’t know yet that I am an Italian citizen, entitled to all the rights and privileges thereof.  I need to provide documentation to prove to them that I am a citizen.
The exact documentation required depends on a number of variables - where one applies for recognition is one of them.  You can apply in Italy, or you can apply at the Italian Consulate that covers the region in which you live outside of Italy.  At the time of this writing, I am currently residing in PA and therefore fall under the jurisdiction of the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia.  You can read more about their requirements and procedures here. 

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia office is experiencing Covid-related staffing shortages and other issues, and it’s impossible to secure a citizenship-related appointment there at this time; it seems they may not be honoring previously scheduled appointments, either.  Also, processing times are very slow – we’re talking at least two years, pre-Covid.  The situation at other US-based Consular offices varies, but you can only apply at the Consulate serving the region in which you live.  Note: I actually did manage to schedule an appointment in Philadelphia for January 2022 – but for several reasons, not the least of which is that it is likely the appointment will be canceled by the Consulate anyway, going the Consular route to recognition isn’t a satisfactory option for me.

The nice thing about applying in Italy is that you can apply from any comune (municipality); you are not required to do it in the comune from which your ancestor hailed.  You do, however, need to be a legal resident of the comune you choose – at least until you’re recognized.  On the other hand, the process can sometimes be much faster when applying within Italy (though this is in no way guaranteed).  

Note that while you are awaiting citizenship recognition, you are not legally allowed to work, either for an Italian company or via employment elsewhere; you cannot be a "digital nomad."  After much thought and planning on our part, the Hubs and I decided that applying in Italy works for us at this particular time in our lives, since he is retiring, and I have decided to leave my current place of employment at the same time.

The documents required for my personal process are as follows (note that other comuni may require more or less paperwork):

• Italian birth certificate of Cesare Pesaresi

• Marriage certificate of Cesare Pesaresi & Emma Grandi (his wife)

• US Naturalization documents of Cesare

• Death certificate of Cesare

• Birth certificate of Alfonso Pesaresi

• Marriage Certificate of Alfonso Pesaresi & Dorothy Eastwood (his wife)

• Document confirming that Alfonso did not naturalize as a UK citizen (see below)

• Death Certificate of Alfonso

• Birth certificate of my mother

• Marriage certificate of my mother & father

• Divorce decree and certificate of no appeal (basically a letter from the County where their divorce was filed stating that neither of them appealed the divorce) for my parents’ divorce

• Marriage certificate of my mother and her second husband (because Italian municipalities record all “life events” (births, marriages, deaths), I need this even though my stepfather is not part of my “line”)

• My birth certificate

• My marriage certificates and divorce decrees with certificates of no appeal

Documents in italics above are documents I needed to have amended – but that’s a topic for another post.

I do not need to provide the birth certificates for my own children.  This is because they are already adults, so I cannot register their births; if they were minors, I could include them and they would automatically be recognized when I am.  However, they can always claim their Italian citizenship on their own, if they wish.

All of the above documents, with the exception of the copy of the birth certificate of Cesare (because it was issued in Italy), needed to be official, certified copies, and to be Apostilled and translated into Italian.  Almost all of my non-Italian documents were issued in PA, except for the marriage certificate of my grandparents.  They met and were married in the UK, so that took a few extra steps, including obtaining confirmation my grandfather never became a citizen of the United Kingdom (which I will discuss in another post).

In an extremely simplified nutshell:  I (well, we) will go to Italy, declare my presence and take up residence in a comune, present my documents to the proper authorities, who will review them as well as request a non-rinuncia check (meaning they confirm with the Consular office in the US that no one in my line ever went to the Italian Consulate and formally renounced* their Italian citizenship – a thing that pretty much no one ever actually does, particularly when they don’t know they are a citizen in the first place).  Assuming all goes well and my application is accepted, then the authorities will formally recognize my citizenship and transcribe my vital records.  I’ll be able to apply for an Italian ID card (Carta d’Identità) and an Italian passport.

* "Naturalizing" and "renouncing citizenship" are two entirely different things. In the US, you can become a US citizen via naturalization without having to renounce (give up) your citizenship of any other country.