ELIGIBILITY FOR ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

ELIGIBILITY FOR ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP


As you may have heard, some Americans of Italian descent qualify for Italian citizenship. The eligibility guidelines appear below.

Italian citizenship is based on the principle of ius sanguinis (blood right) by which a child born of an Italian father or mother is Italian. However, a descendant of a mother-citizen, previously unable to pass on Italian citizenship, can obtain citizenship if born in 1948 or later as a result of the election that year when Italians choose to convert from a monarchy to a republic.

Today, Italian citizenship is regulated a 1992 law. which, unlike the previous law, re-evaluates the importance of individual desire in the gain or loss of citizenship and acknowledges the right to hold citizenship in more than one country, except in the case of the various provisions of international agreements.


DETERMINATION OF QUALIFICATION FOR ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP

If you were born in the United States, you may be eligible for Italian citizenship if any of the following situations pertain to you:

A. Your father was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth and you have never renounced your Italian citizenship, provided your father was not naturalized before your birth.

B. Your father was born in the U.S. and your paternal grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your father’s birth, and neither you nor your father ever renounced Italian citizenship, provided your paternal grandfather was not naturalized before your father’s birth.

C. You were born after January 1, 1948, you have never renounced your Italian citizenship, and your mother was an Italian citizen at the time of your birth, provided that your mother was not naturalized before your birth.

D. Your were born after January 1, 1948, your mother was born in the U.S. and your maternal grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your mother’s birth and neither you nor your mother ever renounced Italian citizenship, provided your maternal grandfather was not naturalized before your mother’s birth.

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Click here to visit the website of the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC, for additional details www.ambwashingtondc.esteri.it/ambasciata_washington.

For more about Italy click here to visit the Italian Broadcasting Company television network about Italy, Web Vision Italy.