Eligibility: Italian Citizenship Jure Sanguinis

You may already be an Italian citizen!

According to Italian Law 91 of February 5, 1992, Italian citizenship is conferred by bloodline. In other words, the descendant of an Italian citizen is already an Italian citizen. The descendant need only have his/her Italian citizenship recognized by the Italian government. An individual seeking to have his/her Italian citizenship recognized need only to produce evidence that everyone in his/her direct line of ascendants uninterruptedly maintained their Italian citizenship.

That's it? There's got to be a catch…

You're right, there is. In fact, there are many exceptions to what appears to be a straightforward rule. Take a look at the article Italian Citizenship Jure Sanguinis to review the basic criteria applicable to everyone. Keep in mind, there are specific categories an applicant must fall into in order to truly be eligible for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis.

Basic Criteria Applicable to Everyone

• Your Italian ancestor must have been alive after March 17, 1861, the date of Italy's unification. Prior to this date, there existed no such thing as an "Italian citizen".

• Your Italian ancestor must not have naturalized (become a citizen of the United States or elsewhere) before July 1, 1912. Ancestors who naturalized before July 1, 1912 cannot transmit Italian citizenship under Italian Law no. 555 of June 13, 1912. The foreign-born minor children of Italians who naturalized prior to this date were also stripped of their Italian citizenship as a result of this law.

• Your Italian ancestor must not have naturalized prior to the birth of his/her descendant if that descendant is you or any of the ascendants in the direct line through which you would be otherwise eligible.

• If an Italian ancestor in your direct line is a woman (you, your mother, your grandmother*), born before January 1, 1948, she can only claim Italian citizenship from her father, and can only pass Italian citizenship to her children (male or female) if they were born after January 1, 1948.

  (*If this is the only bar to your eligibility, you may still have your citizenship recognized by having your application reviewed by the courts in Italy. For additional information, schedule a telephone consultation with us. Costs of the call will be applied as a credit towards attorney retainer or signature package purchase.)

• Neither you nor any of the ascendants in your direct line must have ever renounced Italian citizenship, aside from the oath taken by the Italy-born ancestor if he or she naturalized.

• As of August 15, 1992, Italy has permitted dual-citizenship. Italy-born persons who became a naturalized citizen of another country on or after this date retained their Italian citizenship.

Now I'm confused. Am I eligible or not? How do I know if or when my Italian ancestor became a naturalized U.S. citizen?

We understand. As it turns out, eligibility for Italian citizenship jure sanguinis is not as easy to determine as it might have originally appeared. But here's the good news, we understand how these various laws work together and would be happy to help you apply them to your family history to confirm your eligibility for Italian citizenship. Schedule a telephone consultation with us today to get started.