It is enough to spot a woman in a family tree to raise a flag and spark disappointment. But is that enough to ruin your chances to Italian citizenship? Is Italian law really so backward to discriminate women from men? NO!
Don’t let them intimidate you and proudly get your Italian citizenship through granny!
Most Italian Consulates published blunt statements on their websites, like:
“A person born before 01/01/1948 can claim Italian citizenship only from his/her father”
But that is simply not true. Unfortunately, such inaccurate statements on Italian citizenship in the female line are spread also by official sources and get repeated by misinformed people worldwide. It appears designed to discourage applicants from even considering Italian citizenship by lineage.
If you want to avoid wasting your time, refuse all inaccurate information. Demand the real information according to the law.
So how does it work in the law?
The short version is the following:
If you have one or more women in your direct line of Italian descent, you HAVE a right to citizenship. The application process changes according to the date in which the child of the concerned woman was born.
If the woman gave birth to her descendant after January 1st, 1948, you can get Italian citizenship by applying for it to the closest Italian authority.
Conversely, if the woman gave birth before that date, you can obtain Italian citizenship by applying for it to the Tribunal in Italy.
Why is that?
The Italian law used to provide that a person is an Italian citizen only if born to an Italian father, until the Italian Constitution declared the equal treatment principle as of January 1st, 1948.
According to the administrative authorities, the equal treatment clause applies only for the future, that is up from January 1st, 1948. So, for example:
If your Italian grandmother gave birth to your father in 1947, you have a “1948 case”. The Italian Consulate refuses to process your application.
Luckily, the Italian Supreme Court thinks otherwise: they established in 2009 that it is forbidden to discriminate between women and men even in citizenship matters (judgment no. 4466/2009). All descendants born anytime from an Italian parent, father or mother are Italian citizens by birthright.
Sadly, that appears not enough to convince the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all the Italian Consulates with it. They still refuse to process “1948 cases”. As a result, you can obtain the application of the non-discrimination principle only through an application to the Tribunal in Italy.
How can you be sure that you have a 1948 case?
Make the final check in this way:
STEP #1: Consider your line of descent from the Italian ancestor. Focus only on the direct line (let aside the spouses or partners at each passage of generation). Is there a woman along the line?
STEP #2:Â If there is a woman, did she give birth to her descendant before January 1st, 1948? Remember: the woman’s date of birth is of no relevance. Only her child’s birthdate is.
STEP #3:Â If the answer is YES, you can obtain Italian citizenship by lineage (jure sanguinis).
Your application process nowadays has to start in Court. The Italian Cnsulates still don’t take these applications.
Important: There might be a change in the near future. The Italian Parliament is discussing a new law draft that finally puts on a par all applications – both those by descendants in the paternal and in the maternal line. So all applications should be accepted at Italian Consulates, irrespective of how you derive Italian citizenship in your family.Â
STEP #4:Â If the answer is NO, you can obtain Italian citizenship by submitting your application
Repeat steps #2-3-4 for each woman you find along the direct line of descent. You may find a woman at the very start of your Italian family tree (i.e. your ancestor born in Italy was a woman) or later in the line of descent.
The result is…
Absolutely the same. Each of the two types of application brings the same citizenship by birthright. That means it operates retroactively to your date of birth, no matter
if you obtained it through an Italian Court or through an Italian Consulate, or
if you are a descendant in male or female line
To the law, you are an Italian citizen since your birth, just like any Italian who was born in Italy to Italian parents.
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My grandmother was born in Italy. She married a U.S. citizen but never naturalized not (to my knowledge) renounced her italian citizenship. My mother (born 1925) was a U.S. citizen by birth, but never renounced her right to italian citizenship. I am a U.S. citizen by birth (born 1955) who likewise has never renounced my right to italian citizenship, if I in fact have that right. Do I?
Your right to obtain the registration of Italian citizenship by descent from your grandmother depends on the data on the official records, especially the birth and marriage records of your grandmother and mother, as well as your grandmother’s (non) naturalization records in the US. Since the US vital records vary considerably from those required by the Italian authorities, it is important to obtain those in a complete and clear form, with matching names and dates with each other to prove the direct line of descent beyond doubt. For that reason, it is crucial to obtain expert assistance with the paperwork preparation.
Cara Laura, sono confuso! 🙂
You say “How can you be sure that you have a 1948 case?” and you say this:
“If there is a woman, did she give birth to her descendant before January 1th, 1948? Remember: the woman’s date of birth is of no relevance. Only her child’s birthdate is.”
How can her child’s birthdate be more important? If child’s grandmother was born Italian but married non-Italian (English, Dutch, Argentine) she lost citizenship before 1948 Rule, or if her Italian husband obtained citizenship outside Italy before the marriage, according to law (pre-1948) the birth mother lost her Italian citizenship, too. Would not the child born and also the grandchild after all then be born to a non-Italian female linage? Correct?
Un esempio in Italiano: la madre naque il 1920 in Italia> lei ha sposato un italiano il 1944> loro figlia è stata nata 1946 a New York> e poi, la nipotina è stato nata il 1968 a New York… dunque nessun potenziale per la cittadinanza, no? La nipotina è stata nata dopo il 1948 ma non importa, perche le generazione (femmine) precedente nacquero prima del 1948.
The Italian Supreme Court established since 2009 that it is forbidden to discriminate between women and men even in citizenship matters (judgment no. 4466/2009). That is because of the equality clause set by the Constitution since 1948. All descendants born anytime from an Italian parent, father or mother, are Italian citizens by birthright. As the Supreme Court affirmed, the clause affects all living citizens retroactively, so even if they were born before. I understand that it is a complicated matter, but that is the law. Italian Courts rule every day in favor of descendants in the situation you described, as long as the mother did nor renounce her Italian citizenship by naturalization before giving birth to her child.
Hello, what is the approximate cost involved to go through the Rome Tribunal? Can siblings apply together or does each need to apply separately? My husband is a “1948 case “, and his first cousins received citizenship the easier way because their father was born before 1948. So, we’re confident that he and his two siblings are eligible,
…. typo above. It should read that their father was born AFTER 1948.
All the descendants from a common ancestor can apply together to the Rome Tribunal for “1948 cases”. The price varies according to possible complications in the records and the number of applicants. Once you have your records ready, we may check them for you and give you our price quote.
Great article! My great-grandfather came from Italy in 1905 and was not a citizen when my grandmother was born in 1915 (he was listed as an alien in the 1930 census). From my knowledge, my grandmother and mother did not renounce their Italian citizenship (if they were). Is there a chance I could get Italian citizenship?
There might be. It is important to be sure about that by checking the actual naturalization records.
My mother was born in Italy, but she became an American citizen through her father’s application sometime in the 1920s. I was born in the USA before 1948. Do I qualify for Italian citizenship?
The answer depends on several factors, like where your mother was born, where she was residing when her father naturalized as a US citizen, whether she returned to Italy even temporarily and when, what the official records say, etc… You are welcome to request a private consultation.