seeking dual citizenship

[ballareSansone]

Hi, I'm Debora, I'm new here so forgive me if I'm repetitive. I'm also new to genealogy so any advice is greatly appreciated

I'm trying to track down the birth certificates of three of my grandparents. Actually, finding one may be enough but the more the merrier!

My dad's parents emigrated from Italy to the U.S. separately, my grandfather in 1904 and his wife in 1908. My mother's father emigrated in 1904 as well.

So far I have a 1920 census for the Ballare's (spelled Balare in the census) and a 1930 census for Sansone. Both the Balares naturalised in 1919. According to the census, Joseph Sansone hadn't naturalised.

The relatives I'm looking for are Louis Balare (Ballare, Bealars, Balais), age 41 in 1920, born c. 1879, Declaration of Intent for Naturalisation 1907-1919, Declaration page 45, Vol. 170; Magdalena (Madeline, Balare (Ballare), age 34 in 1920, born c. 1886. Her maiden name was Lanzarrotti and my uncle said she was from Novara, Italy; and Joseph Sansone, age 29 in 1930, born c. 1901. All lived in New Jersey, so I assume their Port of Entry was New York, Ellis Island, but this is a guess on my part.

Oh, one note, my father's name was also Louis Ballare and he was born in 1922. I have his and my mother's birth records.

Thanks so much to anyone who can help. I'm very serious about pursuing dual citizenship, especially as I've always considered myself a displaced Italian. Ciao!

[mler]

It's fairly easy to obtain Italian birth certificates if you know the date and place of birth. Simply write to the Italian comune and request a copy. You can find templates for making such a request at www.italiancitizenship.freeforums.org

Regarding citizenship, it appears that your father's line will not work because it seems he was born after his father naturalized. If your mother was born before her father naturalized, her line would work IF you were born in 1948 or later. If you were born before 1948' your mother's line would be closed to you as well.

Hope it works out.

[jennabet]

It's probably not a good idea to assume that because your grand-parents lived in New Jersey they entered at New York. My grand-parents lived in Delaware and they entered at Philadelphia and Boston. From what I understand, if immigrants had the opportunity to avoid Ellis Island, they took advantage of it. It's also likely that their documents are in better shape regarding accuracy (name spellings, etc.) if they did not enter at New York and this would be to your advantage.

[mler]

That is most certainly true. My grandfather, who after his emigration from Italy lived his entire life in NYC, did not enter the country through Ellis Island.