Born out of wedlock. (And other issues?)

[SeventhStranger]

Hello forum!

I've recently started my quest to apply for dual-citizenship, and I'm started to get lost in the mess I've made for myself. A little background: I'm 26, originally from Boston, and I've been living in Germany for the past two years. Now Germany has very strict immigrations laws, and I was very recently told by a friend that the Italian government has an easier way to reclaim citizenship-- it just needs to be proven. As I don't expect to be living the rest of my life in the US, I was willing to eventually give up my US citizenship for German, however this process takes 8 years and would require me to become stateless-- this is not something the Italians require. So that's kind of how the ball got rolling.

I would be going the following route: Father (born past 1945) > Grandmother > Great-grandfather.

To date, I have found no evidence that my great-grandfather, Angelo, ever naturalized in the US. He was born in 1887, went to the US around 1902-1905, and married in 1907. He died in 1949. However I have found out, by way of the U.S. Census Reports for 1920, 1930, and 1940 that he was still listed as an "ALIEN." My grandmother would have been 21 in either 1941 or 1942. So the way I understand the law is that she would retain the right to Italian citizenship so long as Angelo either neither naturalized or naturalized after she turned 21.

I've already put in a request with the USCIS to check on immigration and naturalization records for him. Thus far, I have not found a petition or a declaration or anything to support the theory that he may have-- I have found army draft registration cards and his SSN, however. But nothing in the way of petitioned naturalization.

All of this is fine and good (I hope), but something popped into my head this morning: I was born out of wedlock. My parents had me and married about eight or nine years later (they were together before and after my birth). I know my father was at the hospital when I was born, so I assume he signed my B.C. there and then. However I've heard some mixed stories about those born out of wedlock. Some claim that jus sanguinis do not care about my birth as long as paternity is already established, but then others say they've been rejected from other countries for it.

Does anybody have advice for me? I would hate to lose out on the chance to completely change my life (and my family's) over such a small technicality. Thanks to anybody in advance.

[mler]

Out-of-wedlock births should not affect eligibility, but they sometimes complicate matters. The consulates usually ask for marriage records, which you will be unable to supply.

Check first if your father is named as your father on your birth certificate. If so, this mitigates the problem. If your father is still living, a statement acknowledging you as his child, would be very helpful. That being said, I think you will be ok.

[JamesM]

My parents married when I was 16. I had no problems, actually not even a mention when I turned in my paperwork for citizenship.

I did use my maternal line for two reasons.
First, there could be no way the consulate could question my mother, as they could with my father dealing with paternity.
Second, all the dates matched, so no major amendments.

[mler]

I missed that your parents ultimately married. That, plus your dad's name on your bc indicates there shouldn't be a problem.

[SeventhStranger]

Thanks so much for your replies!

I'm more than willing to get a statement from my father if they need it. I was just so nervous that this would totally wipe my chances.

And I just got my birth certificate from my mother, and he did sign it the same date as my mother, about a week after my birth when the certificate was filed. That said, Boston still scares me. I'm trying to go through Frankfurt.