Re-acquisition of Italian citizenship Questions

[emagarotto]

Hello, all.

I am just beginning the process of reacquiring my Italian citizenship. I have read a host of items online about this process, but would love to hear from others regarding the process and any insights had.

I was born in Vicenza, Italy in 1969 to Italian parents. I moved to America in the 70s and renounced my Italian citizenship in 1987 prior to entering the US Army. I have my Italian birth certificate and my U.S. certificate of citizenship from the 70s. My questions are as follow:

1. I have read, that I simply need to reside in Italy for one year in order to regain my Italy citizenship. Is this true? I am assuming this will not affect my U.S. citizenship.
2. I am divorced. Do I need to have these documents? And, if so, do they need to be translated?
3. I have two children. A 17 year old and 19 year old. Would it make sense to try and get them dual citizenship at the same time or will that be too much work?
4. I have an appointment for June, 28th 2017 at the Italian Consulate in Chicago regarding reacquiring my citizenship, but not sure what I will need to bring.

Thank you for any help in this matter!

Ciao,
Ezio

[mler]

I apologize for the delay in responding. Yes, you can reacquire your citizenship, but it is unlikely that you will need to reside in Italy for a full year. When you go to the consulate, you will complete a form stating that you plan to return to Italy within a year to reacquire your citizenship. Then you go to Italy and establish residency. Once your residency is confirmed by local authorities, your citizenship will be restored. The length of time is dependent on the efficiency of your comune, but it is unlikely to take more than several months.

You should bring with you all the documents required to demonstrate your Italian citizenship at birth and its subsequent loss through naturalization. You should provide divorce papers as well (translated and apostilled). If you are missing a document, the consulate will probably allow you to mail it in before you move to Italy.

Regarding your children, there is both good and bad news. Your minor child will obtain citizenship when you reacquire. Unfortunately, your 19 year old is now considered an adult and is ineligible.

[emagarotto]

No apology needed. Thank you for the reply. I have two other points of note that I was unaware of during my first post. They are:

1) My mother never became an Italian citizen (she is still a US citizen)
2) My father became a US citizen in August of 1976

Does this change what I need to do or even my ability to become a citizen?

Ciao,
Ezio

[mler]

I'm a bit confused. I thought both your parents were Italian and you were born in Italy.

IF ONLY your father was Italian, you became an Italian citizen at birth and a US citizen through your mother. In this case, your mother automatically became an Italian citizen when she married your father, but because she didn't lose the US citizenship with which she was born, she passed US citizenship to you.

If this is the case, you did not naturalize and never lost Italian citizenship. Also, your Italian citizenship began at birth and would pass to both your children.

Of course, this only works if your mother was a US citizen.

[mler]

You need also clarify what you mean when you say you renounced your Italian citizenship before joining the army. Unless you specifically renounced your citizenship at an Italian consulate, there is no citizenship loss. Did you simply mean that you presented your US Certificate of Citizenship to military authorities to demonstrate that despite your Italian birth certificate, you were a US citizen?

I think we are having a semantics problem here.

[emagarotto]

My father is Italian and my mother, who moved to Italy in 1964, is American. They married in 1965 and had me in 1969. I was born in Vicenza, Italy. My mother divorced my father in 1974 and moved back to America, bringing me with her. I was naturalized as a US citizen in 1974. Yes, you are correct. I did not renounce my Italian citizenship, but simply provided my naturalization certificate from 1974 when joining the US Army. I hope this fills any of the holes I left.

Ciao,
Ezio

[mler]

Don't say you renounced your Italian citizenship when you entered the military. It doesn't count for anything, and you don't mention it. The only renunciation that counts is one made at the consulate.

You obtained proof of your US citizenship when you came to the US with your mother. It was yours as the child of a US citizen; thus you never needed to naturalize.

You were also an Italian citizen from birth through your father, and nothing happened subsequently for you to lose it.

No you won't lose your US citizenship by recognizing your Italian citizenship.

Yes, you will need your divorce papers either at your interview or to be sent later.

Try to have your 19 year old come with you to present his birth certificate and also apply. You can bring your minor child's birth certificate without his/her being present.

[mler]

It would have been impossible for you to naturalize as a minor. What you have is "proof of citizenship" not a naturalization certificate.

[mler]

I know your appointment is today, so don't worry if you don't have everything. You can send them additional paperwork later. If your 19 year old cannot go in today, he/she can make an appointment at a later date to request recognition through you.

Remember, you were a dual citizen from birth and never lost either. Do NOT use the words renunciation or naturalization. They do not apply to you.

[emagarotto]

Once again, thank you for your help in providing clarity both from a direction and semantic perspective. I looked at my documents this morning and, you're correct, it is simply a document stating US citizenship. I have no idea why I thought it was a naturalization document. I had to reschedule my appointment, so I will get my divorce papers prepared in advance as well as see what I can do for both my kids.

One last question: Does the fact that my father became a US citizen in 1976 have any impact or bearing on my either retaining or reinstating my Italian citizenship?

Regards,
Ezio

[mler]

Your father's naturalization had absolutely no effect on you even though you were a minor when he naturalized. You were a US citizen from birth so no problem.

You are not reinstating your citizenship; it has always been there. You are simply requesting a recognition of that fact.

[emagarotto]

I also want to share this from the Italian Consulate in Chicago Web site:

http://www.conschicago.esteri.it/consol ... nanza#Loss

Loss and re-acquisition of Italian citizenship
An Italian citizen who acquired a foreign citizenship before August 15, 1992 automatically lost his/her citizenship according to art. 8 of the law 555/1912.

From the above, it would appears I automatically lost my Italian citizenship. Or, am I not understanding this correctly?

Ciao,
Ezio

[mler]

You are not understanding this correctly. This only applies to those who acquired another citizenship through naturalization, not those who are born with another citizenship (as were you).

You were born with US citizenship through your mother and Italian citizenship through your father.

There are only two ways to lose Italian citizenship:

1. Renouncing at an Italian consulate, which does not apply to you.

2. Naturalizing to obtain another citizenship before the 1992 law took effect. This also does not apply to you since you never naturalized--never needed to. You did not "acquire" US citizenship; you were born with it. (By the way, that's how most people find they are eligible. I, for example, was born a US citizen before 1992, but that did not cause me to lose my Italian citizenship because I didn't have to naturalize.)

You are an Italian citizen now and an Italian citizen from birth. You never lost it.

Really, you're fine.

[emagarotto]

Wonderful! Thank you for your time and wealth of knowledge!

Ciao,
Ezio

[mler]

Best of luck to you Ezio.

Actually, this is the best outcome. If you had indeed lost your Italian citizenship and had had to reacquire it, it would have involved a temporary but costly stay in Italy. It also would have meant that your older child could not obtain citizenship with you and would have had to reside in Italy for five years to become a citizen.

Yours is a straightforward jure sanguinis case: you obtained Italian citizenship at birth from your father; your children obtained Italian citizenship at birth from you.

It's great when things work out.