automatic citizenship to children

[mexicocaribbean]

I was with my daughter today at the Detroit consulate to have her apply for citizenship. To my surprise I was told that all of her children under the age of 18 would automatically become citzens; we did not want this. But they told us that this was the case and if she bacame a citizen that the children coudl renounce their citizenship when they were 18 if they chose to.
This is not what I had undesrtood ; any comments

[johnnyonthespot]

She could have (or can, as the case may be) avoid this simply by not reporting the children's names to the consulate. This is the tried and true method used for decades by foreign citizens in the US so to avoid their children being called for military service.

[mexicocaribbean]

I never thought of that. Wouldn't the children by default still be considered citizens because they were already born at the time their mother became a citizen?

[mler]

Technically yes, but then technically, they are Italian citizens now as well. Unless, however, a person specifically requests recognition of citizenship, Italy does not consider or treat that person as a citizen. The same applies to living ascendents who choose not to apply but are part of the citizenship line.

Just curious, though--is there a specific reason she does not want this for her children or does she simply want them to make their own choices when they reach their majority? In any case, once her citizenship is recognized, their path to citizenship is easy should they choose to do so.

[johnnyonthespot]

...
Just curious, though--is there a specific reason she does not want this for her children or does she simply want them to make their own choices when they reach their majority? In any case, once her citizenship is recognized, their path to citizenship is easy should they choose to do so.

Might have something to do with this thread: http://italiangenealogy.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=17123/