Over 25 million Italians have emigrated between 1861 and 1960 with a migration boom between 1871 and 1915 when over 13,5 million emigrants left the country for European and overseas destinations.
I see a deadline of 20 December 2010 for filing citizenship applications. Is this a "rolling deadline" -- that is, will there be another opportunity to file again next year, possibly with a different set of documentation requirements? I hope it's not the last opportunity ever.
Italian citizenship laws have not changed in any meaningful way recently and there is no deadline for filing, whether for jus sanguinis, jus matrimonio, or naturalization.
Possibly you are looking at one consulate's timetable for setting appointments, etc.
Carmine
My hobby is finding things. Having found most of my own, I am happy to help others find theirs. PM me!
In fact there does exist a December 20 deadline, but it is only for a subset of people who qualify for citizenship. Per the LA Consulate's web site:
" THE DEADLINE FOR THE APPLICATION FOR ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP ACCORDING TO THE LAW N.379/2000 (WHOSE ANCESTORS IMMIGRATED FROM THE AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN TERRIORTIES BEFORE JULY 16 1920) EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 20, 2010."
The deadline was stated as a super-sized font headline on a consulate page that popped up in one of my searches. But the headline was also a hyperlink to a sub-page that explained who the deadline applied to. The somewhat unconventional web page design threw me off.
The older generations who lived in southern Italy certainly remember the sound of the bells or the siren that occurred at various times of the day. Life was marked by simple and repetitive gestures: work, the relationship with nature, sharing with the family and the people of the small villages. Now...