Nationality of married Italian women in 1948?

[Italoscotgirl]

Hi

I am trying to work out if my Italian grandmother remained Italian (at least as far as the Italian state is concerned)but am struggling to understand the situation. If anyone cast shed any light on it, it would be much appreciated.

My Italian grandmother married my British grandfather in Italy in July 1948. She then went immediately to live in Britain where she remained until her death. We know she was definitely British when she died (she had a British passport) but we just don't understand exactly when this happened.

My mum was born in Britain in 1951, so if my grandmother was Italian when she was born we can set the ball rolling on Italian citizenship for ourselves.

I have already contacted the National Archive for her citizenship papers and they've come back with no trace but their archive only seems to be from 1949 onwards so I've written back to ask how we find out about pre-1949. I've also written to my Grandmother's comune in Italy to find out if they've got any further information.

If anyone knows or has experience with a similar situation I'd love to hear about it.

[mler]

It seems that before the 1948 citizenship law was enacted in 1949, a foreign woman who married a British man would obtain British citizenship automatically by simply registering. Once the law was enacted, she would have had to naturalize.

Thus, it is likely that your gm was registered as a British citizen but never actually naturalized. Registration did not result in the loss of Italian citizenship.

[mler]

You may want to read through this thread:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/italian ... age#p99375

Your dates are slightly different, but this thread should provide some guidance. You may also want to post your specific situation.

[Italoscotgirl]

Hi
Sorry for my delay in getting back and thanks so much for the replies.

I thought I'd update as I'm a little further on and it may assist others. I heard back from the National Archive that there is no trace of my grandmother and there won't be a trace of her (at least in the UK archives) because she automatically received British citizenship upon marriage so she didn't officially naturalise. I've done a bit more digging online and have found this paragraph from the Farnesina (Italian Foreign Office) website:

"Le donne che dopo il 1° gennaio 1948 abbiano automaticamente acquistato una cittadinanza straniera per matrimonio con cittadini stranieri o per naturalizzazione straniera del marito nato italiano NONhanno perso la cittadinanza italiana. Al fine di consentire le necessarie annotazioni a margine degli atti di stato civile, è necessario che le donne interessate (o i loro discendenti) manifestino ai competenti uffici consolari la volontà di mantenerla, mediante una dichiarazione di possesso ininterrotto."
https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/servizi/st ... nza_0.html

This essentially says that women who acquired another citizenship automatically through marriage after 1/1/48 have not lost their Italian citizenship.

So now starts the hard part of getting my Italian comune (I'm resident in Italy) to actually accept that!!

[mler]

Unfortunately, you may need a lawyer to facilitate your application.

[Italoscotgirl]

Why do you think that would be the case though if an official government website is saying that Italian women did not lose their citizenship? She was married after 1st January 1948 and my mum born after that so they fall within the limits of women being able to hand on their citizenship.

I do realise that this is the view that the Italian consulate in London seem to take so I've written back to them for further clarification. I have a funny feeling that this is one of those situations where it comes down to individual interpretation of the law.

[mler]

Actually, this is not a matter for individual interpretation. It is a matter of law that before 1949 a woman married to a British automatically received British citizenship. It is also a matter of law that a woman did not lose Italian citizenship if she didn’t herself naturalize.

However, despite these obvious facts, consulates have not been willing to process applications in such situations. We have a similar problem in the US, when before the 1922 Cable Act, a woman was automatically given the citizenship of her husband.

As far as I know, consulates and comuni have been reluctant to process these legitimate applications because they deal with specific aspects of foreign law. That’s why I suspect you may need a lawyer. In either case, you will ultimately be successful.

[Italoscotgirl]

Thanks, I get what you're saying. I can't see us going down a route where we would need a lawyer, I live here so I can apply for citizenship in other ways if I decide I need to have it. Although it would be tempting to take the case to court,then once its won, take the consulate or comune to court for making us have to go to court in the first place! I will persist with my comune though, even though I know the anagrafi are not going to be happy about having to deal with it.
I'll be interested to see what the consulate in London have to say - I'll certainly report back if there is any progress.

[EddyB]

Although it would be tempting to take the case to court,then once its won, take the consulate or comune to court for making us have to go to court in the first place!

Are you sure you're not American?