Which line… and 2 bureaucratic questions

[warriorrabbit]

Option 1
My maternal grandmother was born in Italy in 1898, came here with her parents in 1901, and didn’t naturalize until way later, long after my mother was an adult, possibly even after I was born (I’d have to look it up).

Option 2
My maternal grandfather was born here. His parents were only here for a few years at the turn of the century, then packed up and moved back to Italy when he was only a few years old. My grandfather even served in the military in Italy. He returned to the US in 1924, which was easy for him as he was a US citizen by birth.

This has always been confusing for my brother and I with regard to, “can we pursue a citizenship claim?”

We were under the impression they didn’t allow for us to use our grandma, who seemed the more feasible choice as she was born there, but as a woman was not appreciated as a lineage vector. Maybe we were wrong on that.

My grandpa never renounced Italian citizenship, because he didn’t have to naturalize. Where did that leave us? Was he ever considered an Italian citizen? They conscripted him, but otherwise… no idea.

Now the rules have changed and we’re still confused, lol

Any ideas?

The bureaucratic questions are: Are there (reputable) services who’ll just pull the records and do it for you, and also hopefully have a good track record of success? And how much does it cost, roughly, to pursue citizenship? I’m sure it can vary, but it would be nice to have a general idea.

[cedrone]

The rules changed with a decree in March 2025, converted in law in May, it has been sent to the Constitutional Court and likely it will be modified.
But with the present law Italian citizenship by descent is only for two generations from the Italian emigrated.

In your case, if I understood well:

[cedrone]

------
In your case, if I understood well:
-- you, your brother and your mother were born in the US and so US citizens iure soli;
-- your father (no indication)
-- your grand-father at the birth was US citizen iure soli and Italian by descent.
-- your grand-mother was Italian at birth and later assumed the US citizenship, very likely she lost the Italian citizenship (it depends from the year).
You should verify and compare:
-the date of naturalization (when it became effective, not the date of the application)
-- your date of birth (and that of your brother)

[cedrone]

So you (and your brother) are Italian by descent (= from your birth) if your grand-mother naturalized after your birth.

[warriorrabbit]

My dad was totally not Italian.
Yes, my mother, brother, and I are American by birth.

Yes, my grandfather was American (as born in Brooklyn), but raised in Sicily, served in the military, returned to the US in 1924. Does that mean there’s no possibility through him?

We should have done it a long time ago, we were just confused by my grandfather’s status and thought my grandmother was not an option.

[cedrone]

The new law gives Italian citizenship iure sanguinis (from the birth) to a person born abroad and with another citizenship only if a parent or grand-parent has/had ONLY Italian citizenship (at the date of birth of that person)
So in your case, it's not possible from your grand-father as he had two citizenships; for your g-mother, as said, consider her date of naturalization.

As said, it is possible that the law will be modified by the Corte Costituzionale.

Otherwise, you may consider other ways to obtain Italian citizenship:
-- naturalization as descendent of (both) Italian grand-parents: by living in Italy at least two years.
-- by marriage with an Italian citizen (even living abroad) : it's not automatic should be asked with certain conditions.

[MaddalenaNYC]

I was going for Jure Sanguinis through my great grandfather. I was just about to schedule an appointment with the Italian Consulate when the law changed.

My contacts tell me that it might change back so hang on to all of your documents in case it does.

It took me so long to prepare for the Italian Consulate appointment as it took years for me to obtain the US documents necessary to prove my line of descent.

All the Italian documents, birth, marriage, and death acts had been obtained.

Americans didn’t keep such good records in 1888 Brooklyn.


Owing to the NYC laws, which differ from NY State laws, it took me 16 months to obtain my father’s birth certificate. I’ll have to go to court to obtain my mother’s.

Isn’t it curious indeed.