U.S. Certificate of Citizenship received as a child, do I qualify for juris sanguinis?
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caterina369
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U.S. Certificate of Citizenship received as a child, do I qualify for juris sanguinis?
I was born in Italy to an Italian-citizen father and an Italian-born mother with U.S. citizenship. We moved to the U.S. and my father became a naturalized U.S. citizen when I was 5 years old. On that day I received a Certificate of Citizenship. Does this all mean that I never gave up my Italian citizenship and can pass it on to my children juris sanguinis? If so, does anyone know how I would go about presenting my case for never having lost Italian citizenship? Thank you very much!
Re: U.S. Certificate of Citizenship received as a child, do I qualify for juris sanguinis?
If your parent's marriage took place BEFORE 1983, it's possible you may have kept Italian citizenship through your mother who automatically became an Italian citizen when she married your father. If their marriage took place AFTER 1983, then unfortunately you lost your Italian citizenship at the age of five when you were naturalized along with your father.
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OpusReticulatum
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Re: U.S. Certificate of Citizenship received as a child, do I qualify for juris sanguinis?
Caterina,
A few questions:
What does your Certificate of Citizenship say concerning the date you acquired US citizenship? Does it give the date that your father naturalized, or does it say it was acquired on the date of your birth?
Is the title of the certificate a Certificate of Citizenship, or is it a Consular Report of Birth Abroad?
In what year were you born?
Was you mother a US citizen prior to your birth, and did she still hold US citizenship at the time you were born?
In what year were your parents married?
Did your mother ever reside in the US? If so, how long was your mother physically present in the US before she returned to Italy?
In general, children born to two US citizens outside of the US are born with US citizenship. However, things get slightly more complicated when only one of the child's birth parents is a US citizen. If specific factors in your case line up, then you were born with both US citizenship (through your mother) and Italian citizenship (through your father). If those factors do not line up, then you did not have US citizenship at birth. The US laws concerning births abroad to US citizens have changed over the past few decades, so your US citizenship status at birth depends upon the laws that were in place when you were born, and how long your US citizen parent (you mother in this case) spent in the US prior to moving back to Italy (if she ever resided in the US at all). If you had US citizenship at birth, your father's US naturalization had no effect upon your Italian citizenship, since his naturalization did not confer an additional citizenship upon you which you did not already possess. Again, that's if the facts of your case align with US the nationality laws at the time you were born.
Additionally, the Italian laws concerning dual citizenship and foreign naturalizations changed in 1992. So, even if you were born without US citizenship and your father's naturalization conferred US citizenship upon you at the age of five, if his naturalization took place on or after 15 August 1992, it would not have caused you to lose your Italian citizenship (nor have caused your father to lose his).
Since your father became a US citizen when you were five, none of these dates would matter if you were born in the US, since you would have clearly been born with both US and Italian citizenship. Your father's subsequent naturalization would not have affected your Italian citizenship (unless you were born prior to 1912, which is presumably not the case). However, since you were born abroad to only one US citizen, we have to determine if you were born a US citizen under the laws that concern births abroad to US citizens. You were clearly born with Italian citizenship (via your father). If you were also born with US citizenship from your mother, that would have, in effect, "shielded" your Italian citizenship when your father naturalized in the US.
Also, as jennabet said, if your mother married your father prior to 27 April 1983, she would have automatically gained Italian citizenship from your father. This situation might have also protected your Italian citizenship, since only one of your parents lost their Italian citizenship. The citizenship Law no. 123 of 1983 did away with granting Italian citizenship to women automatically when they married Italian citizens. However, this same law also "granted automatic Italian citizenship to minor children (under age 18) of at least one parent holding Italian citizenship on its entry date into effect (27 April 1983)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_n ... 23_of_1983
So, depending on when you were born, if your parents were married before 27 April 1983 and you were under 18 on that date, this may or may not have shielded you - or it possibly granted you Italian citizenship on that date.
The good news (or mixed news if you have adult children), however, is that even if you did not have US citizenship at birth and your father's naturalization caused you to lose your Italian citizenship, and if the 1983 law does not help you, there is one more avenue open to you. You can reacquire your lost Italian citizenship with a short stay in Italy. This reacquisition would not affect any adult children you might have, but it would be passed on to any minor children you bring to Italy with you during the reacquisition (and, of course, any children you might have after your reacquisition).
A few questions:
What does your Certificate of Citizenship say concerning the date you acquired US citizenship? Does it give the date that your father naturalized, or does it say it was acquired on the date of your birth?
Is the title of the certificate a Certificate of Citizenship, or is it a Consular Report of Birth Abroad?
In what year were you born?
Was you mother a US citizen prior to your birth, and did she still hold US citizenship at the time you were born?
In what year were your parents married?
Did your mother ever reside in the US? If so, how long was your mother physically present in the US before she returned to Italy?
In general, children born to two US citizens outside of the US are born with US citizenship. However, things get slightly more complicated when only one of the child's birth parents is a US citizen. If specific factors in your case line up, then you were born with both US citizenship (through your mother) and Italian citizenship (through your father). If those factors do not line up, then you did not have US citizenship at birth. The US laws concerning births abroad to US citizens have changed over the past few decades, so your US citizenship status at birth depends upon the laws that were in place when you were born, and how long your US citizen parent (you mother in this case) spent in the US prior to moving back to Italy (if she ever resided in the US at all). If you had US citizenship at birth, your father's US naturalization had no effect upon your Italian citizenship, since his naturalization did not confer an additional citizenship upon you which you did not already possess. Again, that's if the facts of your case align with US the nationality laws at the time you were born.
Additionally, the Italian laws concerning dual citizenship and foreign naturalizations changed in 1992. So, even if you were born without US citizenship and your father's naturalization conferred US citizenship upon you at the age of five, if his naturalization took place on or after 15 August 1992, it would not have caused you to lose your Italian citizenship (nor have caused your father to lose his).
Since your father became a US citizen when you were five, none of these dates would matter if you were born in the US, since you would have clearly been born with both US and Italian citizenship. Your father's subsequent naturalization would not have affected your Italian citizenship (unless you were born prior to 1912, which is presumably not the case). However, since you were born abroad to only one US citizen, we have to determine if you were born a US citizen under the laws that concern births abroad to US citizens. You were clearly born with Italian citizenship (via your father). If you were also born with US citizenship from your mother, that would have, in effect, "shielded" your Italian citizenship when your father naturalized in the US.
Also, as jennabet said, if your mother married your father prior to 27 April 1983, she would have automatically gained Italian citizenship from your father. This situation might have also protected your Italian citizenship, since only one of your parents lost their Italian citizenship. The citizenship Law no. 123 of 1983 did away with granting Italian citizenship to women automatically when they married Italian citizens. However, this same law also "granted automatic Italian citizenship to minor children (under age 18) of at least one parent holding Italian citizenship on its entry date into effect (27 April 1983)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_n ... 23_of_1983
So, depending on when you were born, if your parents were married before 27 April 1983 and you were under 18 on that date, this may or may not have shielded you - or it possibly granted you Italian citizenship on that date.
The good news (or mixed news if you have adult children), however, is that even if you did not have US citizenship at birth and your father's naturalization caused you to lose your Italian citizenship, and if the 1983 law does not help you, there is one more avenue open to you. You can reacquire your lost Italian citizenship with a short stay in Italy. This reacquisition would not affect any adult children you might have, but it would be passed on to any minor children you bring to Italy with you during the reacquisition (and, of course, any children you might have after your reacquisition).