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 am working on applying for dual citizenship through my GGF-GM-F-me (NYC consulate). Two questions:
1. My family said my GGF never naturalized after he came to the U.S. in 1913. On the census records I've seen (1930 and 1940), it has him listed as an alien but unfortunately, his death certificate (1972) indicates USA under "citizen of what country." I'm concerned this will be a problem. I have submitted a request for a certificate of nonexistence from USCIS so will wait to see what comes of that, but assuming he did not naturalize, should I apply to amend his death certificate?
2. My grandmother (direct line) divorced my grandfather (nonline) after my father was born. She later remarried. I know I'll need the appropriate divorce paperwork, but will I need her additional marriage certificate and death certificate of her new spouse also?
Thank you so much for your help! I'm new at this and still learning!
I haven't completed this process with Italy; however, I have obtained citizenship by descent through another European country...and all I can say is: the human factor (meaning the person who analyzes your documents) is everything. For example, in my situation, my birth certificate showed my city and county of birth, while my marriage certificate only showed the city. The government official insisted these were two different cities!! Fortunately, regarding the country in question, it's much easier to navigate around these problems with the aid of an attorney. That doesn't seem to be the same with Italy...they seem to be more rigid.
1. The solution mostly likely to lead to success is to make sure everything matches regarding dates of birth, names, and U.S. citizenship status - it seems these are the crucial details. However, it could very time consuming, expensive, and perhaps even impossible to alter the death certificate. Perhaps you will get a consular officer who understands that death certificates rely on self-reporting and that information from USCIS/NARA/Local counties is more reliable.
2. Some of the experts here say to not worry about divorce records if the divorce occurred after the birth of the ancestor in question. They say that divorce records are only pertinent if you need to prove that your ancestor's second marriage was lawful. But again...human factor.
