Hoping for an Italian Passport

[erinflo]

I recently began searching my heritage and have confirmed that my great-grandfather arrived in the US in 1896 as an Italian citizen. USCIS confirmed that he never naturalized as a US citizen. Since then, my grandfather and father were born in the US. So, now what? Do I start tracking down vital records like birth and death certificates? Do I have to travel right away to Alfadena, Italy to do this? I know I will go there eventually, but not sure of the best next steps. Looking for a little guidance to help me continue in this quest. Grazie!

[afecad]

I recently began searching my heritage and have confirmed that my great-grandfather arrived in the US in 1896 as an Italian citizen. USCIS confirmed that he never naturalized as a US citizen. Since then, my grandfather and father were born in the US. So, now what? Do I start tracking down vital records like birth and death certificates? Do I have to travel right away to Alfadena, Italy to do this? I know I will go there eventually, but not sure of the best next steps. Looking for a little guidance to help me continue in this quest. Grazie!

Suggest you check the courthouse of the county your great-grandfather resided/married in to validate whether or not he naturalized. Prior to 1906, local courts processed all naturalizations and USCIS and NARA would not have these records. You will need a certified copy of his marriage anyway and it’s best to first validate whether or not he naturalized to save you the time and money it takes to collect all documents. IF he did naturalize and your great-grandmother was also Italian, you can go the path thru her via a 1948 case.

[afecad]

Also just to note, I started collecting documents several years ago. I visited the Comunes in Italy my family last resided in but ultimately found all records via familysearch.org (scans of the original books) that others on here helped translate. I also collected certified birth/death records from the State of PA and as much documentation as I could find. I wasn't sure whether or not my great-grandfather naturalized, he noted on census records that he did and prior to the birth of my grandfather, but nobody knew for sure. As I did not live near the courthouse and the pandemic came and I did not venture to search, this all had to be done remotely and took some time with shut-downs in between.

I retained ICA in 2020 to process my case, they proceeded to collect documentation and I gave them everything I had to make the search easier. They just recently, after some considerable time, were able to find my great-grandfather's naturalization petition and presumed from the beginning I would have to use my great-grandmother instead, they were correct so thus why my case will be a 1948 law. They, as well as myself, also did a USCIS & NARA search first, that took a long time.

Also it took them, 6 months+ to get my great-grandmother's certified and apostille birth record from the comune in Italy. It also took me a year to get my grandfather and great-grandmother's names corrected on some documents (birth certificate) in the state of PA with a court order as they are both deceased. This was just for their first names being misspelled.

[qualdom]

I agree with afecad. The naturalization records (or lack thereof) are the most crucial documents (along with the Italian birth record of your LIRA), and they generally take the longest to procure.

[qualdom]

IF he did naturalize and your great-grandmother was also Italian, you can go the path thru her via a 1948 case.

It's a good thing that 1948 cases can often negate the ineligibility created by a pre-1912 naturalization. Even if the male ancestor naturalized, an attorney argue that the Italian wife involuntarily lost her Italian citizenship.

I would guess that very few Italian male immigrants pre-1912 married anyone other than an Italian-born woman or a 2nd generation Italian-American woman, so this would potentially give hope to a lot of potential applicants.

[afecad]

It's a good thing that 1948 cases can often negate the ineligibility created by a pre-1912 naturalization. Even if the male ancestor naturalized, an attorney argue that the Italian wife involuntarily lost her Italian citizenship.

I would guess that very few Italian male immigrants pre-1912 married anyone other than an Italian-born woman or a 2nd generation Italian-American woman, so this would potentially give hope to a lot of potential applicants.

Yes, but supposedly you can go back to March 17, 1861, if you have an ancestor born in Italy and emigrated after Italy was unified as a country (on that date). I did not propose this to ICA, but nor would I know if it's eligible, but my great-grandmother's parents both came over and were born after the date above, and her father did not naturalize (according to census records) until the 1930s. I have not verified this with USCIS as it appears my case is moving forward as it is.

Not sure how this would work to be honest or if it's even possible?

[qualdom]

Yes, but supposedly you can go back to March 17, 1861, if you have an ancestor born in Italy and emigrated after Italy was unified as a country (on that date). I did not propose this to ICA, but nor would I know if it's eligible, but my great-grandmother's parents both came over and were born after the date above, and her father did not naturalize (according to census records) until the 1930s. I have not verified this with USCIS as it appears my case is moving forward as it is.

Not sure how this would work to be honest or if it's even possible?

I read a post on tapatalk written by someone who was using their GGGGM for their 1948 case. This person's ancestors had actually immigrated to the USA in the 1860s, prior to the mass immigration era. The ancestor's death certificate was required for the 1948 case because the judge wanted to be sure the ancestor was alive after 1861. So apparently it's possible but my line is long enough...I can't imagine document collection for a case like that.

[cedrone]

Yes, in that case the date of death should be verified because that person when arrived in the US was not citizen of the Kingdom of Italy (not yet existing), but of another State, only after 17 March 1861 he began Italian citizen (or at least is equiparated to Italian citizen for this purpose, I don't know exactly).
The same applies for people born in the territories joined to Italy later; you should consider the date of annexation to Italy.

[afecad]

I read a post on tapatalk written by someone who was using their GGGGM for their 1948 case. This person's ancestors had actually immigrated to the USA in the 1860s, prior to the mass immigration era. The ancestor's death certificate was required for the 1948 case because the judge wanted to be sure the ancestor was alive after 1861. So apparently it's possible but my line is long enough...I can't imagine document collection for a case like that.

That is a long paper trail, but Italian records are better than the US in the same era. I was able to find a couple of my Italian ancestors birth records on familysearch.org, going back to the 1840's, supposedly the local history center has earlier ones not available online. Other side of my family, no records exist from that time frame.

[mler]

You may also want to try antenati. I found ancestors there going back to the late 1600’s.

[afecad]

You may also want to try antenati. I found ancestors there going back to the late 1600’s.

This is the site that's in Italian only correct? My Italian proficiency is not quite there yet to navigate.

[mler]

Yes, it is in Italian but if you know the few key words you can figure out a lot of it. It has a lot of information.

[TerraLavoro]

The Antenati site allows a user to choose Italian, English or Portuguese as the language (see upper right corner of the home page). The documents themselves are of course in Italian.

[afecad]

I'll have to look again, last time I looked they did not have Sant'Andrea Apostolo dello Ionio on the list, has that changed since it was updated?

[cedrone]

Yes, the acts of Sant'Andrea Apostolo are not yet present on Antenati, the province of Catanzaro has been published only partially. The period is 1809 - 1865. After 1865 they should be in Family Search (if available).