Dual citizenship-proof of reaquisition of Italian citizenship

[NextMove]

I hope someone can help me with this problem.

I am living in Italy now, but before moving I started my dual citizenship application at the Consulate in London.
Briefly, I took all my documents as and how requested and was told that my application was denied because my mother automatically lost her Italian citizenship, when she married my English father in 1947. I was told that it was a mistake made by one of their bureaucrats, that she had an Italian passport!!
I wasn't given much help as to how to remedy this, but have done a bucket load of research since.

Tried again here in Puglia. Did not expect the conclusion to be any different, but hoped that the comune could guide me in the right direction.

Here is where I explain that this should not have been a difficult task!!
My mother has a flat in Italy, inherited from her mother, in the town where she lived, in Veneto. At the comune she is down as an Italian citizen, living abroad. She has had the right to vote in Italy, has both an Italian and British passport etc etc. I have a certificate (sorry cannot remember its name) which states she is an Italian citizen!!

All this I presented to the comune, but was told I would need to have the proof of this - it had to be written as an annotation in the births register. When they (and I, as I thought I would need it) sent for the estratto di nascita, we found that the information had not been added.

I know that Mum came over to Italy in the 1980's to reaquire her Italian citizenship. She lived in Trieste. I have a copy of a questura. I have read that she either had to make a declaration or live in Italy for a year.

Please! Sixteen months this has dragged on for. Where oh where do I find this proof?!

I do begrudge going through the courts when Mum's Italian citizenship was reaquired
Sorry for the ramble.

[mler]

Have your gone to your mother's comune? If not, it may be worth the trip to present your proof and ask them to make an addendum to her birth record. Perhaps a simple call may be enough, but it seems that you need to start in Veneto.

[NextMove]

I am in Lecce at present and not going up to Belluno until next year, I was hoping to get the ball rolling faster, sooner!
Could it be as easy as to ask them to make an addendum?

[mler]

If they know she's a citizen (and they probably do) they should have no problem making that addendum.

[NextMove]

Thank you mler.
Do I contact the comune where she was born, or the one where she is resident? How shall I phrase it and what proof do you think I should show?

[mler]

Send copies of the proof you submitted in Lecce, and ask that they add a note to the certificate confirming her Italian citizenship. Since her bc is registered in her birth comune, that's where the addendum will be made.

Also, it may be preferable for your mom to make the request since it is HER bc.

[NextMove]

Thank you mler.
The last part is, sadly, not possible as my Mum has dementia. Else she would have loved to have saved me all this running around.

[mler]

Do you have your mom's power of attorney? If not, is there someone who does who can make the request on her behalf? Or, if you have proof of her dementia (and obviously proof that you are her child), your request may be accepted.

[NextMove]

No power of attorney, it was yet to be put in place for myself and my brother when Mum suddenly went down hill. She lives in the UK so I cannot easily get proof of her dementia.

[NextMove]

I'll have to show the comune different proof than I did for me.
So Mum's birth certificate, copy of Mums Italian passport, the certificate they sent to me, my birth certificate (translated). Should I include the questura? I even have details of her war pension as she is an Auschwitz survivor and had to be an Italian citizen to be entitled to it (they began paying this in the 1980's)
How shall I phrase the request?
Thank you, this has been a lot of help.

[mler]

Do include the questura if it confirms her citizenship.

My suggestion is that you state that you are writing on behalf of your mother, who is an Italian citizen. State that you are enclosing a copy of her passport as well as additional documentation to support her citizenship status and that she has asked you to obtain a formal acknowledgement of her citizenship in the form of an addendum to her birth record.

It may also be advisable to request that a copy of her amended birth certificate be sent to your mother in care of your address, and enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Give them a contact number/email address to let you know if there is a fee for this service or if they require additional documentation.

I don't know if this would work, but it's the approach I would take.

My one concern is that they may be unwilling to release a birth certificate to the child of a living person. However, since you were able to get her unamended bc, this may not be an issue.

[NextMove]

Thank you again. I am keeping everything crossed

[jennabet]

1. The London consulate is correct. Your mother lost her Italian citizenship when she married a British man in 1947. It does not matter that she maintained an Italian passport because this was due to an error made by a bureaucrat. Since your mother continued to live in the UK and never did anything to try and reacquire her Italian citizenship, she is not an Italian citizen now and she was not an Italian citizen when you were born.

2. The fact that your mother inherited her family home means nothing because it is not required for a descendant to be an Italian citizen in order to inherit property. The fact that the commune has her registered as an Italian citizen is also an error that needs to be corrected.

3. It would be another error and a LIE for you to tell the commune that your mother wants to reinstate her Italian citizenship because, a. your mother already believes she is an Italian citizen, and b. your mother has dementia and never gave you these instructions.

The information you already received from the consulate and from the commune in Puglia is correct. You are not Italian because your mother was not Italian when you were born. Even if your mother HAD tried to reacquire the Italian citizenship she lost when she married a British man in 1947, this would have NO affect on any offspring over the age of majority, which I assume you are.

Futhermore, I am not surprised that you received information on how to be deceitful in in Italy from someone who should know that if they gave similar information on how to be deceitful in the USA, they would be in big trouble.

[mler]

There you go again, jennebet! It seems your sole purpose on this forum is to discourage people who are legitimately entitled to Italian citizenship.

The Italian courts have ruled again and again that a woman does not lose Italian citizenship if she did not naturalize to obtain that citizenship. We have seen this with pre-Cable Act citizenships as well. NextMove's mom does NOT have to reacquire an Italian citizenship she NEVER lost. She did not naturalize; she did not renounce; she did not lose her citizenship.

If you take the time to actually read the original post, you will note that she already has an Italian passport and she is already registered as an Italian citizen living abroad in her comune. The request is simply to add this information to her birth certificate.

Note, too, that both the London consulate and the Puglia comune did not state she lost her citizenship. They simply asked that the existing information be presented to her comune so that her birth certificate can be updated to reflect this information.

Cases where the woman automatically lost citizenship because of marriage or the action of her husband have already been successfully challenged numerous times in Italian courts. In this case, the comune already acknowledges her citizenship, so a court case may be unnecessary; but, of course, a lawsuit remains a viable option should they balk at making the addendum.

[jennabet]

Of course, they should and probably will balk at making the addendum. All they have to do is check with the consulate in London.